| Phumlani Pikoli | |
| Birth Date: | 1988 |
| Birth Place: | Zimbabwe |
| Nationality: | Zimbabwean-South African |
| Occupation: | Writer, multidisciplinary artist |
| Notable Works: | The Fatuous State of Severity, Born Freeloaders |
Phumlani Pikoli (1988 – 11 April 2021) was a Zimbabwean-South African writer and multidisciplinary artist. His body was discovered on 11 April 2021, by his parents after they hadn't heard from him since 9 April 2021.[1] [2]
Pikoli was born in Zimbabwe to Girlie and Vusi Pikoli, who were exiled from South Africa during the Apartheid regime.[3] His family moved back to South Africa when Pikoli was a young child, and eventually settled in Pretoria.
Pikoli wrote his first book, The Fatuous State of Severity, whilst recuperating from a depressive episode at a psychiatric clinic.[4] The book contains a collection of short stories and drawings. Pikoli self-published the book in 2016, and it was later republished by Pan Macmillan.[5]
His debut novel, Born Freeloaders, was published by Pan Macmillan in 2019. The title is a play on a common South African slang term, "Born Frees", used to describe the first generation born after the end of Apartheid.[6] Pikoli described the book as exploring "assimilation [and] colonial takeover" amongst the young black middle class in democratic South Africa.[7] The book was awarded the K. Sello Duiker Memorial prize for a debut novel at the South African Literary Awards in 2020.[8]
Pikoli also worked as a multimedia artist in theatre and film. He contributed to Carla Fonseca’s play The Same Pain at the Soweto Theatre. He released a multimedia exhibition based on The Fatuous State of Severity at Johannesburg’s TMRW Gallery and was developing Born Freeloaders into a film with Diprente Films.[9]