Mafika Gwala

Mafika Pascal Gwala (5 October 1946 – 5 September 2014) was a contemporary South African poet and editor, writing in English and Zulu.

Early life and education

Mafika Gwala was born and grew up in Verulam, north of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. He completed an M.Phil. in Politics from the University of Natal and was a researcher at Manchester University.[1]

Work and activism

He spent most of his adult life in Mpumalanga Township, west of Durban. He 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.

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

We didn’t take Black Consciousness as a kind of Bible, it was just a trend, which was a necessary one because it meant bringing in what the white opposition [to apartheid] couldn’t bring into the struggle. So much was brought into the struggle through Black Consciousness.[1]

Writing

In 1982, Gwala published a book of Black Consciousness poetry in a collection called No More Lullabies. 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.

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

References
  1. Far from forgotten Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine by Niren Tolsi (ZA@PLAY) October 6, 2006


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.