For the past five years independent journalist and award-winning poet Thabo Jijana has been gathering work which will now be part of his debut poetry collection, titled Failing Maths and My Other Crimes.
Peddie-born Jijana’s anthology is published by uHlanga, a new small poetry press, as part of the uHlanga New Poets series.
The anthology will be launched in Nelson Mandela Bay next week.
The series publishes debut collections from the country’s most promising young poets. This year’s new poets are Jijana and Cape Town poet Genna Gardini.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch, Jijana said his poetry could best be described as autobiographical, narrative-driven and imbued with a quiet sense of humour.
“It strives for an effect on the reader similar to what a documentary would ask of the viewer. Coming from a young black man, these poems aim to expose some universal truths in a way that is as engaging as it is illuminating about life,” said Jijana.
This is not his first publication. Last year he released Nobody’s Business through Jacana Media, which he described as “a memoir about the death of my father, a taxi driver murdered in King William’s Town during a spate of taxi-related violence there in 2003”.
He has been an avid reader from a very young age and he started writing in his teens.
“I have always been an introvert, and so for me writing became a way to find not only company in the act of reading but an outlet to express myself when writing.
“Literature has given me a means to understand the world I live in.”
Jijana believes South African literature, like the country itself, is a deeply polarised industry and the question of who has the means to buy literature determines, to a large extent, how it is written.
“Because little reading is being done in black communities and because there are hardly any literary festivals in black communities, the playing field is skewed towards those who have the means to access books. For many of us, this means greater exposure and serious attention will only come if we write in English.”
uHlanga publisher Nick Mulgrew said the company started as a small magazine last year, which featured poetry and photography chiefly by writers from KwaZulu-Natal.
He believed there was not enough championing of poetry by young writers in South Africa.
Mulgrew realised that the best way to represent young poets was to invest in them and to publish single-author collections. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
Peddie-born ‘Maths’ poet launches the sum of his parts
Peddie-born Jijana’s anthology is published by uHlanga, a new small poetry press, as part of the uHlanga New Poets series.
The anthology will be launched in Nelson Mandela Bay next week.
The series publishes debut collections from the country’s most promising young poets. This year’s new poets are Jijana and Cape Town poet Genna Gardini.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch, Jijana said his poetry could best be described as autobiographical, narrative-driven and imbued with a quiet sense of humour.
“It strives for an effect on the reader similar to what a documentary would ask of the viewer. Coming from a young black man, these poems aim to expose some universal truths in a way that is as engaging as it is illuminating about life,” said Jijana.
This is not his first publication. Last year he released Nobody’s Business through Jacana Media, which he described as “a memoir about the death of my father, a taxi driver murdered in King William’s Town during a spate of taxi-related violence there in 2003”.
He has been an avid reader from a very young age and he started writing in his teens.
“I have always been an introvert, and so for me writing became a way to find not only company in the act of reading but an outlet to express myself when writing.
“Literature has given me a means to understand the world I live in.”
Jijana believes South African literature, like the country itself, is a deeply polarised industry and the question of who has the means to buy literature determines, to a large extent, how it is written.
“Because little reading is being done in black communities and because there are hardly any literary festivals in black communities, the playing field is skewed towards those who have the means to access books. For many of us, this means greater exposure and serious attention will only come if we write in English.”
uHlanga publisher Nick Mulgrew said the company started as a small magazine last year, which featured poetry and photography chiefly by writers from KwaZulu-Natal.
He believed there was not enough championing of poetry by young writers in South Africa.
Mulgrew realised that the best way to represent young poets was to invest in them and to publish single-author collections. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos