Don Beukes Reads...

Who is NWASA? https://nwasa.org.za/meet-the-team/

Abdul MogalePresident

Former member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development in the City of Ekurhuleni where he led the adoption of the Aerotropolis Model as a core strategy for city development. He is the former NWASA Treasurer and author of the poetry collection titled – Warriors, King & Queens Of Africa.

JahRose Nthabiseng JaftaDeputy President

Poet, author, publisher, book distributor and founder of Bloemfontein poetry festival – Poetic Blues, Jahrose will continue to use her platform to create employment opportunities and stages for poets and creatives all across the country.

Dr. Lebogang Lance NawaSecretary–General

Former Congress of South African Writers (COSAW) President for two terms; Deputy Chairperson – COSAW PWV; member of various editorial committees/boards and author of two works of fiction (titled: Through the Eye of the needle & Wandering Tributaries). Holds several awards in poetry, has a short story – Bundle of Joy – made into a film and has written lyrics for Vusi Mahlasela.

Saul Kgomotso MolobiCultural Diplomacy & Strategic Alliances Portfolio

Marketing and communications specialist, published author and a poet with a background in journalism and book publishing. Holds an MA in Dramatic Arts (Wits) and MSc in Global Marketing (Liverpool).

Kabelo Duncan KgateaOrganisational Building and Development 

Founding member of Book Tourism, an imprint of CEM Publishers, and an independent publishing house with 22 titles, 4 of which were authored by the member. 1 won a PanSALB award in the 2016/2017 Xhosa poems category and 4 of the titles have been listed in the Gauteng Department of Education and training library catalogue as teacher-leaner resource material.

Vonani BilaPublishing, Editorial & Mentoring

Holds an MA in Creative Writing (cum laude) from Rhodes University, South Africa. Bila is a driving force in South African poetry – founding editor of the Timbila poetry journal, publisher of Timbila books and founder of Timbila Writers’ Village, a rural retreat centre. In 2013, he edited New Coin, a poetry journal that is published by the Institute for the Study of English in Africa, Rhodes University.

Keith GottschalkNWASA Literature Institute

Retired political scientist and poet. He served on the Cape executive of the Congress of SA Writers, (COSAW) during the 1980s. His book of prison and protest poems, Emergency Poems, came out in 1992. In 2021 he published Cosmonauts do it in Heaven, a collection of spaceflight & astronomy poems.
Keith also chairs the Lansdowne Local Writers’ Group; the Off the Wall Poetry volunteers, and the New Contrast literary magazine.

Abigail GeorgeCampaigns and Projects

Pushcart Prize and two time Best of the Net nominated Abigail George is a South African-based blogger at Goodreads, essayist, poet, playwright, grant, scriptwriter, novella and short story writer. She briefly studied film at the Newtown Film and Television School in Johannesburg. She is the recipient of writing grants from the National Arts Council in Johannesburg, the Centre for the Book in Cape Town and ECPACC (Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture Council) in East London. Her writing has appeared numerous times in print in South Africa, in various anthologies, and online in e-zines based across Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Ireland, and the United States including Wales, and Singapore.

INTRODUCING REHANUL HOGUE

Born in the village of Majkhuria in Bangladesh, Rehanul Hoque started by writing poems at an early age. Falling ‘upon the thorns of life,’ Rehanul takes refuge in the lap of nature. He also seeks pleasure in playing with words. He believes beauty is religion and literature can build a habitable earth by promoting harmony and truth together through the appreciation of beauty. He dreams of a future ruled only by love.

Rehanul’s works have appeared in different journals, magazines and anthologies like The Wagon Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, The Penwood Review, The Pangolin Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, The Piker Press, Cacti Fur, LUMMOX 9, Literary Yard, NAT SCAMMACCA CULTURAL MAGAZINE, AZAHAR REVISTA POETICA, Asian Signature, North Dakota Quarterly, The Cyclone will End, and Love in Summer.  He was selected Best of the net nominees by Scarlet Leaf Review in 2020.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1 Tell us about your poetry from a young age and who or what inspired you.

2  How did you arrive at this striking topical Title?

3 Are you able to compare the lifespan of a Refugee to that of Catfish?

4 What does the symbolism of water mean to you?

5 Please give your interpretation of '"Life in a pond can be tricky" (to navigate) and "sea of humanity"

6 What message do you have for those who disturb fragile ecosystems?("Humanity soon comes to the lake")

7 What are your views on the issue of 'human removals', and barriers to migration which could enrich nations?

8 Please link the idea of "migratory birds" to the ongoing flow of human migration and how it might link into themes in your story.

9 What is your response to racist rhetoric labelling migrants fleeing persecution and hunger and war?

10 Finally, please give your views of the astonishing metaphor you used in the words,"They saw objects resembling hooks/containing delicious food/tied to lines/All the fishes thought it to be a great feast/offered by/someone in the sky/they happily scrambled to swallow the hooks /only to get hooks pierced into their mouths"

Brief Bio

Born in the village of Majkhuria in Bangladesh, Rehanul Hoque started by writing poems at an early age. Falling ‘upon the thorns of life,’ Rehanul takes refuge in the lap of nature. He also seeks pleasure in playing with words. He believes beauty is religion and literature can build a habitable earth by promoting harmony and truth together through the appreciation of beauty. He dreams of a future ruled only by love.Rehanul’s works have appeared in different journals, magazines and anthologies like The Wagon Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, The Penwood Review, The Pangolin Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, The Piker Press, Cacti Fur, LUMMOX 9, Literary Yard, NAT SCAMMACCA CULTURAL MAGAZINE, AZAHAR REVISTA POETICA, Asian Signature, North Dakota Quarterly, The Cyclone will End, and Love in Summer.  He was selected Best of the net nominees by Scarlet Leaf Review in 2020. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1 Tell us about your poetry from a young age and who or what inspired you.

2  How did you arrive at this striking topical Title?

3 Are you able to compare the lifespan of a Refugee to that of Catfish?

4 What does the symbolism of water mean to you?

5 Please give your interpretation of '"Life in a pond can be tricky" (to navigate) and "sea of humanity"

6 What message do you have for those who disturb fragile ecosystems?("Humanity soon comes to the lake")

7 What are your views on the issue of 'human removals', and barriers to migration which could enrich nations?

8 Please link the idea of "migratory birds" to the ongoing flow of human migration and how it might link into themes in your story.

9 What is your response to racist rhetoric labelling migrants fleeing persecution and hunger and war?

10 Finally, please give your views of the astonishing metaphor you used in the words,"They saw objects resembling hooks/containing delicious food/tied to lines/All the fishes thought it to be a great feast/offered by/someone in the sky/they happily scrambled to swallow the hooks /only to get hooks pierced into their mouths"

Published by Morten Rand of Novelty Fiction.

THE GIRL IN THE STONE

About the Book

The book talks about a trip, in all its dimensions. It is a book that talks about wholeness, about Humanity and its interaction with themselves, with others and with Nature. It becomes clear that Beukes is trying to explore every trace of human experience. Joy and loss, hope and despair, individuality and completeness. Everything fits and has a place in this book, as it entirely mirrors the innermost core of vital experience. So, little by little, the reader realizes that the poems begin to be narrated from an "I", but then they go to a universal "we" and from this to a cosmic conscience. The vision widens and it
comprehends the entire vital transit. Don Beukes is a British and EU Poet and writer, originally from Cape Town, South Africa. He is a Poetry Chapbook Reviewer at The Poetry Café. He has written Ekphrastic Poetry since 2015 collaborating with artists internationally. He is the author of ‘The Salamander Chronicles’, ‘Icarus Rising-Volume 1’ (ABP), an Ekphrastic collection ‘Sic Transit Gloria Mundi’ (Concrete Mist Press), ‘In Pursuit of Poetic Perfection (eBook) and ‘The Girl in the Stone’ (Impspired Publishing). He taught English and Geography in both South Africa and the UK. His poetry has been anthologized in numerous collections and translated into Afrikaans, Persian, French, Kreole (Mauritius) and Albanian. He was nominated by Roxana Nastase, editor of Scarlet Leaf Review for the ‘Best of the Net’ in 2017 as well as the Pushcart Poetry Prize (USA) in 2016. He was published in his first SA Anthology ‘In Pursuit of Poetic Perfection’ in 2018 (eBook) (Libbo Publishers) and his second, ‘Cape Sounds’ in 2019 (Gavin Joachims Publishing Cape Town). He is also an amateur photographer and his debut Photographic publication appeared in Spirit Fire Review in June 2019.

AMAZON

 https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Stone-Monte-Arabi-Collection/dp/191413057X/ref=sr_1_13?qid=1672700855&refinements=p_27%3ADon+Beukes&s=books&sr=1-13

Biography of Emelda Kayser-Nel:

Emelda was born and bred in Uitenhage, now known as Kariega, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Eldest of 6 children, to Elizabeth (Betty) and Nico (Pannie) Kayser - both deceased.

Obtained a B.A  degree and Higher Diploma in Education at the University of the Western Cape.

Divorced in 1999, after a marriage of only 2 years, and raised her daughter Tiffany alone, by the grace of God.

Teacher for the last 30 years at St.Colmcille Secondary School teaching mainly Afrikaans Home Language and History and being Head Of Department for Social Sciences. Recently moved to another school, called McCarthy Comprehensive School in Kariega, as Head Of Department for Languages.

Emelda always had a love for writing, art and music and has been writing poems since primary school. The love for reading and writing has been instilled by both her parents.

Two paintings has been part of an art exhibition for beginners, at the St. Georges Art Gallery in Port Elizabeth, now Gqebergha. Other hobbies include gardening, running, nature hiking, photography, interior design, drama, performing at open mic evenings, spiritual dancing at events, choreography of dance routines, organizing events,etc

A photo of Emelda also appears in a Grade 8 Oxford Technology textbook. As a keen local model back in the day, photos of participating in modelling shows appeared in different newspapers.

In 2020 Emelda started "The Art Of Language" Programme. These workshops were aimed at learners, unemployed youth and people with disabilities. Participants were taught a range of different skills of writing different genres. These activities are being compiled in bookform.

Emelda also occasionally runs workshops for the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture (DSRAC), and edit manuscripts as well.

In 2018 Emelda launched her first poetry book, consisting of 40 poems, on general life issues, happiness, sadness, success, death, abortion as well as nature, etc. The 40 poems are symbolic of the Biblical 40 days, a meaningful spiritual period of choices and change.

2018 also marks the year where Emelda was the main adjudicator for the Sunday's River Valley Provincial Arts Festival.

2022 she was also part of a panel where different schools participated in poetry and debate.

2022 was a good year, as Emelda was also one of 10 artists that represented the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro at the Literature festival in Makanda, Eastern Cape, South Africa, where she performed poems on Gender Based Violence. Another aspect of society  that is close to her heart and therefore she always tries to bring awareness and change on these issues.

In 2021 she led an awareness campaign on GBV at the marking centre she was at.

Also in 2021, two of her poems on the feared Corona Virus was published in ISIVIVANE MOKOLOTOTWANE, Volume 9. This book is an anthology of poems of different poets, and is published in Province of the Eastern Cape, by the Department Of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture.

Soon her life story will be shown in film, as done by Foolproof Entertainment , directored by Whanie Lewis.

Despite various disappointmets in her life, she stays focused towards a better futere , because she knows what it feels like to be lonely, down and out and depressed. With her poems, she strives to give a glimpse into her own life and make others realize that there is a better future after divorce, hurt and pain.

Hello, my name is Eugene Skeef. I’m a London-based South African poet, percussionist, composer, educationalist, mentor and creative workshop leader. I also work in conflict resolution, act as a consultant on cultural development, teach creative leadership and am a broadcaster.

I am the Artistic Director of Umoya Creations, a charity I set up with my partner Azra Kayani to facilitate my international work.

I can trace the cultivation of most of my work to my upbringing in Clermont Township in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as my time as an activist alongside Steve Biko and others in the Black Consciousness Movement during Apartheid in South Africa.

My interest in poetry began very early in my life. I began reading at two, and by the time I was five I started writing poetry, which I shared with my fellow pupils at primary school. Not long after that I was writing dramas at secondary school, mainly themed on the inequalities of Apartheid and the associated poverty of the community I grew up in.

I had a gift for drawing and painting, which I also applied to my activism as a young man. For instance, I drew the original clenched fist symbol of the Biko-led Black Consciousness Movement. I also used screen-printing to produce freedom slogans on t-shirts as a university student.

I was forced into exile in 1980. That’s how I landed in London, where I quickly became a part of the anti-apartheid activism with a host of other exiled South African artists. Soon after my arrival I became Director of Oval House Music School, where I developed my unique workshop method that I took to the rest of the world. I was instrumental in developing the education departments of some of the major UK orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, the London Sinfonietta and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

When Nelson Mandela became President of the newly democratic South Africa, I began making a series of return visits as a way of transplanting my education workshops back to the communities where the original inspiration of my techniques was rooted. 

Paperbacks are currently available directly from

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orchestrated-plan/

Inner Journeys – Shop 9, Edenglen Shopping Centre,

Edenvale

Profounder books – 181 Corlette Drive, Bramley,

Sandton

Exclusive Books: Mall of Africa, OR Tambo airport;

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Bridge books _ 98 Commissioner St, Marshalltown,

Johannesburg, 2001

Books Books Books South Africa

Ebooks available on Amazon-Kindle/ Goodreads /

smashwords/ Nook / books2read

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfectly-Orchestrated-Plan-

Karnagie-Govender-ebook/dp/B09B83FH8C

This book may compare with Conversations with God _

Donald Walsh and some of the spiritual aspects

mentioned in Eat, Pray, love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Marketing completed 1. Featured in local community paper – Rising sun

2. Featured in Post newspaper

3. Featured in online magazine called I am Warrior

4. Podcast on radio Lotus

5. On-line book launch – family dance similar to

Cosby show intro.

6. Book launch – personal

7. Videos about book by author

8. Book launch with Durban book fair

Who is Abigail George?

Bio:

South African Abigail George (born 1979) has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize ("Wash Away My Sins"), and Best of the Net awards for her poetry published in Deaf Poets Society and an essay published in Synchronized Chaos.

She is a blogger (African Renaissance published in Modern Diplomacy, another blog in Goodreads, Great Health Watch, News Line Plus), editor, aspirant filmmaker, playwright, poet, essayist, chapbook, novelist, novella, grant, and short story writer. She briefly studied film at NFTS (Newtown Film and Television School) in Johannesburg.

She was educated in Port Elizabeth and Swaziland. She is the Contributing Editor for African Writer Magazine based in New Jersey, and an editor at Mwanaka Media and Publishing that is situated in Zimbabwe. She writes op-ed pieces for local newspapers, and has written columns for a national travel magazine Go and has one forthcoming in Weg.

Her latest books are "The Scholarship Girl: Life Writing", "Parks and Recreation", "Of Smoke Flesh and Bone: Poems Against Depression" (Mwanaka Media and Publishing), and "Anatomy of Melancholy" (Praxis), a chapbook which was released in 2020. Her next books will be published by Scarlet Leaf Publishing and Gazebo Books. She was interviewed by the BBC Radio 4. In the meantime she is working on a gbv screenplay. She also wrote for a symposium for a year for Ovi Magazine in Finland.

Her latest book is Letter to Petya Dubarova released by Gazebo Books (Australia) and her publisher is Xavier Hennekinne. She is the editor of The Migrant Online. She is the Portfolio Head for Campaigns and Projects for the National Writers Association of South Africa and is currently working on satellite libraries and applying for funding.

She recently completed a creative writing course with the award winning South African Writer Finuala Dowling called I Remember: A short course on writing from memory to brush up on and hone her writing skills.

She worked briefly for Mikale Barry's In Motion Film Media Arts Productions and Projects production company, the Johannesburg-based producer Joe Phiri of PJ Media, Shelley Barry's Twospinningwheels Productions, Rafieka Davis' Swirlcose Productions and is currently engaged with writing scripts for short independent films for actor/producer/director Raymond Mateza's production company Empire Media.

Letter to Petya Dubarova was Pick Of The Week in The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and The Age. It was mentioned in the August Gleaner 2022. She is the writer of twelve books. Four poetry books, one self-published collection of short stories, a book of life writing, two collections of short stories, two novellas, two e-books available for free download from the Ovi Bookstore. Her African publisher is Tendai Rinos Mwanaka. Her Canadian publisher is Roxana Nastase.

She was a keynote speaker, panelist and ran a poetry workshop at the Mandela Bay Book Fair Roadshow in 2021 September. This year she was invited to the Deep South Writing Retreat and spent a week on a farm outside Makhanda/Grahamstown alongside Joan Metelerkamp, Siza Nkosi, Alan Findlay and Mxolisi Nyezwa. She was interviewed about her book "Letter To Petya Dubarova" by Professor Darryl Davids at the Madibaland World Literary Festival held in Richmond from the 2-5 November 2022.

Ek is gebore in die destydse sendingstasie Bethelsdorp, as Barend Peter van Vuuren. Ek het grootgeword in n kliphuis,en my passie was lees. Gedigte voordra is n liefde.

Gedigte voordra wat ek self skryf het alreeds op laerskool begin. Ek het verskillende gedigte van my in skoolnuus,plaaslike koerante en later digbundels gepublisiseer.

In die vroee neentigs het ek na George teen die Suidkus van Suid-Afrika verhuis. Hier het ek met verskillende jeuggroepe en digtersgroepe saamgekom. Talentvolle jongmense soos, Jason Hartman (Hakiesdraad Hartman),n Rapper het ook my pad gekruis.

Gedurende hierdie tyd het ek ook vir Floris Brown, n befaamde digter van die Breederivier-vallei digters-vereniging in die Boland ontmoet. Ons het sommige keer in Kaapstad of Stellenbosch  ontmoet, en hy het ook n digbundel publiseer waarin ek ook n paar gedigte het . Een keer was ons saam by n  byeenkoms waar Adam Small, een van my grootste digters in die Afrikaanse Taal gehuldig was.

