From its establishment in 1990, Snailpress has published over 50 volumes of poetry - a list described by Patrick Cullinan as 'wonderfully heterodox'. To mark this achievement and spread this wealth, Robin Malan has put together a selection of the poetry.

New Beginnings (2nd edition): revised and now even better! Features include: six new stories for a total of 20 by top southern African writers; wide range of styles, including the satirical, the lyrical, and the humorous; short, punchy stories with pace and freshness to grab students' attention; introductory notes on stories and writers to develop an understanding of genre and context; an introduction showing clear links to the new curriculum, and explaining how the anthology fulfils the requirements for literature; and more activities to use in class or as homework practice.

New Outridings is a lively, entertaining and challenging selection of contemporary verse, much of it originating from southern Africa and reflecting the experiences of people in our changing society. Support material provides background and assistance to teachers and learners.

40 writers from Southern Africa offer reflections on their experience of boarding school. These are either extracts from autobiographies or pieces specially written for this collection. Included are the 2007 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature Doris Lessing; former President Nelson Mandela; South African-born international foodie and novelist Prue Leith OBE; former Vice-Chancellor of UCT and Director of the World Bank Mamphela Ramphele; and a range of writers including E K M Dido, Don Mattera, Alexandra Fuller, Imraan Coovadia, Ann Harries, Sihle Khumalo, Bessie Head, C J Driver, Lionel Abrahams, Willemien le Roux and Kathryn White. From Zimbabwe: Dambudzo Marechera; winner of the 2007 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa Shimmer Chinodya; and 2004 Commonwealth Writers' Prize winner Brian Chikwava; and from Angola: Simao Kikamba. Aspects covered include: being a 'newbie', initiation, bullying, punishment, food, midnight feasts, sexual shenanigans, friendship and love, to the extreme of running away from school. The reasons for going to boarding school differ greatly. Many black South Africans aspired to the elite mission-run boarding schools, while white Afrikaans-speaking farm children had little option but the koshuis in the town. State boarding schools are very different from private schools; and various Christian institutions are represented here.

A collection of stories about and from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Mozambique since 1960, is a vibrant collection, chosen to reflect lived experience of these places in these times - surely the most exciting and most productive period in the history of Southern Africa and its literature. This collection was first published in 19 and has become a favourite of teachers and students. It has now been updated, and also contains teaching suggestions and new points for discussion.

Lucky has been brought up in a small rural black community. But is he really black? The others tease him because of his light brown eyes and blond hair. He has vague notions of having been abducted from his white family, and there are remnants of Afrikaans words somewhere in his head. So Lucky sets out on a quest to discover who he is. When people find out about Lucky's dilemma, it touches a raw nerve in the national psyche, and the debate about identity and ethnic origin starts to swirl around the young man, confusing rather than clarifying, diffusing rather than focusing his search for himself. What is it to be African? What does a family mean to a growing child? Does it matter what language you speak or think in? What if you're not even sure of your name? Issues of identity and belonging crowd in on Lucky, who is thrown off balance by the publicity surrounding him, yet enjoys the attention and sudden 'celebrity' this brings. In the end, who is Lucky? And can Lucky cope with being Lucky?

An expanded edition of "Inscapes". Part One consists of standard poems that are still meaningful to senior students. Part Two reveals the variety of the modern world, its contrasts and its contradictions. To this is now added Part Three, a view of the poetry written in the 17 years since the anthology first appeared, especially that written by southern African poets.

Bo looked up. Above him was the huge expanse of the darkening African sky. Already you could see bright stars pinpricked out in it. He lightly bumped against Nathi's shoulder, and tilted his head up. 'Look, Nathi.' 'Where?' 'Phezulu.' Nathi looked up. 'Ezulwini,' he said. 'What's that?' 'The heavens.' He flicked a look across at Bo's face. 'Ndiza, nyoni.' 'And what's that mean?' Bo asked, his words scarcely audible as his neck arched back. 'Fly, bird, fly,' said Nathi with a smile. Bo, a young Swedish student, spends a year at school in Africa. As he learns about his fellow students, the community and the culture, he learns too that friendship can grow into love. But loving a Swazi student of his own sex brings its own complications.