POETS HOUSE PRESENTS A SOUTH AFRICAN POETRY FESTIVAL WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 1987 Readings by Dennis Brutus and Nadine Gordimer followed by a panel discussion: "The South African Writer: At Home and in Exile." with Dennis Brutus, Nadine Gordimer, Amelia House and Hbulelo Hzamane moderated by William Finnegan ********** TlnJRSDAY, APRIL 30, 1987 Readings by Keith Adams, Dennis Brutus, Julian deWette, Amelia House, Mbulelo Mzamane, Duma Ndlovu and Hein Willemse Introduction by Jayne Cortez ********** Exhibits in the Poets House Library* Photographs by David Goldblatt and Rashid Lombard Artwork by Selma Waldman *The Library will be open : ~ednesda1 from 9:30 - 10:30 p.m. Thursday: 2:00 - 7:00 p.m. and after the reading until 10:30 p.m. FESTIVAL AtmIORS (eith Adaaa was born in District Six, one of the many ghettoes of South Africa, and 11 ved there until the "Group Areas Act" forced the residents onto the barren plains of the Cape Flats. His high school and university education was interrupted frequently because of the turmoil in South Africa and numerous strikes and boycotts; he eventually completed his degree in the arts in 1981. His work has appeared in magazines, newspapers and anthologies, including Staffrider, The Voice, Ravan Press, and Vakalisa Publications. lie is a founding member of the Vakalisa Arts Associates, and a member of the Writers Forum and the African Writers Association. In 1985, he was co-organizer of the Anti­ Detentions Festival in Wynberg in Cape Town. Keith Adams is the winner of the Thomas Wilson Poetry Award. lie was recently awarded the Benjamin Moloise Scholarship by the African Arts Fund for study in the United States at New York University. Dennis Brutus is a widely-acclaimed poet whose volumes of poetry include Letters to Martha, A Simple Lust, Stubborn Hope, and the forthcoming Salutes and Cenaures. Born in Zimbabwe, Professor Brutus was raised in Domerville township, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. As a law student at the University of Witwatersand in Johannesburg, he became involved in the movement against racism in South African sports and was subsequently banned, arrested and shot by the South African secret police. lie was imprisoned for eighteen months at hard labor on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were held. Banned from writing after his release from prison in 1965, Dennis Brutus left South Africa on an exit permit and settled first in England before moving to the United States, where he was eventually granted asylum. lie is currently Chairlll8n of the Black Communi!.y EdUcation Research and Development Department at the University of Pittsburgh. The City College of New York hOllored Professor Brutus this month with the !.angston Hughes Award for his contributions to the world of arts and letters. Julian deWette is Chief of the North American Unit of the Department of Public Inforlll8tion at the United Nations. He has been living in the United States since 1973 and is a graduate of Sarah !.awrence College. A poet and novelist, Hz-. deWette published two books in South Africa -- The King in Foreign Parts and The Internalizing of Banning. His work has been published in a variety of journals; several of his poems can be 'found in the Thunders Mouth anthology, Somehow We Survive. He is currently working on a novel. Willie. Finnegan was born in New York and raised in California. He has lived, worked and traveled in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Central America. His first book, Crossing the Line, an account of his teaching and travels in South Africa, was chosen for The New York Times Best Book List of 1986. Mr. Finnegan has also written for a number of I118gazines and newspapers; he is now writing an article for The New Yorker about writers and journalism in South Africa. Kadioe Gordl8er is the author of many novels -and collections of short stories, including The Soft Voice of the Serpent, Burgher's Daughter, A Soldier's Embr~ and the newly released A Sport of Nature, published by Knopf. She collaborated with David Goldblatt on tiC et imes Under Apartheid, a book incorporating Goldblatt's photographs with excerpts from Hs. Gordimer' s fiction. Among the literary prizes she has received are the Booker prize and the French international award, the Grand Aigle d'Or. Ms. Gordimer was born and lives in South Africa; she has for I118ny years been prominent in the PEN Freetlom­ to-Write campaign. Amelia Blossom 1I0use was' born in Wynberg, Cape South Africa and now lives in Louisville, Kentucky. lIer poems, short stories and critical articles have been published in South Afr ica, England, Switzerland, New Zealand and the United States, in publications such as Presence Africain and Staffrider. lIer poems appear in the anthology Somehow We Survive and have been translated into French and Arabic. Ms. House has