Ek het ook in die 90tigs gaan optree by die eerste SA'got talent show , met n gedig wat ek self geskryf het. Hierna het ek ook lid geraak van Selwyn Millborrow se digtersgroep. Ek tree ook dikwels op by sosiale en skoolgeleenthede.

Hulle was Mnre Trevor Donald Lee,op laerskool, Hyt my  laat resitasies opse dat ek glo Eugene Marais in sy graf op n wintersnag sou  opstaan. Dan Mnr Sameul Snayer,my hoèrskool onderwyser en klasonnie in st.10. Hy is nog steeds my mentor en 'n aansporing vir my

Heath Brougher is the Editor-in-Chief of Concrete Mist Press and co-poetry editor of Into the Void, winner of the 2017 and 2018 Saboteur Awards for Best Magazine. He received Taj Mahal Review’s 2018 Poet of the Year Award and is a multiple Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. He was awarded the 2020 Wakefield Prize for Poetry. He has published 11 books and, after spending over two years editing the work of others, is ready to get back into the creative driver seat. He has four books forthcoming in 2022.

Don Beukes was born in Athlone in Cape Town, South Africa. He spent his childhood in Elsies River and Belhar and graduated at the University of the Western Cape with a BA Degree in English and Geography in 1992 where he also studied Psychology. He then qualified as a teacher with a Higher Diploma in Education (Post-Graduate) in 1993. He is a retired teacher of English and Geography and taught for Twenty years in both South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Don's debut collection of poetry, 'The Salamander Chronicles', was published in December 2016 by Creative Talents Unleashed, dealing with a range of themes such as oppression, bullying, politics, globalism, sexism, abuse, birth, death, refugees, as well as racism, having been born, raised and educated during the last two decades of Apartheid. His second book 'Icarus Rising - Volume 1' published by Alien Buddha Press, is a collection of Ekphrastic poetry with most of the poems based on original artwork and close collaboration with artists from South Africa, America and the UK.His new collection of Poetry and Flash Fiction, 'Sic Transit Gloria Mundi/Thus Passes the Glory of this World' was published in December 2020 by Concrete Mist Press and Heath Brougher and reached #3 in African Literature under 'New Releases'. His writing journey was shaped during the last ten years and only came to fruition in May 2015 when he collaborated with a well known South African comedian and artist, Casper De Vries for an ekphrastic poetry exhibition (in absentia), based on selected artwork by Mr. De Vries for the 'Aapstrak Vat 5 Art Exhibition' at the Alice Art Gallery in Ruimsig, South Africa in both English and Afrikaans.

His poetry has been published in numerous literary magazines and journals in the USA, Canada, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines, as well as in various anthologies. Some of his poems have also been translated into Albanian by Irsa Ruçi and in Farsi by Soodabeh Saeidnia as well as Afrikaans. He has been nominated for 'Best of the Net 2017' by the editor of Scarlet Leaf Review, Roxana Nastase for his trilogy, 'Esorfo Ygolirt/Trilogy of Rose'.

Kyle Coare (A Severe Case of Writer's Blog)

Is a Poet and author from Leicester, England

When he was young, he dreamed of writing but as so often is the case real life got in the way.

He suffered with addiction and mental health problems until they almost took his life. Spending lengthy spells in hospital.

after recovering. Then he became reclusive, hiding from the world.

Roughly ten years later, in a fit of self-loathing and introspection he decided to put his pen to paper and start trying to find out who he was one word at a time.

Now he writes daily, often shining his light on mental health or society as a whole.

He tries to combine poetry and storytelling, with some humour and some dark edges.

But is just as comfortable writing about love and hope, as he is loss and hurt.

His work can be dark, but through the darkness there is always light.

He has 6 Poetry collections available at the time of writing. All available through Amazon and Waterstones.

Come Fly with Death is a chapbook of 20 ekphrastic poems inspired by the artwork of the late Polish painter, Zdzislaw Beksinski. Up until the time of his murder in 2005, Beksinski created a fantastic collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and photographs, specializing in the field of utopian art. Like Beksinski’s works, the poems contained here are surrealistic and graphic. They are at times horrific, Gothic, even erotic, and apocalyptic. Above all, they attempt to serve as a rare glimpse into the heart of our most beautiful nightmares. It Contains reprints from The Horror Zine, Twisted Dreams Magazine, Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine, Indigo Rising Magazine, as well as the anthologies, Gothic Poems and Fiction, Death Head Grin Anthology Vol. 2, and Fossil Lake: An Anthology of the Aberrant. Also included are several poems never before published

In this, his second chapbook, Wesley D. Gray establishes his earned status a ‘Speculative poet of Holocaust, Fallout and Decay’ in ‘Tears on the Glass Desert’. Gray invites us to “savor the final three seconds before Doomsday” and to “step through the shattered glass door leading beyond The End and walk through the veil of an apocalyptic dreamscape”, in his chapbook of twenty-four poems that “speculate on both the inevitabilities and the impossibilities of nuclear holocaust, the fallout it brings and the aftermath of its Decay”

We even become witnesses to an actual ‘countdown’ lasting over three sequences packed with astonishing and realistic poetic acumen in this almost cinematic literary journey of what we might fear the most; the end of this world as we know it.

