Letters Of Alchemy is a journey which unveils various cycles of growth from the darkness of fear, grief and heartbreak to the light of love, self-awareness and empowerment - expressed through the art of poetry and prose.

This thought-provoking collection of words pulls the reader into new worlds of expanse bringing strong images, memories and feelings to mind resulting in a visceral adventure. For best results, savour each sentence and brace yourself for a heart- and mind-opening experience.

Shakeela Kingzley is a South African writer and filmmaker who has profound love for the arts. She received her BA Degree in Motion Picture Medium in 2010 and has since worked in the South African film industry and explored the world whenever adventure called her soul.

“Writing this piece of art was a beautiful journey in itself. In my mindfulness I discovered that I am a translator - when I receive the visuals I need to translate it into the English language as best I can so that when you read it you see it and feel it.” - Shakeela Kingzley

This groundbreaking, multi-genre anthology answers the question: what did the literary landscape look like in South Africa at the start of the twenty-first century?

It documents a slice of this landscape by bringing together the writings of over twenty contributors through literary critique, personal essays and interviews. The book tells the story of the seismic shift that transformed national culture through poetry and is the first of its kind to explore the history and impact of poetry by Black women, in their own voices. It straddles disciplines: literary theory, feminism, history of the book and politics – thus decolonising literary culture.

Our Words, Our Worlds covers expansive reflections: from the international diplomacy-transforming poem, ‘I Have Come to Take You Home’ by Diana Ferrus, to the pioneering publisher duduzile zamantungwa mabaso; from the self-confessed closeted poet Sedica Davids, to the fiery unapologetic feminist Bandile Gumbi; from the world-renowned Malika Ndlovu, to the engineer and award-winning Nosipho Gumede; from the formidable foursome Feela Sistah, to feminist literary scholars V.M. Sisi Maqagi and Barbara Boswell. The collective contributions are a testimony to the power of creativity and centrality of poetry in a changing society.

This book is an assertion of Black women’s intellectual prowess and – as Gabeba Baderoon puts it – black women’s visions of ‘a world made whole by their presence’.

In Years of Fire and Ash: South African Poems of Decolonisation, fifty years of protest poetry are brought together in a single volume by literary critic and lecturer Dr Wamuwi Mbao. The animating impulse behind this collection of old and new voices is ‘decolonisation’, a term which has regained prominence over the last few years. It allows us to perceive how different South African poets have placed their work in the world, and how that work might relate to the struggle for radical social transformation. How, then, does decolonization look like in the world of South African poetry? This anthology is an attempt to answer that question.

The poems express the thoughts and experiences of poets who experienced Apartheid, but also of those who address current political realities. This collection includes established voices as well as prominent Emmanuel Taban is one of contemporary poets.

Who are the Women of Xolobeni? Who was Dulcie September? What are dirty/pretty things? Or vulva volcanoes?

Whatever its theme, each poem in this collection featuring the work of 40 black women poets from Africa and its diaspora reflects the lives of most, if not all women, womyn and womxn – particularly those born Black and poor by design in a post-slavery, post-colonial world.

Wild Imperfections opens with poems honouring different generations of ancestor women, like Sarah Baartman and Rosa Parks – born at different times yet all of them cultural and political mirrors to Black girls and women.

Questioning and disrupting patriarchy, these poems speak about birth and death, fertility and infertility, rape and genital mutilation, war, exile and forced migration, but also revel in joy, desire, and the expression of sexuality and the erotic.

But what is a wild imperfection? And can the language of these poets recreate a space for the ‘wild’ and ‘unruly’, the ‘loose’ and ‘dirty’, the ‘witches’ and ‘bitches’ who are perfect in their brokenness and who are no longer seeking permission for their rage, their joy and their healing?

The story of Troy speaks to all of us - the kidnapping of Helen, a queen celebrated for her beauty, sees the Greeks launch a thousand ships against the city of Troy, to which they will lay siege for ten whole years. It is a terrible war with casualties on all sides as well as strained relations between allies, whose consequences become tragedies.

