POETRY NONSCENES
New performance poems beyond the struggle
Compiled and introduced by Tom Penfold, Adam Levin
and Deirdre Byrne
November 2024
68pp
210mm x 148mm
ISBN: 978-1-0370-1148-1
This anthology was produced in collaboration with ZAPP and Poetry NonScenes, supported by the Johannesburg Holocaust Centre, the External Engagement Committee of the History Department of University College London, the University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa.
A collection of performance poetry from a range of the freshest South African voices -- school learners, university students, and working professionals.
Compiled from two workshops held in 2024, these poems show that the poetry of the stage is also of the page, covering an array of subjects and unrestrained by form. Edgy, experimental and passionate, here are diverse and dynamic reflections on the present moment in South Africa and the world, by those who will write its future.
Includes new performance poems by Shade K. Olugbosi, Dshamilja Roshani, Amanda Majola, Elizabeth Makanha-Dhliwayo, Kiara Braum, Denise Newfield, Rachel Freeme, Katlego Malema, Ivai Nyamutsamba, Sharon Rose, Tshegofatso Masemola, Nicole Best, Katlego Choshi, Delyne Nyasha Madziva, Kekana Phologo, Busisiwe Kgosi, Sabrina Alho, Ntokozo Twala, Ilanit Furman, Tania Nobantu Ngindana, Jolene Raison, Sandisiwe Dlamini, Olive Olusegun, Mpho Mametja, Imange Lobese, Choaro Letsoha, Diyoni Harisinghe, Leya Muthen, and Laeeqa Ebrahim.
This anthology contains poems that are meant to be performed and not merely read. Performances from the two workshops, many of which relate to poems within this collection, can be seen at www.poetrynonscenes.com and www.zapp.org.za.
About the editors
Tom Penfold is a researcher of contemporary South African poetry and performance culture. His 2017 monograph Black Consciousness and South Africa’s National Literature explored how Black Consciousness poets shaped the direction of South African politics. His History of Post-Apartheid South Africa will be published by Routledge in 2026. Tom has held teaching positions at University College London and the University of Birmingham. and is a Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg and the University of the Witwatersrand.
Adam Levin is a researcher in the Department of English at the University of the Witwatersand, and a senior member of the South African Poetry Project (ZAPP). His research focuses on how the academic field of memory studies can be utilised in studies of community engagement, education, and poetry. His work has been featured in Holocaust Studies, English Studies in Africa, Literature, Critique and Empire Today, and Safundi. Adam also serves as the Vice-Executive Secretary on the executive board of the International Network of Genocide Scholars (INoGS), and as a Research Associate of the African Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS).
Deirdre Byrne is a Professor of English at the University of South Africa, and the Director of ZAPP (the South African Poetry Project). Her research focuses on the representation of gender in literary texts, especially in speculative fiction and in women’s poetry. Her work has been published in Foundation and Extrapolation as well as in Education as Change. She has recently completed a co-authored book on the poetry of Jane Hirshfield. She has been writing poetry since she was a child.