Search results for ""Author Mongane Wally Serote""

Weaving together many ideas about reconciliation after war, this novel introduces characters—mostly artists and activists—who, after the liberation of South Africa, try to understand what they fought for and why. At the center of the story is a South African dance troupe that has recently returned from Chile. Broadening the debate, the members of this group report on violence against native people on another continent and provide a parallel that enlarges the South African perspective.

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Keke, a veteran MK cadre who was once the CEO of a mobile phone company, wakes up one day to find his life in ruins. He has lost his job and his wife, and he has become more and more reliant on the solace of alcohol. After hitting rock bottom, Keke is thrust into a spiritual journey. He meets Ami, a shaman from Mali, and travels there, where he is “cooked” and cleansed in a “meeting” with his ancestors. Only when he is healed and understands his role in the context of a postapartheid South Africa, can Keke make a careful comeback to his country to rejoin his wife and comrades. The global village, the African continent, and South Africa are the platforms where Keke’s life unfolds in the 21st century.

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Now in its 11th year, the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award is a launching pad for upcoming poets. From slam poetry to formal rhyme, the anthology is a celebration of language and cultural diversity. Assembled by a brilliant team of judges, from a blind selection, this year’s compilation contains the best poems from over 600 entries, in 10 of the 11 South African languages. Named after Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (1876–1932), the award recognises the life and vision of this highly respected political and social activist. We always hope that it reveals the political and social attitudes of our time and reflects the complex, nuanced and uncomfortable truths of life in South Africa.

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Now in its 8th year, the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award has been the launching pad for upcoming poets. From slam poetry to formal rhyme, the anthology is a celebration of language and cultural diversity. Assembled by a brilliant team of judges, this year’s compilation contains the best poems from 500 entries, including 10 of the 11 South African languages.Named after Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (1876-1932), the award recognizes the life and vision of this highly respected political and social activist. The hope is that the included poetry in this anthology will reveal the political and social attitudes of our time, and reflect the complex, nuanced and uncomfortable truths of life in South Africa.

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First published in 1967, Ernest Cole’s House of Bondage has been lauded as one of the most significant photobooks of the twentieth century, revealing the horrors of apartheid to the world for the first time and influencing generations of photographers around the globe. Reissued for contemporary audiences, this edition adds a chapter of unpublished work found in a recently resurfaced cache of negatives and recontextualizes this pivotal book for our time. Cole, a Black South African man, photographed the underbelly of apartheid in the 1950s and ’60s, often at great personal risk. He methodically captured the myriad forms of violence embedded in everyday life for the Black majority under the apartheid system—picturing its miners, its police, its hospitals, its schools. In 1966, Cole fled South Africa and smuggled out his negatives; House of Bondage was published the following year with his writings and first-person account. This edition retains the powerful story of the original while adding new perspectives on Cole’s life and the legacy of House of Bondage. It also features an added chapter—compiled and titled “Black Ingenuity” by Cole—of never-before-seen photographs of Black creative expression and cultural activity taking place under apartheid. Made available again nearly fifty-five years later, House of Bondage remains a visually powerful and politically incisive document of the apartheid era.

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