In Troy you will find heroism and hatred, love and loss, revenge and regret, desire and despair. It is these human passions, written bloodily in the sands of a distant shore, that still speak to us today.

From Rupi Kaur, the top ten Sunday Times bestselling author of Milk And Honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry.

Illustrated by Kaur, The Sun And Her Flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising and blooming. It is a celebration of love in all its forms.

Amanda Gorman's powerful and historic poem 'The Hill We Climb,' read at President Joe Biden's inauguration, is now available as a collectible gift edition.

On 20 January 2021, Amanda Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet to deliver a poetry reading at a presidential inauguration. Taking the stage after the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, Gorman captivated the nation and brought hope to viewers around the globe. Her poem "The Hill We Climb" can now be cherished in this special gift edition. Including an enduring foreword by Oprah Winfrey, this keepsake celebrates our promise and affirms the power of poetry.

Die gedigte handel onder meer oor 'n byna uitgestorwe plattelandse lewe met tradisionele gebruike en ambagte. Tog word dit haarskerp en klokhelder verwoord sodat ook die moderne stadsmens aanklank daarby kan vind. Maar hy skryf ewe meevoerend oor die stad (Kaapstad).

Daar is ook aktuele gedigte oor Suid-Afrikaanse toestande, tydlose verse oor die dood en prikkelende maar ook skreiende uitbeeldings van die liefde. Die verse het 'n eie, unieke klank en styl. Die minimalistiese woordgebruik is besonder suggestieryk en skep dikwels meerduidighede - betekeniseggo's wat naklinkend in die leser se kop bly draai.

Die beelde en klanke klou inderdaad aan jou soos knapsekêrels.

In this quite extraordinary sequence of poems, P.R. Anderson discombobulates and re-assembles the image and idiom of the various nations, landscapes and earthscapes of central South Africa.

From first peoples, to those who took and settled on their ancestral lands, and to those for whom that land would come ancestral, In a Free State encompasses and compresses centuries of human drama into a fleeting and temperamental poetic narrative.

Yet this is no drudge, nor is it a historical yarn. With an easy mastery of form and metre, coupled with swashbuckling metaphorical and -textual flourish, Anderson's new "music" is a bold and visionary work. A piece of South African poetry - and South African storytelling - unlike any other.

Although Olga Kirsch’s is the only Jewish voice in Afrikaans poetry, it is scarcely known among members of the South African Jewish community. Olga Kirsch was, after Elisabeth Eybers, only the second woman to publish a collection of poetry in Afrikaans.

The aims of this biography are to reverse this slide into obscurity and to show why her work is important not only in South Africa but also in Israel.

It does not only investigate Kirsch’s role as Afrikaans Jewish poet but also examines her as an example of a cross-cultural, multi-lingual immigrant poet. As such some of her English and Hebrew poetry are included in this work.

Hierdie keur bevat van Adam Small se gewildste – en gee ook aandag aan sy minder bekende – gedigte. Die doel van hiedie versameling is om sy bydrae tot Suid-Afrikaanse letterkunde, en Kaaps, te vereer.

Die klem word geplaas op die tersaaklikheid en veelsydigheid van sy stem. Adam Small se eerste bundel het in 1957 verskyn en dekades later gee sy woorde steeds ’n stem aan die gemarginaliseerdes en die werkende stand.

Die maan is swart is saamgestel deur Ronelda S Kamfer.

A heart-wrenching story from the international bestselling author of The Kite Runner, brought to life by Dan Williams's beautiful illustrations

On a moonlit beach a father cradles his sleeping son as they wait for dawn to break and a boat to arrive. He speaks to his boy of the long summers of his childhood, recalling his grandfather's house in Syria, the stirring of olive trees in the breeze, the bleating of his grandmother's goat, the clanking of her cooking pots. And he remembers, too, the bustling city of Homs with its crowded lanes, its mosque and grand souk, in the days before the sky spat bombs and they had to flee.

