Mafika Pascal Gwala is a contemporary South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 and editor

Editing

Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...

, writing in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and Zulu

Zulu language

Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...

.

Mafika Gwala was born and grew up in [Verulam] North of Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

, KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....

. He spent most of his adult life in Mpumalanga Township, west of Durban. He has worked in a factory as a clerk, an industrial relations officer, a high school teacher and a guest university lecturer aside from writing and editing. He also has an MPhil in Politics from the University of Natal

University of Natal

The University of Natal was a university in Natal, and later KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, that is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It was founded in 1910 as the Natal University College in Pietermaritzburg, and expanded to include a campus in Durban in 1931. In 1947, the university...

 and was a researcher at Manchester University.

Gwala was active in the struggle against Apartheid and a leading light of the 1970s Black Consciousness movement of which he says:

His work is characterised by a rhythmic musicality he attributes to the Zulu language. In 1991 he edited and translated into English a collection of Zulu writing entitled Musho! Zulu Popular Praises. He currently lives in Mpumalanga Township, Hammarsdale.

Works

Poetry

• Jol'iinkomo. (1977)
• No More Lullabies. (1982)

Edited

• Black Review. (1973)
• Musho! Zulu Popular Praises. With Liz Gunner (Michigan State University, 1991) ISBN 0-87013-306-3

External links

• The jive poem
• Interview at Chimurenga Online
• Interview & poem at Mail & Guardian Online