In the opening first sequence, ‘Three to Ignition’, we are involuntarily plunged into the last three seconds of humanity in the first poem, '23:59:57’. We are lulled into almost a hypnotic state by clever use of rhyming, “chime/shine” almost melodic. Gray certainly creates a feeling of utter dread of time seeping out, a prequel to the end.

The author continues to lull us whilst under our inevitable ‘hypnotic state’ in the poem 'Mushroom State’ as in “igniting the nighttime”, using assonance to fool our senses even our awareness of the subject matter. This unique ‘tug-of-words’ using language poetically expertly evident in, “our bodies flail within the flames and waving like an ocean of enraged kelp.”

This collection is certainly not for the faint-hearted of gore, guts and grime yet at the same time, they can maybe discover the beauty of language and narrative in this sensory yet almost tactile offering of an imagined nuclear Fallout and the decay afterwards. This can be seen in the poem, ‘Covet’, “When our bones were crushed into the asphalt dream as I watched you turn to liquid and your marrow soak into earth”, as well as in the line, “My breath melts the frost from wilted tips of dead men’s lips”, from the poem, ‘Skin of Faces’.  It continues with, “ash caskets rain from Eden’s Skyline”, from the poem, ‘Prisoner Zero’. This continues in the poem, ‘Witness to a Schoolyard Buriel’ in the line, “Atomic children stir below the grasses, continuing education in soil spit” and also in the poem, ‘Impressions’, “gullies filled with flakes of flesh, their fodder-formed whispers curdled, weaved in dust.”

At this point, I forgot just for a moment that I was not locked in some Imax Movie theatre watching the latest new release.

Gray’s command of the aesthetics within language in this genre is no fluke, nor is it accidental. In his first Chapbook, ‘Come Fly with Death’ – Poems Inspired by the Artwork of Zdzislaw Beksinski (Marrowroot Press), the author already established his poetic essence as in the poem, ‘One in Hell’, in the line, “My heart still beats inside your chest, ribs stripped of flesh, your heart mingles, tickles my skull.”  Also in ‘Dead Sweet Love’, in the line, “My lover’s corpse her skull rests in my own dead hands.” Additionally in the poem ‘Nightmare Dreamer’, “Fused into the mold of lost temples, a shroud of flesh wrinkles across his lap” and finally in the poem, ‘Scavenger’ in the line, “I sense a tormented heat and breathe the charring scent of their flesh throughout the night.”

Don Beukes

Selwyn Milborrow’s bio – for Don Beukes’ podcast

Audio introducing yourself & your platform

I am an author, poet, screenwriter, publisher and YouTuber. My most recent awarded was the 2021

Living Legend Award by the South African Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture. My

award was in recognition of my hard work in community development as a conveyor of knowledge

and access to information, commitment, passion, and pioneer work in Language & Literature. It is an

honour when your country shows appreciation for one’s contribution to the arts, cultural & creative

Industry.

For the past 20 years I was involved in convening workshops for the youth and also doing adult

writing skills development. I presented literature (poetry and storytelling) workshops to learners in

the Grahamstown district during the national art festival held there annually. I focused on English,

Afrikaans, and isiXhosa languages as mediums for literature development at libraries in rural areas. I

published 5 books and co-authored 4. Two of my books published by Vivlia Educational Publishers

were prescribed for high schools. My Afrikaans poetry is used by the University of Wisconsin-

Milwaukee in the United States to teach American students Afrikaans.

Click here to read and listen to his poetry on the languages site of the University of Wisconsin-

Milwaukee https://www.afrikaans.us/afrikaans/culture/op-afrikaans/poesie/selwyn-milborrow-

1967/

I have a Youtube channel Selwyn Milborrow. I have the MasterClass Writers IG and Facebook pages

as well as the same for Milborrow Media.

*Your vision for assisting 'authors of colour' in EC&SA

Apartheid really messed up non-whites’ lives. It has set us as Coloureds back almost 500 years.

