South African poetry since 2014

Athambile Masola wins NIHSS Award for Poetry, Kopano Maroga shortlisted

April 1, 2022

We’re proud to announce that Athambile Masola’s debut collection of poems in isiXhosa, Ilifa, has won the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences award for Best Fiction (Poetry). An amazing result for poetry in isiXhosa!

In addition, Kopano Maroga’s collection, Jesus Thesis and Other Critical Fabulations, was named on the shortlist.

The awards were announced at a ceremony on 31 March 2022 at the Javett-UP Arts Centre. Thank you to the judges and organisers, and congratulations to the other winners.

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. From 1 October 2025, all of our books are represented to the trade by Blue Weaver and distributed by Booksite.

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

On social media

“But sickness, like the toilet, swallows sweepingly, with little to no carre when I whinge that it’s just so unfair as if this was the only time loss and living would meet; as if worse things weren’t happening mere metres down the street.” – Genna Gardini ‘Matric Rage’ is Genna Gardini’s reckoning with youth, womanhood and mortality. With hyper-literate, humorous and often heartbreaking poems, Gardini signalled a wind change in South African poetry – where the personal is not just political, but polemical, too. In sickness and sex, misogyny and manners, this is a collection that, above all, showcased – when it was published in 2015 – and still showcases, a powerful writer coming unapologetically into her own. ⚘ Commended for the 2016 Ingrid Jonker Prize 📗 Make it yours at our link in bio. #uHlanga #poetry #poemspoemspoems #GennaGardini #poet #MatricRagePoems

uHlanga is proud to present ‘Kruiper-Crawler’, the debut poetry collection from Shane van der Hoven 📗🪲 “In this, their debut, @shanevdh explores both the sprawling Lowveld and the decaying South African city through the metaphor of the Biblical crawler – the grotesque, misunderstood and unfairly maligned creatures of the earth and scrubland. Besmet met ironie en literêre verwysings, mag Kruiper-Crawler se eksoskelet taai en stekelrig lyk. Maar, breek deur tot die sagte binneste en bevind jouself in ’n wêreld van selftwyfel en taalkundige onsekerheid, ’n diep liefde vir die onbekende, en, in die kern, ontdek ’n jong digter watter soort wese hulle moontlik is.” 🕷️ Available in December, you can read more about ‘Kruiper-Crawler’ now at our link in bio. 📷: Amandla Singqoto / Edition Events / LEGACY #uHlanga #KruiperCrawlerPoems #ShanevanderHoven #PoetryCollection #poetry #poet #poems #NewBook

From today, 1 October, uHlanga now distributes our books through Blue Weaver and Booksite. Trade customers in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana can now order through Blue Weaver, and soon all of our books in print will be available to purchase from mzansibooks.co.za 📚 #uHlanga