Q&A with Victor Dlamini

CA: You have many titles. How do you describe yourself?

VD: I have always ignored the limitations of categories and instead done whatever I felt like doing at the time. I strongly believe that if you love something you find a way of doing it, and doing it well. That’s why I never send people a CV – I insist that the best way of introducing yourself is not by what you did last year, or even a few years ago, but by what you are doing now.

CA: Take us through your average day.

VD: I wake up very early and go for a run. When I come back I throw some coffee beans into the grinder and brew a fresh cup of coffee. Then I catch up on my online reading, a mixture of current affairs and my personal and professional interests, marketing, style and photography. From 10am I focus on any client work, which I try to finish by no later than 3pm, after which I pick up a book and read.

CA: Tell us about the Victor Dlamini Literary Podcasts.

VD: They are a series of interviews, mostly with leading artists – especially novelists and poets – about the deeper issues in their work. Because of my background as a literature major, I’ve always been fascinated by the manner in which artists shape social values. So in these interviews I really delve into the stuff that is often missed by today’s flash interviews, which go more for the headline than substance.

CA: What drives you?

VD: It’s not too difficult to get up every day when you know you get to do the stuff that really appeals to you. My personal philosophy is that you must find what you love, and do it with the deepest possible passion.

CA: You have so many roles, which one do you love the most?

VD: I love the idea of straddling so many fields. I do believe it is unnatural for humans with our degree of curiosity to be restricted to any one thing. I would personally find it incredibly boring to be stuck with one role when I can play five or more.

CA: What is the next step for you?

VD: I’ll continue to do only those things that I find interesting and satisfying. I’m spending an unexpectedly large chunk of my time writing for boutique magazines and running executive workshops on marketing.

CA: Any advice for young creative Africans?

VD: Stay curious, stay sceptical and avoid the trap of following what others are already doing. Find your own truth and you’ll carve out a unique career.

Words: Emily Pettit-Coetzee
Images: Victor Dlamini