South African poetry since 2014

Book launches at Poetry in McGregor 2022

October 14, 2022

We’re having two book launches this year at Poetry in McGregor, deep in the (not-so-warm) bosom of the Western Cape. Come see Douglas Reid Skinner and Nondwe Mpuma read on the morning of Saturday 19 November. More information here.

About uHlanga

uHlanga is a small South African poetry press run by Nick Mulgrew.

Our books are available to order from all retail bookstores in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Our distributors are Protea Distribution in Cape Town and can be reached at +2721 001 7618.

Outside of South Africa, many of our books are available print-on-demand through the African Books Collective.

On social media

“As we settled into the Amazwi amphitheatre, the chatter from audience and performers filled the autumn air. Deep baritone hums wafted through the crowds, setting the stage for what was to come. A few moments later, MC Adam Levin welcomed the audience to the first poetry showcase hosted at Amazwi Museum in collaboration with the South African Poetry Projects (ZAPP), Poetry NonScenes, and the Rhodes University Department of Literary Studies in English. This showcase marked the end of a two-day poetry workshop aimed at encouraging young writers to tell their stories through their poetry.” Thank you to Mmathabo Maebela, Relebohile Mohapi and Thubelihle Mathonsi of Grocott’s Mail for this article, which you can read at our 🔗 in bio. #uHlanga #GrocottsMail #press #media #PoetryNonScenesPoems #Amazwi #SouthAfricanPublishing #poetry #poems

uHlanga is proud to present ‘a corpse is also a garden’, the first English poetry collection by @pietermodendaal 🌸🌾 “Pieter Madibuseng Odendaal is one of the leading young Afrikaans poets of his generation. In this, a self-translated selection of poems from his first two collections, readers in English get to experience Odendaal’s stunningly confident and self-deconstructing work for the first time.” Odendaal’s understated, precise style exhibits a maturity beyond his years – whether he is reckoning with the hideous deeds of his ancestors, the tribulations of young love, or the various everyday beauties and horrors of modern South Africa. These are poems that affirm our deepest and most profound connections, both with each other and our environments – the places that birth us, and the earth to which we all return. 🌿🫛 Available in August, you can read more about ‘a corpse is also a garden’ now: https://uhlangapress.co.za/pieter-madibuseng-odendaal-a-corpse-is-also-a-garden #uHlanga #CorpsePoems #poet #poems #PieterMadibusengOdendaal

In 2014, uHlanga was born as a small poetry magazine from KwaZulu-Natal. There were too few places that celebrated South African poetry, especially that of writers just starting out. We began publishing books in 2015. Ten years later, we’ve published both debut writers and established voices. We’ve seen our books win national and international prizes, live on in syllabuses, and be pressed into the hands of new readers who whisper, “This one changed me.” We’ve spent a decade building a home for South African poetry that is bold, quiet, strange, familiar, brave and yes, beautiful. To everyone who has submitted, published, read, stocked, reviewed, taught, shared, or loved an uHlanga book — thank you. Here’s to ten years of poems. And to whatever comes next 📚 #uHlanga #TenYearsOfUhlanga #poetry #poemspoemspoems