OSWALD MTSHALI - FIREFLAMES IN SOUTH AFRICA

1980. Soft cover; 63 pages. Very good condition. Slightly bumped upper corner. Minor edgewear. Under 1kg. Illustrated with woodcuts by various African artists Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali was born in Kwabhanya (Vryheid), KwaZulu-Natal in 1940. After completing secondary school in he went to Soweto hoping to study social work. Apartheid legislation prevented his enrolment but he studied via correspondence, obtaining a diploma with Premier School of Journalism and Authorship, affiliated to London University. He worked as a messenger in Johannesburg, drawing on his observations of the city to write the poems that became his first collection, Sounds of a Cowhide Drum. Published by Lionel Abrahams of Renoster in 1971, with a foreword written by Nadine Gordimer, this book went on to become the best-selling poetry book in South African history. Following the extraordinary success of his debut, Mtshali went in 1974 to study at the International Writers’ Program at the University of Iowa. This was followed by undergraduate studies at the New School of Social Research, and an MFA from Columbia University. His second collection,  Fireflames, was published in 1980, whilst working as a deputy headmaster at Pace Commercial College in Jabulani, Soweto. With it overt criticism of the government, it was banned. After a stint working for the South African Council of Churches he returned in 1988 to Columbia University to pursue his doctoral studies. He taught in the USA until his return to South Africa in 2007.