The much-anticipated sequel to The Turtle Dove Told Me (Modjaji Books, 2013), which won a SALA Award in 2014, Stem Of The Moon is the second volume in a trilogy that spans the years 1990 - 2010.

In this collection, Sliepen paints impressions of a small town, Clarens in the Free State, as well as glimpses of life in the Netherlands and Bali. The reader shares the intimate experience of the birth of her first child and the poems take us on a profound journey through Namibia.

Sliepen's latest collection is a love song to a child, a lover, a mother, and the quiet strength of the moon that connects us all.

THE TURTLE DOVE TOLD ME is the long awaited, debut collection of poetry from emerging South African poet and artist Thandi Sliepen. The first of a trilogy spanning the years 1990 - 2010, this collection traces her return to Africa at the age of 18 in search of her roots. The journey starts in Tanzania, then overland to Cape Town, her home city, which she had last seen in 1976. Her search takes her to a stretch of coast in the Ciskei and then to Clarens in the Eastern Free State where she finally finds what she has been searching for. Art, love and the healing embrace of land.