Halala Madiba: Nelson Mandela in Poetry
ISBN: 9780955233906 Price: £9.95 Click to BUY
AN ANTHOLOGY of poetry spanning the period from 1963, when Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, to 2005, when he celebrated his 87th birthday, this book is about much more than one man.
It brings together almost 100 poems from 25 countries which have taken Nelson Mandela and the fight against apartheid as their inspiration. It combines small gestures of passionate creativity which create a narrative of the sturggle to free all South Africans from the legacy of apartheid; and the challenge of building a new democratic society free of racism.
With a foreword by Nadine Gordimer, the poets include Seamus Heaney, Wole Soyinka, Andrew Motion, Dennis Brutus, Jeremy Cronin, Mongane Serote, John Matshikiza and Ntozake Shange.
View the Table of Contents (download PDF)
“Never fear old age. As a pensioner you are no longer a threat to any person. On the contrary, you receive accolades from far and wide. This book is very generous to an old man. I deeply appreciate it”
- Nelson Mandela
“The collection offers a novel insight into Mandela’s extraordinary significance, initially as the focal point of resistance to apartheid and then as the nation’s first democratic leader”
- Financial Times
REVIEWS
BBC article
Financial Times
BBC radio: Mandela in poetry
Blogtalk radio interview with book’s editors