Rootbound Poetry Book Launch: August 31, 2025

Join us at Bridge Books Barbican as uHlanga Press launches the debut poetry collection from Johannesburg-born, Seoul-based poet, Manthipe Moila. 

How does one grow in a new place, in a new language? Is it possible to grow new roots, or does pain forever bind us to the past? Drawing on the botanical environment – as well as a self-made jungle of houseplants – Moila meditates on memory and loss, the thrills of exploration, and the journey of becoming. A fresh, inventive and essential new voice in South African literature.

A collection long in the making, Rootbound is a captivating debut that follows a young woman as she finds her place between the blossoming South Africa of her past and the blustery South Korea of her present.

Manthipe Moila will be in conversation with author and performance artist, Kopano Maroga.

The launch will be at the Bridge Books Barbican, 89 Helen Joseph Street, Marshalltown, at 1pm.