toured widely with performances of her poetry; during the Festival, she will be accompanied by jazz percussionist Earbie Johnson. Earbie Johnson, who accompanies poet Amelia House, is the Director of the Rajah Percussion Ensemble, which played for Bishop Desmond Tutu during his last visit to Louisville, Kentucky. Earbie Johnson has toured with jazz groups throughout the United States and Canada. lie is originally from Chicago; he has lived in Louisville for the last eight years. Hbulelo Hzamane, writer and scholar, was born in South Africa and attended the University of Botswana and the University of Sheffield. Among his books are two volumes of short stories -- My Cousin Comes to Joburg and Children of Soweto; his work has been anthologized widely by both Penguin and Ravan Press. In 1976, Mbulelo Mzamane was awarded the first Mofolo-Plomer Prize for Literature in Africa. A distinguished scholar of South African literature, Professor Mzamane has served as editor for books by poets Mongane Wally Serote and Sipho Sydney Sepamla. He has held numerous academic appointments; this year he is a Visiting Fellow in the Southern African Research Program at Yale University. Duma Ndloyu was born in Soweto, Johannesburg. lie worked as a journalist for The World Newspaper until it was banned by the government in October 1977. He was also the president of the Medupe Writers Association, which aided the development of young poets and playwrights. He left the country when that organization, together with 17 other black conaciousness organizations, was banned. lie then studied at lIunter College and worked with the Roger Furman Theater in IIarlem, where he produced "Woza Alberti" in 1984 and "Asinamalil," now playing on Broadway. Mr. Ndlovu has read his poetry to musical accompaniment allover the United States. In May he was featured at the Africun Visions Night at the United Nations along with Harry Belafonte, Letta Mbulu alld King Sunny Ade, among others. He is the editor of Woza Afrika!, an anthology of South African plays performed at Lincoln Center last fall. Dein WlllelllBe is the author of Land of AngUish, The Trojan Horse (interviews ,·n the 1985 Cape Town uprisings), and Black Afrikaans Writers (essay~); forthcoming is a book of poems, The Lay of the Land and a literary study, "1 he Afrikaner Intellectual Crisis." lie is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Western Cape and a member of Vakalisa Arts Associates in Cape Town. Hdn Willemse is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Mexico • • ****.**** A portion of Festival proceeds will benefit the AFRICAN ARTS FUND (AAF), which was established t'-'O years ago to assist artists fran South Africa to study in the United States. AAF concentrates solely on th.>se artists woo, because of apartheid, have no access to artistic training and are unable to extend their artistic horizons. All art forms are sponsored, fran fine arts to dramatic arts, to film, photography, IlUsic, poetry and dance. Fore IfOre infonnation, contact the African Arts F\Ind - 156 East 79tn5.treet, Suite 6A, New York, N.Y. 10021. FESTIVAL A.1ITlSl'S Dayid Goldblatt's latest book of photographs, Lifetimes Under Apartheid, a collaborative project with Nadine Gordimer, was recently published by Knopf. He has published two other books, Some Afrikaners Photographed and In Doksburg; his work can also be seen in the collection South Africa: The Cordoned lIeart. Rashid Lombard was born in 1951 in Port Elizabeth; in 1962 he moved with his family to Cape Town. He is trained as an architectural draftsman and works in a large construct ion company in Cape Town. As a freelance photographer, Rashid Lombard has worked for national and international newspapers. lie is a member of Vakalisa Arts Associates, an artists' collaborative, and his photographs are used by community organizations and presses, such as Grassroots. lie hils contributed to various group exhibits in southern Africa. including the University of Zimbabwe in 1983 and to Staffrider exhibitions in 1984 lind 1985. lIis photos have been included in the book, South Africa: The Cordoned lIeart. In 1986, Rashid Lombard was sponaored by the African Arts Fund to work with Magnum Photo Agency in the U.S. Rashid Lombard's photographs, including those exhibited here, are available for rental through South African Relief, Inc.: 25 West Street, Boston, MA. Tel 1:(617)423-6553. Selma Va I dman , B drawings and paintings are included in museum collections in the U.S. and in private collections in the U.S. and Europe. She has shown her work in one-woman and group exhibitions nationally, and as part of a traveling exhibit of selected Fulbright artists, in all the major cities of the Federal Republic of Germany. The body of Ms. Waldman's work include Falling Man: A Response to the Holocaust and illustrations for the work of South African poet­ in-exile Amelia lIouse.