Robin Malan

Steve Biko died in detention at the age of 30, leaving behind him not just a political movement but a liberating mirror for the black men and women of this country. This is evident in one of his essays, “Black consciousness and the quest for a true humanity”, and in several of his statements, including his testimony in the 1976 South African Student Organisation trial in Pretoria. All of these and more are contained in The Essential Steve Biko, is compiled by Robin Malan and published by David Philip in association with Mayibuye Books, University of the Western Cape. In all Biko’s work and statements, the Frantz Fanon influence can be detected. Even the concept of a black consciousness in liberating black people from their own psychological oppression is a cornerstone of Fanon’s argument. Be that as it may, Biko was undoubtedly the most articulate spokesperson for black people during the early 1970s. He could pinpoint problems black people were facing in this country at that time – their own feelings of inferiority and self-hate. At the same time, he could explain the role white liberals had in the struggle of black people. The book includes a biographical element in pieces by people who knew Biko, including Barney Pityana, Mamphela Ramphele and, of course, the late Donald Woods, on whose friendship with Biko the movie Cry Freedom was based.

Short, Sharp & Snappy 1 and 2 are two volumes of Southern African plays for high schools, published simultaneously by Junkets Publisher. ‘Plays are there to be performed.’ These are the first words in the book, and they spell out the intention, the promise and the fulfilment of this collection of 13 new plays. They should be played by young people in high schools in Southern Africa. The themes, the styles, the plays are often raw, gritty, even uncomfortable. Whether worked through in fierce realism, or played out in jaunty comedy, or handled through images more abstract and symbolic, these are plays for young actors to get their teeth into, and – above all else – find the reality, the truthfulness, of these scattered shards of life lived at this time in this place. The playwrights range from experienced writers for the stage to those for whom this is their first play; in age they range from 16 to 76; they come from a wide spread of places in Southern Africa, from Kwekwe to Simon’s Town and from Olievenhoutbosch to Schoenmakerskop.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the South African Council for English Education, this collection brings together the work of writers who either edited English Alive or were originally published in English Alive. Now they are active writers - poets, playwrights, novelists, print journalists, radio journalists, TV scriptwriters. They have contributed from their work a variety of pieces - truly a celebration of writing - that range from travel writing in verse through eye-witness accounts and poems and diary-entries and movie reviews to biographical and historical investigation and writing for teens and for children. And each writer offers a short reflection 'On Writing'. Some of South Africa's foremost writers are joined here by new voices, and the collection is graced by a gift contribution from South Africa's first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Nadine Gordimer.

Serves as programme for the first performance at the Actors' Centre, Johannesburg Civic Theatre, Braamfontein, on 25 November 2005, and as complete text of the play.

Yes, I am! is a collage of what it is like to be South African, and male and gay. The experiences of some forty writers come together, in stories, poems, letters, diary-entries, SMSes and emails ...

What’s it like when people at school start saying things about your brother? What do they mean when they say he’s a bit ‘funny’? But Missy knows better. She knows her brother’s funny – she laughs at him all the time – and she doesn’t care if other people say he’s a bit ‘funny’. And then something happens that isn’t funny at all … This teen novel deals unselfconsciously with a young girl’s experience of having a brother she adores who happens to be gay. As well as the joys of having such a brother, she is made to experience cruel homophobia. The theme of gayness has rarely been the subject of teen fiction in South Africa. Significant predecessors have been the work of Barry Hough in Afrikaans, and Robin Malan himself in The Sound of New Wings and in several of the novels in the Siyagruva Series, of which he was the Series Editor.

A collection of stories about and from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Mozambique since 1960, is a vibrant collection, chosen to reflect lived experience of these places in these times - surely the most exciting and most productive period in the history of Southern Africa and its literature. This collection was first published in 19 and has become a favourite of teachers and students. It has now been updated, and also contains teaching suggestions and new points for discussion.

