Le Souffle de Cocteau: a collage by Bruno Sourdin

Mail art: envelope from Bruno Sourdin

Give me a coloured pumpkin

New title from BlekSem, in collaboration with Botsotso Publishing and Dye Hard Press: donga

donga is a selection of poetry, short fiction, interviews and essays from what was one of South Africa's first literary online journals (2000-2003).

With 32 contributors, donga  contains work by writers such as Lionel Abrahams, Robert Berold, Lauren Beukes, Nadine Botha, Toast Coetzer, Gary Cummiskey, Graeme Feltham, Richard Fox, Stacy Hardy, Stephen Hofstatter, Aryan Kaganof, Bernat Kruger, Joan Meterlerkamp, Ike Mboneni Muila, Pravasan Pillay, Lesego Rampolokeng, Arja Salafranca, Kelwyn Sole, Ivan Vladislavic and Paul Wessels.

donga is edited by Alan Finlay and Paul Wessels, and is published by BlekSem, in collaboration with Botsotso Publishing and Dye Hard Press.

320 pages.

ISBN: 978-0-620-52779-8

For more information and direct orders, contact Alan Finlay at bleksembook@gmail.com. donga will soon retail at bookstores.

Comrade Babble: a play by Allan Kolski Horwitz

Allan Kolski Horwitz's play Comrade Babble looks at the life and times of Brett Kebble, the controversial mining magnate who perpetrated the biggest corporate fraud in South African history and then was killed in 2005 in an 'assisted suicide'.

Comrade Babble stars David James and Lebohang Motaung, and will be performed at The Market Laboratory in Newtown, Johannesburg, from May 4 to May 13. Tickets: R70, students and block bookings R40. Telephone 011 832 1641 or 082 512 8188 for more information.

Allan Kolski Horwitz's new collection of poems, There Are Two Birds At My Window, and  new collection of short fiction, Meditations of a Non-White White, are to be published by Dye Hard Press shortly.

Where the dreamers go to dream

Call for submissions: Poetry for the Rhino

Following an overwhelming response from poets around the world eager to support efforts to combat the sickening trade in rhino horn that threatens the imminent extinction of this wonderful and ancient animal, poems are now invited for a proposed anthology on the theme (working title only) of Rhino in a Shrinking World.

It is hoped to publish later this year a book of superb poetry about or inspired by rhinos and their habitat, all the proceeds of which will be used to support the fight against rhino poaching in Southern Africa.

Guidelines:

Poems, which may have been previously published, do not have to be specifically about the rhinoceros’s current plight. Excellent poems that celebrate this magnificent animal and its habitat, or that are concerned more generally with the natural world (especially but not exclusively African), or that reflect upon the role of humans in the natural world, will be welcomed and considered. In short, feel free to interpret the theme broadly and creatively.

There is no preferred style or form – the poetry may be as diverse as the natural world that inspires it – and no stipulation as to length, although it may not be possible, for reasons of space, to accommodate extremely long poems. I anticipate that almost all poems will be in English but if you write in another language please include a suitable translation.

Deadline for submissions:  Friday 15^th June 2012 – but please submit earlier if possible.

Please submit one or two poems as a Word attachment (12pt Times New Roman) to Harry Owen heo@hotmail.co.uk with the words “Rhino poetry submission [your surname]” in the email’s Subject box. Exceptionally, you may send your submission to the address below to arrive by the deadline.

Include the poet’s name, full contact details and acknowlegement, where appropriate, of previous publication. You should also include separately a short biographical note.

NOTE: There is no fee required to submit your poetry and no payment is offered for inclusion in this anthology. Every poet whose work appears in the anthology will receive a contributor’s copy. Please understand that although the editor will read every submitted poem very carefully, submission of a poem or poems does not guarantee acceptance.

All proceeds will go into a fund for preserving and protecting rhino at the Kariega and Amakhala reserves in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.

More information: http://www.kariega.co.za/about-us/help-save-our-rhino-project

Thank you for submitting your work.  Thank you for caring.

Harry Owen

23 Somerset Street

Grahamstown 6139

South Africa

Head on Fire: Rants/Notes/Poems 2001-2011 by Lesego Rampolokeng

 ISBN: 978-0-9870282-0-4. 

Published by Deep South, Grahamstown,2012.

For order details, email r.berold@gmail.com

Quick - pull down your veil!

Jack Kerouac's Visions of Cody...The Long Road, by Kevin Ring

Published by Beat Scene Press, 2012. Visit www.beatscene.net for order details.