When the sun rises they and those around them will gather their possessions and embark on a perilous sea journey in search of a new home.

Drawing on fifteen centuries of poetry from all over the world, the third edition of Seasons Come To Pass continues to make poetry relevant and accessible to students in Southern Africa.

The anthology includes unusual, erotic, witty, and political poems, presented in chronological order. A wide range of poets is included, from classics and old favourites to fresh new voices.

This anthology offers support and guidance by providing a clear overview of the important movements in the history of the English language and its literature, as well as detailed notes on critical analysis and techniques for writing essays and exams. The aim is to encourage students to develop the confidence to express their ideas in writing. Practical examples are given of how to come to grips with poetry, and develop critical and analytical skills. Poems are brought alive through supporting notes that tackle contemporary and controversial concerns.

From the Number One Sunday Times bestselling author of Milk And Honey and The Sun And Her Flowers comes her greatly anticipated third collection of poetry.

Rupi Kaur constantly embraces growth, and in Home Body she walks readers through a reflective and intimate journey visiting the past, the present and the potential of the self. Home Body is a collection of raw, honest conversations with oneself - reminding readers to fill up on love, acceptance, community, family, and embrace change.

Illustrated by the author, themes of nature and nurture, light and dark, rest here.

Oor hierdie Hertzogpryswenner se nuutste bundel sê Louis Esterhuizen: “Nog selde het ek ʼn versameling gedigte teëgekom wat so volgehoue en voluit op satire ingestel is, in dié mate dat hierdie gedigte gunstig vergelyk met MM Walters se indrukwekkende digterskap. Bykans die totaliteit van menswees en menslike prestasie word in hierdie gedigte voor stok gekry: van die klassieke skrywers en mitologieë, tot die hedendaagse; so ook die visuele kunste en musiek."

THESE POEMS AND NOTEBOOKS ARE THE LAST WORD FROM THE LATE, GREAT LEONARD COHEN.

The Flame is a stunning collection of Leonard Cohen's last poems and writings, selected and ordered by Cohen in the final months of his life. The book contains an extensive selection from Cohen's notebooks, featuring lyrics, prose pieces and illustrations, which he kept in poetic form throughout his life, and offers an unprecedentedly intimate look inside the life and mind of a singular artist and thinker. An enormously powerful final chapter in Cohen's storied literary career, The Flame showcases the full range of Leonard Cohen's lyricism, from the exquisitely transcendent to the darkly funny.

By turns devastatingly sad and winningly strange, these are the works of a poet and lyricist who has plumbed the depths of our darkest questions and come up wanting, yearning for more.

A revised and updated edition of this much-loved poetry anthology which was first published in 2002. This new edition of The New Century of South African Poetry now includes 125 new poems, with the addition of a fifth section covering works produced by poets who have made their mark since the early 2000s. New Century includes pieces in divergent styles by a wide range of authors - from traditional songs by Khoisan poets to poems by established figures such as Roy Campbell, N.P. van Wyk Louw, Mazisi Kunene, Douglas Livingstone, Mongane Wally Serote and Antjie Krog. Popular poetic forms like maskanda, kiba, praises and rap share the pages with current poets such as Gabeba Baderoon, Rustum Kozain, Danie Marais, Nick Mulgrew and Koleka Putuma…

In hierdie bundel durf die skrywer Danté Alighieri se briljante werk aan. Hy bewys homself as uitmuntende vertaler.

Danté se lang reis kan tematies verbind word met Israel se uittog verhaal. Met sy La Divina Commedia beoog Danté om die boosheid van die mens aan die kaak te stel en roep hy die mens op om saam te werk aan die skepping van ’n beter samelewing van vrede en orde onder leiding van ’n goeie keiser en pous.

