Casey Motsisi
Karobo Moses Motsisi (1932–1977), better known as Casey Motsisi or Casey "Kid" Motsisi, was a South African short story writer and journalist
Biography
Motsisi was born in Johannesburg and worked for a time in Pretoria as a teacher.
He was a reporter for Drum magazine until 1962 and then left to work for The World, returning to Drum in 1974. He wrote the regular "Bugs" column, which was humorous and satirical, featuring discussions and conversations between two bed bugs. He also wrote the "On the Beat" column.[1]
Motsisi's style borrowed heavily from that of Damon Runyon, using "Americanese" and Tsotsitaal (local township slang). The stories he wrote were based on his extensive knowledge of the Sophiatown shebeen culture, depicting a variety of township types, such as Aunt Peggy, the shebeen queen, and a variety of rogues including Kid Playboy and Kid Hangover.
Motsisi also contributed to The Classic, a journal edited by a fellow Drum journalist Nat Nakasa.
The Drum Decade [2] contains a number of articles by Motsisi, including:
- "If Bugs Were Men"
- "Johburg Jailbugs"
- "On the Beat" [Kid Hangover]
- "On the Beat" [Kid Playboy]
- "On the Beat" [Kid Newspapers]
Books
- Casey & Co: Selected Writings of Casey "Kid" Motsisi, edited by Mothobi Mutloatse, Ravan Press, 1978, ISBN 0-86975-088-7
- Riot :writings of Casey "Kid" Motsisi
See also
- List of South African writers
- Mike Nicol, Good-Looking Corpse: World of Drum - Jazz and Gangsters, Hope and Defiance in the Townships of South Africa, London: Secker & Warburg, 1991. ISBN 0-436-30986-6
References
- ^ Killam, Douglas; Rowe, Ruth. "Casey (Kid) Motsisi". The Companion to African Literature. James Currey. Archived from the original on 14 February 2007. Retrieved 1 March 2007.
- ^ Michael Chapman, ed. (2001). The Drum Decade: Stories from the 1950s. Scottsville: University of Natal Press. ISBN 0-86980-985-7.
- Articles with short description
- Short description with empty Wikidata description
- Use dmy dates from August 2016
- Use South African English from August 2016
- All Wikipedia articles written in South African English
- AC with 0 elements
- 1932 births
- 1977 deaths
- South African journalists
- South African male short story writers
- South African short story writers
- People from Johannesburg
- 20th-century journalists