All young people dream about what they want to do with their lives. But what if you've studied for six long years to be a doctor and then discover what you really want to be is ... a poet. But young Keats had never had it easy, and life didn't get any better when he was dismissed as an uneducated 'upstart Cockney poet' who came from the 'wrong side' of town. But through it all, John's sunny cheerfulness and his party-animal enjoyment of life kept him surrounded by loving friends. It was precisely when, at long last, success and recognition and love seemed within his grasp, that tragedy struck...

This companion discusses all the major poems in Worldscapes and New Inscapes. It provides the vocabulary students need to discuss poetry, background information for each poem, questions and notes which enrich students' understanding of the poems, suggestions for discussion topics and further study, ideas to stimulate students' own writing.

A 'hands-on' approach to poetry, this workbook assists teachers and students to examine the inner workings of poetry critically and analytically. 'User-friendly' in design and very accessible to students with English as a second language, it encourages students to investigate both the general issues and the technical detail of some 60 poems by mainly South Africa writers, with some Zimbabwean and Mozambican poems also included. By singling out ideas generated by the published poems, the author urges students to write their own poems. Robin Malan has acquired a considerable reputation not only as an educationist but also, from his extensive knowledge of Southern Africa literature, as a compiler of anthologies. He was for many years head of the English department Waterford Kamhlaba College in Swaziland and now lives in Cape Town.

This guide puts young gay guys in the picture about what to do and how to do it in order to enjoy good, safer gay sex. "Clear, clever, funny, sexy and so so so needed." - Pieter-Dirk Uys

New Outridings is a lively, entertaining and challenging selection of contemporary verse, much of it originating from southern Africa and reflecting the experiences of people in our changing society. Support material provides background and assistance to teachers and learners.

No Place Like is a selection of short stories that provide insights into the frontiers between the old and new and traditional and modern cultures. The stories focus on the lives of men and women in living in southern Africa.

The fact that ten gay-themed plays written by South African playwrights since 1994 can be collected in a two-volume anthology tells you something about the burgeoning of gay plays that took place in the wake of the 1996 South African Constitution. For the first time ever anywhere in the world, the Constitution explicitly outlawed any form of discrimination based on, among other things, sexual orientation. For gay people in South Africa, that was a hugely significant moment. These plays serve to illuminate that brave legislative act conferring dignity. Plays included: - Robert Colman Your Loving Simon 2003 - Peter Krummeck iVirgin Boy 2005 - Amy Jephta Other People’s Lives 2011 - Nicholas Spagnoletti Special Thanks to Guests from Afar 2012 - Pfarelo N. Chomi 2013

Short, Sharp & Snappy 1 and 2 are two volumes of Southern African plays for high schools, published simultaneously by Junkets Publisher. ‘Plays are there to be performed.’ These are the first words in the book, and they spell out the intention, the promise and the fulfilment of this collection of 13 new plays. They should be played by young people in high schools in Southern Africa. The themes, the styles, the plays are often raw, gritty, even uncomfortable. Whether worked through in fierce realism, or played out in jaunty comedy, or handled through images more abstract and symbolic, these are plays for young actors to get their teeth into, and – above all else – find the reality, the truthfulness, of these scattered shards of life lived at this time in this place. The playwrights range from experienced writers for the stage to those for whom this is their first play; in age they range from 16 to 76; they come from a wide spread of places in Southern Africa, from Kwekwe to Simon’s Town and from Olievenhoutbosch to Schoenmakerskop.

There are five plays included, all of which have won either Awards or Nominations at the Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival between 2006 and 2010. This is the first anthology of plays in The Collected Series, and so the start of a valuable library of new South African plays. Junkets Publisher was the winner of the Arts & Culture Trust Excellence Award for Literature in 2009. The following plays are included: - Ashraf Johaardien: Happy Endings are Extra - Juliet Jenkin: The Boy Who Fell from the Roof - Pieter Jacobs: Dalliances - Fiona Coyne: Careful - Gideon van Eeden: Myth of Andrew & Jo