Casey Motsisi
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Karobo Moses Motsisi (b. 1932 d. 1977) better known as Casey Motsisi or Casey 'Kid' Motsisi was a South African short story writer and journalist.
He was born in Johannesburg and worked for a time in Pretoria as a teacher.
Motsisi worked for Drum magazine as a journalist 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 and featured discussions and conversations between two bed bugs.
Motsisi also wrote the On the Beat column.
His style borrowed heavily from that of Damon Runyon featuring 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 such as 'Kid Playboy' and 'Kid Hangover'.
He also contributed to The Classic, a journal edited by a fellow Drum journalist Nat Nakasa.
The Drum decade [1] contains a number of articles by Motsisi e.g.
- If Bugs Were Men
- Johburg Jailbugs
- On the Beat [Kid Hangover]
- On the Beat [Kid Playboy]
- On the Beat [Kid Newspapers]
[edit] Books
- Casey & Co : selected writings of Casey "Kid" Motsisi, edited by Mothobi Mutloatse, Ravan Press, 1978, ISBN 0-86-975088-7
[edit] See also
- Good-looking Corpse: World of Drum - Jazz and Gangsters, Hope and Defiance in the Townships of South Africa, Mike Nicol, Secker & Warburg, 1991, ISBN 0-43-630986-6
[edit] References
- ^ edited by Michael Chapman (2001). The Drum decade: stories from the 1950s. Scottsville: University of Natal Press. ISBN 0-86-980985-7.
