Vonani Bila was born in 1972 in Shirley village, Limpopo, and studied at Tivumbeni College of Education. His father was an amateur musician, his mother a historian and story-teller. A poet and musician himself, he is founding editor of the Timbila poetry journal, publisher of Timbila books and founder of Timbila Writers’ Village, offering a writer’s residence in a rural context. He holds an MA (Creative Writing – with distinction) from Rhodes University. He has written two children’s books in English and eight story-books for newly literate adult readers in Sepedi, Xitsonga and English, the latter two being the languages in which he writes poetry. He edited New Coin poetry review in 2013. He has brought out a CD of music and poetry, as well as four volumes of poetry, namely; No Free Sleeping (with Alan Finlay and Donald Parenzee –Botsotso Publishing, 1998), In the name of Amandla (Timbila Poetry, 2004), Magicstan Fires (Timbila Poetry 2006) and Handsome Jita (University of KwaZuku Natal Press, 2007). He has read and performed his poetry widely in South Africa and abroad, and his poems have been translated into German, Dutch, Finnish, Turkish, Swedish, Portuguese, French, Arabic and Indonesian Bahasa.
