by John Simon My life at this time was a wild and exciting one. Johannesburg was a self-assured, if highly dislocated city, with a citizenry that talked only about money. Crime had yet to become a topic of conversation. In 1979 trams and buses set off en masse from...
Vanessa Van Gelder
Vice City
by Thabiso Tshowa “Hey, you, scrap boy! You’re dirtying our town,” said a teenage boy as he kicked my trolley, which tipped to its side so that all the scrap fell out. As I tried to pick them up, another one poured beer on my head. “Crawl back to whatever rat hole you...
Irony of Life
by Yandisa Krobani Captain Mthethwa gazed at Mr Bhengu, seated on the opposite side of the table, where he could see both of the man’s arms. He looked blanky at the captain. The walls of the interrogation room were cream and dingy. Its claustrophobic atmosphere could...
om te let go
by Chestlyn Draghoender som brase hetti lyn ni en kan maak latte vroumens haaself haat. dat sy haaself oek nooit kan vegiewe nie al het sy niks vekeed gadoeni. om brase sit met harte soes gabriekte glas wat displei wod as haat en verwyte. selfs hul biologiese kinnes...
Far From the Shoreline
by Robyn Radcliffe The fishing boats In Hangberg Are handcuffed They hang On the edge Of ramshackle housing Rebuffed by the buffering Mountainous scenery Shackled and sedentary They are reluctant sentries Forced to observe This ‘hoods iniquity Far from the shoreline....
Bright Lights
by Zeenit Jacobs A boy with a pointed finger exults: "Look at the stars falling fast!" Collective awe as fifty become one hundred; bright lights from East and West illuminate the night sky. O'er tribal lands and clans; around a campfire are sounds of clicks and...
Jim Pascual Agustin’s Bloodred Dragonflies. A Poetry Review by Sihle Ntuli
Poet: Jim Pascual Agustin Publisher: Deep South Year: 2022 ISBN 9781928476467 90 Pages Makhanda Jim Pascual Agustin’s Bloodred Dragonflies. A Poetry Review by Sihle Ntuli The manifestation of this particular New & Selected collection of poetry, in English and...
Teamhw SbonguJesu’s Bury Me Naked. A Poetry Review by Sihle Ntuli
Poet: Teamhw SbonguJesu Publisher: TNG Publishing Year: 2022 ISBN: 9780620974943 66 Pages Pietermaritzburg Teamhw SbonguJesu’s Bury Me Naked. A Poetry Review by Sihle Ntuli In his debut book of poems Bury Me Naked, Teamhw SbonguJesu introduces us to a rural...
Shift in Being: Henali Kuit’s The incredible beat of my heart. A Critical Review by Warren Jeremy Rourke.
Author: Henali Kuit Publisher: Deep South Year: 2021 ISBN: 9781928476443 102 Pages Makhanda Translated into the Afrikaans, as Geruisloos, Ongemerk, by Henali Kuit Shift in Being: Henali Kuit’s The incredible beat of my heart. A Critical Review by Warren Jeremy Rourke...
The Birds in Hand
by Warren Jeremy Rourke If you smash our beaks we will not need clean drinking water from our taps, and ancient rivers diverted, running dry. If you pinch our eyes out we may become accustomed to the loss of light and electricity – made to remember fire-cooking...