“Through Multiculturalism We Become Better Humans”: A Conversation with Vonani Bila, by Ming Di

“Through Multiculturalism We Become Better Humans”: A Conversation with Vonani Bila, by Ming Di Interviews [email protected] Thu, 06/13/2024 - 15:21 Vonani Bila with his mother and his son. Courtesy of Mark Waller, 2010.Vonani Bila (b. 1972) grew up in Shirley Village, Limpopo province, South Africa, from where he used to walk fourteen kilometers daily to Lemana High School in Elim. He is a poet, essayist, cultural activist, founding editor of the poetry journal Timbila, publisher of Timbila Books, curator of the Vhembe International Poetry festival, and founder of Timbila Writers’ Village, a rural retreat center for writers. He has been instrumental in promoting marginalized poets and has become an iconic figure among the poets of his generation in South Africa. His poetry continues the tradition of South African resistance poetry of the 1970s and 1980s, blended with postmodernist experiments. He is the author of eight storybooks in English, Northern Sotho, and Xitsonga for newly literate adult readers; two children’s books; co-compiler of a Xitsonga monolingual dictionary with M. M. Marhanele, Tihlùngù ta Rixaka (2016); and is currently a lecturer in English at the University of Limpopo. He holds an MFA in creative writing (cum laude) from Rhodes University and is currently a PhD candidate (creative writing) at Wits University. His poetry books include No Free Sleeping (1998) (with Donald Parenzee and Alan Finlay); In the... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2024-06-13 20:21:36 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "“Through Multiculturalism We Become Better Humans”: A Conversation with Vonani Bila, by Ming Di"


Jacqueline Wilson ‘very wary’ of writing adult Tracy Beaker novel

Author says she won’t revisit the beloved character because it would seem ‘inappropriate’ to discuss her sex lifeJacqueline Wilson has said she would feel “very wary” about writing an adult novel about Tracy Beaker “because it would seem inappropriate that we would learn about her sex life”.Last... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-05-30 15:19:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this


6 Must-Read Middle Grade Novels in Verse

As a teenager, I remember reading my first novel in verse. I never expected to like poetry. But just a ... Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2025-05-29 11:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Club Books at the Biggest Public Libraries

The books include thee book of 2024, a mystery with a 20-year-old case, and a meditation of the granularity of relationship dynamics and identity. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2025-05-27 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Honor Jones on Exploring the Lasting Effects of Childhood Trauma

Feature image © Sarra Fleur Abou-El-Haj. There are echoes of Virginia Woolf throughout Honor Jones’ masterful, exquisitely crafted first novel Sleep, which explores the ways in which a childhood trauma haunts her main character, Margaret, and those around her. The novel opens with scenes of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-27 07:15:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Donal Ryan on Embracing the Evolution of Language While Preserving Its Essence

Thirteen years ago, my first novel was published. One of the first reviews it received on Amazon dismissed me as “just another Irish mouther of words.” I was, I have to say, more than a little bit insulted. I am circumspect to the point of obsession about the language I use when I write.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-21 08:53:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


On Translating Your Own Novel *Back* Into Your Mother Tongue

Andreas Roman is the author of the newly released The Greatest Game of All (Flare Books), his first novel in English. A native speaker and writer of Swedish, Roman wrote The Greatest Game of All in English, then assisted its translation into Swedish for publication before revising the English... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-16 08:58:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hinge Drops a Romance Anthology to Help Gen Z Believe in Love Again

Hinge created an anthology of real love stories that will run on Substack and as a physical book. Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2025-05-12 08:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Publisher behind hit bilingual poetry book on A470 turns to Welsh rivers

Arachne Press says Afonydd (Rivers) was inspired by success of A470: Poems for the Road/Cerddi’r FforddIts volume of bilingual poetry celebrating the A470 road, which zigzags through Wales, proved a surprise hit.Inspired by the success, an independent publisher is releasing another anthology in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-05-05 10:17:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Playing with words: why novelists are becoming video game writers – and vice-versa

While the novel remains a high-status cultural form, video game writing is still seen as a throwaway art – despite some of the biggest names in fiction being involvedI’ve been working in games for a little more than 15 years, and the main thing I’d say about it at this point is that it’s a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-04-30 08:00:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


At 13, Charlotte Brontë Already Knew How Good a Writer She Would Be

An anthology of her teenage poetry, published for the first time, shows ambition, even if the verse isn’t perfect. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2025-04-25 19:47:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Read With Jenna Book Festival is Coming

The first ever Read With Jenna Book Festival announcement, a 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU Broadway musical, a trans youth magazine, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2025-04-24 15:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Gillian Anderson announces ‘even more daring’ follow-up to bestselling book of sexual fantasies

Sex Education star calls on women to send in their anonymous submissions for a second volume of her 2024 title WantGillian Anderson has announced a follow-up to her bestselling anthology of female sexual fantasies, Want, with the hope that it will be “more international, and even more... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-04-23 10:00:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Freaky Tales: this gory 80s-inspired anthology film is all surface and no substance

Playing on a sort of fabricated nostalgia for the 80s, this film presents a version of the period that lacks any real insight or depth. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2025-04-18 11:56:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this


'Black Mirror could just run and run', says Charlie Brooker

The unsettling tech-driven anthology is back for a seventh series and there's no shortage of material. Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2025-04-08 23:11:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this