Metaglossia: The Translation World

More than a fifth of the population speak isiZulu at home, according to the Census 2011 results released on Tuesday.

Jacana Media is proud to announce the forthcoming publication of a South African classic, Sounds of a Cowhide Drum / Imisindo Yesighubu Sesikhumba Senkomo by Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali.
Originally published in 1971 by Lionel Abrahams’ Renoster Books, it quickly became a classic but has been unavailable for many years. The new edition carries a simultaneous isiZulu translation of the poems, and a new foreword by Nadine Gordimer.
“Not surprising that Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali, with his deep understanding of the human psyche, master of the ultimate in communication – undreamt of by Twitter – the poet’s power to reach from the conscious to the depths of the subconscious, has added to Sounds of a Cowhide Drum in this new edition the beat of poems written in his mother tongue, isiZulu.”
– Nadine Gordimer, Foreword to Sounds of a Cowhide Drum/Imisindo Yesighubu Sesikhumba Senkomo by Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali
“Poetry is the language of emotions and a medium for articulating feelings, opinions, ideas, thoughts and beliefs. Much more than an artistic pastime, it is the spiritual repository of human dreams which originate from the depths of the subconscious.”
– Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali, The Light of the Poetic Spirit, SGI Quarterly
About the author
Dr Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Southern Africa English Academy Poetry Award in 1971, the London Poetry International Award in 1973 and the South African Lifetime Achievement Literary Award (SALA) from the Department of Arts and Culture in 2007. He taught at the New York City College of Technology and is founder and deputy headmaster of Pace Community College in Jabulani, Soweto. Having worked in the United States for many years, Mtshali returned to South Africa and now lives in Soweto.
Book details...

http://jacana.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/09/05/jacana-releases-new-edition-of-oswald-mtshalis-sounds-of-a-cowhide-drum/

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