“…The struggle of black people inevitably appear in an intensely cultural form because the social formation in which their distinct political traditions are now manifest has constructed the arena of politics on ground overshadowed by centuries of metropolitan capitalist development, thereby denying them recognition as legitimate politics. Blacks conduct a class struggle in and through race. The BC of race and class cannot be empirically separated, the class character of black struggles is not a result of the fact that blacks are predominantly proletarian, thought this is true…”- (Frank Talk Staff Writers in ‘Azania Salutes Tosh’ – circa 1981)
front cover:
Tosh by Steve Gordon
back cover:
Kippie by Basil Breakey
Poetry 99 incl DVD edited by Robert Berold (Deep South, 2013)
Poetry 99 (a book with DVD) presents the best of a week-long series of live readings by South African poets that took place in Grahamstown in 1999. Even in their written form, many South African poems carry the intonations of the poet's voice, but seeing and hearing poets reading their own work has a particular vitality.
Poetry 99 is a valuable resource for poets, readers, and teachers of poetry. The 20 poets featured are: Robert Berold, Vonani Bila, Ingrid De Kok, Alan Finlay, Richard Fox, Louise Green, Colleen Higgs, Allan Kolski Horwitz, Nosipho Kota, Jethro Louw, Joan Metelerkamp, Isabella Motadinyane, Ike Mboneni Muila, Siphiwe ka Ngwenya, Mxolisi Nyezwa, Donald Parenzee, Lesego Rampolokeng, Dudu Saki, Kelwyn Sole, Anna Varney.