Karavan Press title: A Crowded Lonely Walk by Sipho Banda

Life
has taken
a half-step forward,
leaning against the history
of my past

“This poetry collection depicts true stories of ordinary black people living in the supposedly ‘New South Africa’. Banda’s poems portray stains of colonisation even on the postcolonial times.”

– Kwazi Ndlangisa, winner of The Book Behind Award 2021 and the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award 2021, and author of Collecting Self

“Sipho Banda’s poetry witnesses a variety of occluded and overlooked lives, often foregrounding rural existences and the precarious life of farm dwellers. He is able to describe and critique socio-political realities through poetry that is layered with gentle irony and laced with images which grip and map the reader’s awareness of the custodian.”

– Kyle Allan, editor of New Coin and author of House Without Walls and The Space Between Us

Publication date: March 2023

ISBN: 978-1-7764064-4-9

SIPHO BANDA was born in Himeville and grew up in Impendle, KwaZulu Natal. He is the author of Vusi’s Visit to Drakensberg Mountain, a children’s book published by Msinsi Press. His first collection of poetry, Ngigabe Ngezakithi, and a drama book, Umoya Wamagagasi, were published in isiZulu by Pelmo Publishers. Most of his poems in A Crowded Lonely Walk, his debut collection in English, reflect his own lonely and crowded walk.

Author: Sipho Banda

SIPHO BANDA was born in Himeville and grew up in Impendle, KwaZulu Natal. He is the author of Vusi’s Visit to Drakensberg Mountain, a children’s book published by Msinsi Press. His first collection of poetry, Ngigabe Ngezakithi, and a drama book, Umoya Wamagagasi, were published in isiZulu by Pelmo Publishers. Most of his poems in A Crowded Lonely Walk, his debut collection in English published by Karavan Press, reflect his own lonely and crowded walk.

Karavan Press Poetry in McGregor

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POETRY IN McGREGOR

Melissa Sussens is a queer veterinarian and poet. Her work has appeared in many publications, both locally and internationally, and has been recognised with several accolades. Melissa has performed at the Poetry in McGregor festival, Off The Wall, The Commons and The Red Wheelbarrow, where she also hosts poetry readings. She lives in Cape Town with her wife and their two dogs. Slaughterhouse is her first book.

Sipho Banda was born in Himeville and grew up in Impendle, KwaZulu Natal. He is the author of Vusi’s Visit to Drakensberg Mountain, a children’s book published by Msinsi Press. His first collection of poetry, Ngigabe Ngezakithi, and a drama book, Umoya Wamagagasi, were published in isiZulu by Pelmo Publishers. Most of his poems in A Lonely Crowded Walk, his debut collection in English, reflect his own lonely and crowded walk.

Stephen Symons has published poetry and short-fiction, locally and abroad. His debut collection, Questions for the Sea, received an honourable mention for the 2017 Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry, and was also shortlisted for the 2017 Ingrid Jonker Prize. He is also the author of Spioenkop, Landscapes of Light and Loss and FOR EVERYTHING THAT IS POINTLESS AND PERFECTSmall Souls is a collection of new and collected poems.

Klara du Plessis is an award-winning Canadian South African writer, scholar, and literary curator. Her debut multilingual poetry collection Ekke, recipient of the 2019 Pat Lowther Memorial Award, was published by Palimpsest Press. She is also the author of poetry and essay collections, Hell Light FleshUnfurl, and most recently, Skin and Meat Sky. She is a PhD candidate in English Literature at Concordia University and lives in Montreal, Canada.