Keorapetse Kgositsile’s Homesoil in My Blood – a selection from his life’s work – out soon from Xarra Books

A new book of poetry by Keorapetse Kgositsile will be out soon from Xarra Books.

The book, titled Homesoil in My Blood: A Trilogy, is a selection of poems from Kgositsile’s life work, featuring a foreword by Mandla Langa.

Homesoil in My Blood marks an interesting turn towards publishing for Midrand-based online retailer Xarra Books.

Kgositsile was born in 1938, and spent 29 years in exile, mainly in the United States. He returned to South Africa in 1990, and was named South Africa’s Poet Laureate in 2006. In 2008, he was awarded the national Order of Ikhamanga Silver for ‘excellent achievements in the field of literature and using these exceptional talents to expose the evils of the system of apartheid to the world’.

Kgositsile’s poetry includes Spirits Unchained (1969), For Melba (1970), My Name Is Afrika (1971), The Present Is a Dangerous Place to Live (1974), Places and Bloodstains (1975), When the Clouds Clear (1990), If I Could Sing (2002) and This Way I Salute You (2004).

… I remember
the taste of desire
crushed like the dream
of ghetto orphans rendered
speechless by the smell
of obscene emasculation
but this morning
the sun wakes up
laughing with the sharp-edge
birth of retrieved root
nimble as dream
translated memory rides
paste and future alike

Coming Soon …
Keorapetse Kgositsile’s lifework – Homesoil in my Blood.
A poetry trilogy, that takes you back in time and swings you back to timeliness!

Xarra Books goes into publishing! The story of hunting is being told by the lion. This is only the beginning … pic.twitter.com/8lJsxrh1gD

— Xarra Books (@xarrabooks) November 23, 2017