In the Heat of Shadows

<p>South African poetry today is charged with restlessness burstng with diversity. Gone is the intense inward focus required to deal with a situation of systematic oppression the enclosing effort of concentration on a single predicament. While politics and identity continue to be central themes the poetry since the late 1990s reveals a richer investigation of ancestors and history alongside more experimentation with language and translation; and enduring concern with the touchstones of love loss memory and acts of witnessing.</p><p>In the Heat of Shadows: South African Poetry 1996-2013 presents work by 33 poets and includes some translations from Afrikaans isiXhosa isiZulu Sesotho and Xitsonga. This collection follows on from Denis Hirson’s 1997 anthology <em>The Lava of this Land: South African Poetry 1960-1996</em>.</p>