Kyle Allan appointed editor of New Coin

Well-known KZN poet Kyle Allan will edit the poetry journal New Coin from January 2019.

Kyle lives in Himeville in the southern Drakensberg area of Kwa-Zulu Natal. His poetry has been widely published in South African literary journals, and he is the author of two books of poems: House without walls (2016) and The space between us (2018). He performs his poems with musicians from different genres including jazz, kwaito, and maskandi. He has read and performed in most South African poetry festivals and has himself organised some local arts festivals and literary events.

About his plans for New Coin, Kyle says: “I will build on the strong work done by the two most recent editors, Gary Cummiskey and Dashen Naicker, who have published a vigorous range of poetry and have shown themselves to be unafraid of diverse and experimental work. A South African literary journal has to recognise our landscape for its pluralities.

'I want to be open to the unexpected.” Kyle also plans to build a stronger media presence for New Coin; to feature forgotten or underrated poets from the past; and to publish poetry from other South African languages in English translation.

He will look for ways to present the intersections of the written and spoken word. “I’d like to ensure that New Coin has a presence at literary festivals and at popular spoken word events. This will bring the magazine to new audiences and introduce spoken word audiences to poets they might not have come across. At the same time I want to introduce New Coin readers to some of our strong spoken word voices, most of whom are underrepresented in print publications.”

New Coin, founded in 1965, is published twice a year by the Institute for the Study of English in Africa (ISEA) at Rhodes University.

To subscribe (R245 a year) email isea@ru.ac.za or call 046 603 8565.
To send poems to the editor: newcoin@ru.ac.za.

Forwarded as is from the ISEA