Today, almost 30 years after apartheid’s scrapping people of colour has been struggling to find their

place in the sun. As a young man I was told that I did not stand a chance to get published by

established white South African publishers. I ignored the warnings and had to experience the doors

being shut in my face personally. I told myself that this was wrong, but that nobody will open a

publishing door for me. I managed to get the attention of the big publishers and newspapers only

after self-publishing my work and sharing it online. This experience made me realise that my fellow

brothers and sisters of colour will walk down the same path of humiliation. I had to do something.

More than 10 years ago I started Milborrow Media and MasterClass Writers group. It would work

parallel with each other by offering writing workshops to develop writers of colour and then publish

them when they were developed and ready to impact the word around them. I have done

collaborations with you Don, and two other MasterClass Writers namely, Bevan Boggenpoel and

Leroy Abrahams. It really opened doors in the world of arts and culture for us all. That is my vision

for every writer out there still being given the cold shoulder by established publishers.

Trilogy of Em

Red Mist

Here comes that red mist again. Lingering in the crevices of my failing being. I need to remember to control my breathing, if just for a fraction longer than the last time. It's thickening now. Swirling around my head like a bubbling lava cauldron, spitting fiery embers each time I attempt to escape through it – I cannot fail again. If I am ever going to get her out of my head, I will just have to get through this and stop doubting myself. ''Shut up, stop trying to read my empty thoughts. I will not let you in!'' Damn her, just as I was beginning to gather the strength and willpower to bury her deeper than ever before, I allowed her serpent voice to make me question myself yet again. This is not good at all. No, something will have to change drastically if I am to leave this ivory fortress. The sudden crack in my head must be the voice again. ''Attention, all lights will be switched off sooner than you think. If anyone even as much as breathe discontent or vile revolutionary thoughts; you will spend the night in the oval.'' Not again. Not now. Not when I've worked so hard to convince my minder guarding my exit that he and his loved ones will not be safe unless I leave this hell-fest tonight. I can manage to fight off the two of them from last night but I have felt another brave tormentor wanting to break through the red dust scattered in my head. My defences are weakening. I fear that lack of sleep will be the death of me this time but it is vital for me to keep her at bay tonight.''Stop that grinding metallic croak of yours! I am willing to destroy you tonight. Your occupation of me is not welcome anymore – Get out, get out!'' This is not good. The liquid walls are bending inwards. This time I will surely drown in this abyss. How did I allow myself to disintegrate like this? This brittle vacuous shell is all that's left of my former self. Even my murky memories are splintered, warped – vacant. I can hear a familiar tapping somewhere between the walls or is it emanating from the pipes underneath the floor? I need to lie down. My breathing is slowing down – But how can I? This will be my only chance. Even 'the oval' will be a generous end compared to where she will banish me to if I don't get out of here tonight. Wait, was that a key in the lock? ''No, I'm not ready. This is not what I've planned. I refuse!'' Dear self…It's me, Em. I am engulfed by ruby cauliflowers pricking my every nerve. It took me a while to find you again but your calm echo found me. I'm so tired, too many layers to burn through. There's kindness here with you. No creatures to mock and sneer. I must admit, I miss you terribly; so much so that my tears burn deep scars down my face, missing your loving understanding embrace. I sometimes faintly hear you from your deep dungeon where she banished you to, weeping for us. How I long for the day we will be reunited once again, this time to ensure victory, the final slain. I can see through the red mist but only briefly. Promise me you will find the key. Let us prepare for her final hour, her rotting reverie. I will meet you soon. It's almost time…With languishing love, Em ''Welcome Mr and Mrs Lemarchel. Is this your daughter? I'm sure we can get her confidence back. My team does ground- breaking work in the oval. You will not regret this...''

Preface

Each one of us has a unique origin, culture and belief system, which despite our religious and linguistic differences, does not change the fact that we are one human nation. We all have emotions that are guided by our inherent moral compass, however much we protest against it.

Modernity has changed life for billions of us in the time we live in now, despite economic, religious and personal constraints. Politicians might control how we live, how we integrate in society or how we as a global society should function but most of us interact with each other by pure instinct and a sense of commonality.

We rejoice when a baby enters this world and mourn when that life comes to an end, which makes us reflect on our spirituality. We protest against injustices, social decline and inept leaders governing our lives, but we also enjoy what this life, this existence has to offer. Some of us lose our way and seek out false welcome prophets to soothe our human melancholy with detrimental consequences.

This collection deals with a myriad of human emotions and experiences. It speaks about the status of this global village and of personal existential journeys but also nature, love, loss and laughter. Let us marvel in the glory of this world but also be realistic about our biological clock ticking away as we deal with the loss of loved ones, sometimes without any warning, like an invisible veil they pass through, reflected in the title 'Sic Transit Gloria Mundi...’

