South Africa: A Tribute to Keorapetse Kgositsile, South Africa's Poet Laureate

analysis

Memories of Keorapetse Kgositsile (1938-2017), or Bra Willie, as he was affectionately known, are of a poet who always had a smile on his face, who exuded gentleness, and was soft-spoken. He died on Wednesday.

In his schooldays Bra Willie (78) managed to get access to African American poets Langston Hughes' and Richard Wright's poems. This was no mean feat in apartheid South Africa when schools for African children either didn't have libraries or they were poorly-stocked, and African students were denied access to literature deemed to be "seditious". Even my "whites only" school library had no books with African-American poems, still less the apartheid English setwork books.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.