u-Grand, Malume?
by Sizakele Nkosi
ISBN: 9781990922633
Price: R140
“u-Grand, Malume? (Zulu slang: are you ok, Uncle?) is dedicated to two uncles who were victims of the antiapartheid struggle. The poems are my way of bringing Jabulani Maswanganye’s spirit back home; he joined Umkhonto weSizwe, went to exile in 1977 and never returned. My other uncle, comrade Mandla Maswanganye, was shot dead in 1992 by the Washington DC police. In
remembering them – the good and the bad – the poems update both my uncles as to what is currently going on in our black ghetto lives; I believe they can reach
them because poems are like prayers.’’
In this debut collection of 48 poems, Sizakele Nkosi reflects on her childhood and daily life and relationships in Soweto, the heartbeat of Black Jozi. Her parents, her own children and extended family provide a rich context for a wide range of behaviour. Ever-present is the energy of the erotic life which charges the poet with the will to continue despite the restrictive hold of a strict Catholic upbringing, as well as a sense of profound disappointment with the rising social crises that afflict our society.
