Book Review – The Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology Vol VII

The Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology Vol VII (Jacana) ISBN 9781431425945

Each year the Jacana Literary Foundation selects a long-list of poems from South African poets in any of the official South African languages. The anthology is named after the political activist and writer Sol Plaatje. Through the poems a South African story is told.

In the introduction, Mongane Wally Serote writes that there is a silent scream in all of the poems. The essence of the poets’ lives is under threat. The role of the poets in society is that they don’t want us to forget.

The poems are in alphabetical order and at the back of the book you can find the biographies of all the poets. If not in English, the original is printed with an English translation next to it.

Poetry is something to be savoured. That’s why I have this beautiful anthology on my desk to read slowly. To inspire me and to stimulate my thoughts. One of the many poems that struck a chord with me was First People by René Bohnen: The Tankwa is so silent, one can hear the stars shine…

Highly recommended.

Pauline Vijverberg
5/5