Emma Bekker se debuutpundel Skryn (poësie) is goed ontvang en die eerste druk het uitverkoop. Hierdie bundel kortverhale getuig van dieselfde fyn waarneming, musikaliteit, verbeeldingrykeid en sensualiteit. Dit gaan hier oor struktuur, oor lae van betekenis en gevoel, oor die skelette van stories wat met vel oorgetrek word. Die verhale is soms donker, soms humoristies, altyd vreesloos en eroties gelaai. Die onderwerpe strek van ’n porn-ster se hartseer oor sy ma se dood tot ’n uitbundige relaas van ’n skoolkonsert.

Jerzy Koch, vertaler, digter, akademikus, is hoof van die Afdeling Nederlandse en Suid-Afrikaanse Studies by die Fakulteit Engels van A. Mickiewicz-Universiteit in Poznań. Hy doseer veral Nederlandse literatuur, koloniale literatuur en Afrikaans. Hy is ook die skrywer van ’n omvattende literatuurgeskiedenis oor Afrikaans. Hy besoek Suid-Afrika gereeld sedert 1992 en het die Afrikaanse taal sodanig sy eie gemaak dat hy dit vlot praat en gedigte daarin skryf.

Hy het werke vertaal van H. Claus, J. Bernlef, H. de Coninck, S. Hertmans, G. Kouwenaar, Lucebert, H. Mulisch, Multatuli, L. Nolens, P. Rodenko, F. Timmermans e.a. Vir sy vertaal-oeuvre het hy in die Lae Lande die M. Nijhoff-prys ontvang. Hy het ook Ingrid Jonker (1993) vertaal en sy onlangse vertalings in Poolse is bloemlesings uit Antjie Krog (2017) en Breyten Breytenbach (2018) se gedigte.

In sy digbundel Pleks van plaas skryf hy onder meer oor sy familiegeskiedenis in Pole, maar die grootste deel van die bundel word in beslag geneem deur verse oor Suid-Afrika. Indrukwekkend is veral die seegedigte. Dit is nie net die branders wat sy “oor vang en oorrompel” nie, maar ook die Afrikaanse taal.

In Mede-wete,’n aangrypende nuwe digbundel deur Antjie Krog, word temas soos taal, geheue en gewete met ’n nuwe intensiteit en beleënheid hanteer. Dit is haar eerste digbundel in 8 jaar.

Dié gedigte laat blyk duidelik haar diep verknogtheid aan haar geboortegrond en haar volgehoue betrokkenheid by en passie vir die land se komplekse geskiedenis en samelewing. Terselfdertyd herdefinieer sy haar identiteit as Afrikaanse digter. Te midde van verse waaruit haar woede en afkeer ten opsigte van sosiale ongeregtighede spreek, is daar ook boeiende familieverse, verse oor die generasies vorentoe en terug waarin die stemme en gesprekke opklink wat ons elke dag hoor. Ook verse oor oudword en afskeid, waarvan die huldigingsvers vir Mandela ’n hoogtepunt is.

Maar dit is verál weens die ontwrigting van taal juis om nuwe betekenis te skep dat Antjie Krog ’n opwindende digbundel lewer.

The poems in ‘predicaments’ explore women’s responses to the constraints and consequences of choices they have made. Their responses are not much changed through the millennia of myth, history and into contemporary times.

The poet reflects on significant moments in the lives of women such as Helen of Troy, Delilah and Joan of Arc, and the predicaments they are faced with in a man’s world.

From award-winning author Giles Paley-Phillips, this haunting verse novel follows Hobs, a young man struggling to navigate his own mind and the increasingly mysterious affairs he encounters in his supposedly idyllic suburban home town. When Jenni, the girl of his dreams, suddenly disappears, Hobs finds himself on the trail of Mike Bilk, a charismatic businessman-turned-politician whose alleged role in a local tragedy points to greater questions of political greed and corruption. As time begins to lose its shape, Hobs is left to piece together his fragmented memories while battling the disorienting anguish of adolescent love and infatuation. With reality crumbling around him, Hobs must confront the possibility that there's no one left he can trust - least of all himself.