Ntombentle

"Stories and episodes remembered, or half remembered, by future readers from the published histories of, say, Theal, Macmillan, Peires, or Etherington, or creative evocations associated with poets such as Dhlomo, Mqhayi or Mann - to cite fairly arbitrary examples - come to life here as the mental furniture of a unique individual. These stories and episodes inhabit a sensibility struggling to relate past and present without neglecting either. The poet welcomes the reader into his inner world, caught in a relentless dialogue between today and yesterday... ... We meet important historical figures and their stories, but only as they feature in the poet's consciousness. For instance, he finds himself honouring the great warrior Makhanda, while struggling to let go of this hero's seemingly doomed mission, or condemning the "liberal charlatans" of King William's Town (now Qonce) who stood by unknowingly as Steve Biko was tortured and murdered. Did they even want to know? The poet does not shrink from picking at painful historical scars such as King Hintsa's severed head being exported to Britain. (I mean, who does that?) We make a detour to the northern Nguni in a scathing celebration of King Shaka, beautifully crafted, but more a horrified indictment than laudatory praise" - Extraordinary Professor Laurence Wright.