ang lloyd

​I'm a storyteller, first and foremost

 

I've always been a 'words person'. But, being an introvert, that means I'm more naturally inclined to express myself through the page, than regale a group of strangers at a party (although, I'm not averse to breaking out a very badly executed Leprechaun dance!).

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I believe that everyone has a story to tell, and that stories have the power to change worlds. 

 

Although I studied journalism at Rhodes University, I have a terrible secret that's not-so secret: I wasn't always drawn to writing, and I specialised in design. For some reason (that I still don't understand), I didn't see myself as a writer back then - I had no interest in being on the frontlines and reporting for a newspaper. But life yanked me back onto the path I should've always been on -  after a few soul-sapping layout jobs, backpacking through Asia, and a three-year stint teaching English in Japan, I found myself living in Cape Town, sans employment. I could see The Mountain everyday and lived near a forest, but I just couldn't find a job. The only marketable skill I had at the time was writing, so I wrote. And here we are. 

 

I soon realised that writing about what interests me doesn't pay the bills (who would've thought it's hard to sell a reported piece about Yeoville's Black Jews, or fragile Afrikaner masculinity?) so I started a blog, called  Jozi.Rediscovered, which focuses on the city I call home, Johannesburg. Plus, it lets me be completely self-indulgent with my journalism - I can write articles about Holocaust survivors, Scientologists, or the post-apartheid socio-political context of public swimming pools. And it makes me unbelievably happy. 

 

When I'm not sub-editing for a consumer women's interest magazine, I'm delving into Jungian psychology, drinking beer, watching Scandi Noir series, gardening, and doing tai chi (another not-so secret secret: I'm 34, going on 84). 

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