MBALI XULU MAKES HER MARK!

When Ghana’s Ama Ata Aidoo published her wonderful work, Our Sister Kill Joy decades ago, the world warmed to the work, and still continues to praise it. Although more of a novel it was the powerful, lyrical lines of poetry in the book that grabbed most of the critical attention and praise. This shows that Africa’s women writers have always been able to churn out memorable poetry.

South African women have also been holding their heads high in the genre of poetry. The men of course seem to be streets ahead in this wise, but it is certain that more and more women are making their mark as poets. For many years Karen Press has been a formidable figure in poetry in the country; in recent times the likes of Lebo Mashile, Napo Masheane, Ntsiki Mazwai, Nthabiseng (Jah-Rose) Jafta have taken their rightful places as laudable female bards too, displaying “tongue-twisting immaculate diction”

Now Mbalenhle (Mbali) Xulu has published her debut collection of poetry titled “THE UNDYING SPIRIT OF A WOMAN”. The book is published by New Voices Publishing in Cape Town. The new author is understandably proud to have joined the vibrant ranks of female writers in the country

In an interview with fellow poet, author and columnist, “handsome” H Kunene, Xulu said, inter alia:

“I guess writing has always been part of me, but it’s just that maybe I didn’t realise then that it was a talent. As child I was very reserved and was the kind of child that wasn’t able to stand up for myself and was also very, very shy. That is when the writing had a role, whether I was sad or feeling left out (you know how cruel kids can be in their own way), or my mom had just given me a smack or I was cross for whatever reason, I’d resort to jotting down what I thought of the situation or how I was going to go about dealing with the situation at hand. That time it wasn’t mostly poetry, but it would just be a one line phrase trying to console myself or even a paragraph with positive thoughts…In 2008 we had an Aids Day function at work and there wasn’t much on the program, and it surely looked like it was going to be boring, so I decided to write something. That’s when I did my first complete poem called; I REFUSE TO GIVE UP, which is in my book, The Undying Spirit of a Woman. (This book) is my first book to be published, and at the moment I’m working on the second one for married couples called, Marriage that Actually Works…”

A warm welcome from the literary fraternity to Mme Xulu!

- Malome Eric