Ten Flapping Elbows, Mama by Khulile Nxumalo

" I have tried to be fully aware of the legacy that we carry of poetry on the page, by being aware of style and form all the time, especially when trying to make language do new things. In what I call psycho-narration, I try to write beyond the understanding that the 'inside of one's head' and 'the objective world' are really distinct worlds. This is a form I have grown to love more since I started preferring the long poem format that sits on a conversational tone. It's a multi-vocal way of writing or telling stories in a less authoritative way, a kinda voice democracy in the poem. If we let go beyond rational thought -- or even the idea that rational thought is a reflection of reality -- then anything can happen."

Khulile Nxumalo was born in Diepkloof, Soweto, in 1971. He lives in Johannesburg with his partner and two children, and pays the rent by working in television as a writer, researcher, and director. His poems have been published in South Africa, Canada, the UK, and the US.

Title: ten flapping elbows, mama

Author: Khulile Nxumalo

Publisher: Deep South

Paperback, 93 pages

ISBN: 9780958454261