Preface

Each one of us has a unique origin, culture and belief system, which despite our religious and linguistic differences, does not change the fact that we are one human nation. We all have emotions that are guided by our inherent moral compass, however much we protest against it.

Modernity has changed life for billions of us in the time we live in now, despite economic, religious and personal constraints. Politicians might control how we live, how we integrate in society or how we as a global society should function but most of us interact with each other by pure instinct and a sense of commonality.

We rejoice when a baby enters this world and mourn when that life comes to an end, which makes us reflect on our spirituality. We protest against injustices, social decline and inept leaders governing our lives, but we also enjoy what this life, this existence has to offer. Some of us lose our way and seek out false welcome prophets to soothe our human melancholy with detrimental consequences.

This collection deals with a myriad of human emotions and experiences. It speaks about the status of this global village and of personal existential journeys but also nature, love, loss and laughter. Let us marvel in the glory of this world but also be realistic about our biological clock ticking away as we deal with the loss of loved ones, sometimes without any warning, like an invisible veil they pass through, reflected in the title 'Sic Transit Gloria Mundi...’

Don Beukes was born in Athlone in Cape Town, South Africa. He spent his childhood in Elsies River and Belhar and graduated at the University of the Western Cape with a BA Degree in English and Geography in 1992 where he also studied Psychology. He then qualified as a teacher with a Higher Diploma in Education (Post-Graduate) in 1993.

He is a retired teacher of English and Geography and taught for Twenty years in both South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Don's debut collection of poetry, 'The Salamander Chronicles', was published in December 2016 by Creative Talents Unleashed, dealing with a range of themes such as oppression, bullying, politics, globalism, sexism, abuse, birth, death, refugees, as well as racism, having been born, raised and educated during the last two decades of Apartheid.

His second book 'Icarus Rising - Volume 1' published by Alien Buddha Press, is a collection of Ekphrastic poetry with most of the poems based on original artwork and close collaboration with artists from South Africa, America and the UK.

His South African publication debut of fourteen exclusive poems was published by Libbo Publishers in August 2018 with three other prominent SA authors Bevan Boggenpoel, Leroy Abrahams and Selwyn Milborrow in a unique anthology 'In Pursuit of Poetic Perfection', which upon release went to number 1 in 'African Literature' on Amazon Kindle.

He was also published in 'Cape Sounds', an Anthology bringing together writers from Cape Town, South Africa.

His new collection of Poetry and Flash Fiction, 'Sic Transit Gloria Mundi/Thus Passes the Glory of this World' was published in December 2020 by Concrete Mist Press and Heath Brougher and reached #3 in African Literature under 'New Releases'.

His writing journey was shaped during the last ten years and only came to fruition in May 2015 when he collaborated with a well known South African comedian and artist, Casper De Vries for an ekphrastic poetry exhibition (in absentia), based on selected artwork by Mr. De Vries for the 'Aapstrak Vat 5 Art Exhibition' at the Alice Art Gallery in Ruimsig, South Africa in both English and Afrikaans.

His poetry has been published in numerous literary magazines and journals in the USA, Canada, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines, as well as in various anthologies. Some of his poems have also been translated into Albanian by Irsa Ruçi and in Farsi by Soodabeh Saeidnia as well as Afrikaans. He recently collaborated with internationally renowned cartoonist, artist and animator, Nanda Soobben, from Durban in South Africa; as well as Jonel Scholtz, Amitabh Mitra, Shameeg Van Schalkwyk and Vakseen, a Vanity Pop artist based in Los Angeles, USA.

Claudine is a Registered Dietitian with the Health and Care Professions Council in the UK. She has

over 13 years of clinical experience in the National Health Service, in both an acute and community-

based setting. She previously worked as a Dietetic Practice Educator and Lecturer and is currently

working as a Health and Wellbeing Dietitian, in a primary care network. She has expertise in a range

of health conditions, and has a special interest in personal leadership empowerment and Health

Literacy. The last 7 years she has dedicated to pioneering the nutrition landscape in Sickle Cell

Disease. Claudine has published a number of articles on the topic and has authored the worlds first

National Nutrition Standards for Sickle Cell, commissioned by the Sickle Cell Society. She was the

keynote speaker for the inaugural Nutrition in Sickle Cell Conference in London and is leading on a

Schools Education and Awareness Campaign about sickle cell and nutrition, in London, UK. Claudine

holds a master’s degree in Healthcare Education and Clinical Leadership and currently completing

her Professional Doctorate degree, aiming to integrate nutrition into sickle cell healthcare provision.

Welcome to my debut Tester Podcast. Please let me know what you think and I hope you will tune in next time!

- Don Beukes