Duimnaelsketse is die tweede bundel wat sy ontstaan het in my liefde vir die kwatrynvorm. Die eerste een was Weerlig van die ongeloof wat in 2011 verskyn het. Die kwatryn met sy gedronge segging wat uitloop op ‘n epifanie, ‘n insig, die een of ander soort onthulling, is saam met die sonnet (waarmee dit raakpunte het) een van die gewildste versvorms en kom voor in die werk van die antieke skrywers tot die hede. Die vorm is gepopulariseer deur Omar Khajjam met sy Roebajat. My ervaring is dat die kwatryn saam met die skryf van ander, langer verse ontstaan, dikwels doen ek dit as vingeroefening om skryffiks te bly. My kwatryne dek al die temas wat in my werk voorkom: liefde, erotiek, kuns, die natuur, en die dood. Ek dink ook die kwatryn bevredig die moderne tydsgees waar mens nie altyd die tyd het om aan die lees van ‘‘n langer vers of bundel te bestee nie. Dit dien as ‘n soort voëlvlug oor die temas waarmee die digter gemoeid is.  

EISBN 9781928530244  EPUB

Epub

EISBN: 9781928530268

Funeral service and insurance provider AVBOB, through its sponsorship of the AVBOB Poetry Project, gave South Africa the gentlest, most inclusive act of bereavement support in the form of an online poetry competition open for all 11 official languages. In a first of its kind ever poets old and new were asked to submit poems on loss, grieving, love and consolation in their mother tongues. Eleven editors, one for each language were appointed to read through 20744 entries and select the best poems for publication on the online website, avbobpoetry.co.za. From these, in each language, a winning poem as well as a follow-up poem were chosen for the Avbob Poetry Prize. As part of Avbob’s Centenary celebrations a volume of poems was put together consisting of 100 poems with English translations. In each language seven poets were commissioned to write a poem especially for this event: 77 commissioned poems, plus 22 poems from the competition, as well as one secret poem makes up the 100 poems collected in I wish I’d said. This collection of poems, plus the online poetry portal forms a cathartic space where amateur and accomplished poets alike can use their craft to comfort others, at times when the right words are hard to find.

I Wish I’d Said… Vol. 3 The anthology you hold in your hands is the result of a remarkable annual journey – a poetic pilgrimage, if you will – that sees South African poets of all ages sharing their words on love and loss, on death and deliverance, in their own mother tongues. Through the AVBOB Poetry Project, first launched on Mandela Day in 2017, and through the annual competition – now entering its fourth year – AVBOB has given South Africans a way to speak about death. And it has enabled them to map out its meaning in words that connect and console across cultural boundaries. Inasmuch as death is the proverbial ‘great leveller’, poetry may be seen as the great connector – an immediate, unmediated language, available to all, that helps us make sense of the human condition. In an increasingly fragmented world, death offers us ritual and reunion, bringing us together in remembrance – remembrance not just of those we have lost, but of who we are, and what it is that makes up our mortality. Poetry too offers us a way back to self and reintegration. And this anthology, polylingual as it is, provides a place of reintegration, remembrance and reconnection, bringing together 102 locally crafted poems – 66 specially commissioned (six in each official language), 33 from the first- to third-place competition winners in each language category, and three poems in the |Xam language, which stands on the brink of extinction. This was AVBOB’s intention all along: to create a living repository of local tongues, to build literacy in long-overlooked languages. And the total number of entries at the close of the third annual competition – 30 573, with over 2 000 poems entered on the last day – is both testimony and tribute to this.

I wish I’d Said Vol 4 Life under lockdown has been a dramatic event. The fourth annual AVBOB Poetry Competition coincided with the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Yet the competition attracted a record number of entries. An excess of 41 000 poems were entered by writers between 7 and 98 years of age. Six specially commissioned poems by established poets in each official language (66 poems with English translations) appear in this volume, as well as the three winning poems in each of South Africa’s 11 official languages (33 poems with English translations).

This remarkable anthology contains 100 glorious poems celebrating the seventh year of the AVBOB Poetry Competition. It includes works in all 11 official written languages of South Africa, with English translations, offering a unique and comprehensive literary experience. Using everyday language, vernacular idioms, and newly revised sayings and proverbs, South African poets from diverse backgrounds create vivid representations of how we navigate grief. Nostalgia weaves through the pages, sometimes aching, sometimes piercing. The past is held up to the present, offering a poignant reflection on how human beings make sense of heartache through memories. The natural world emerges as a source of solace, its changing seasons mirroring the cycles of life and death. The reality and mystery surrounding the loved one’s last breath are explored with raw honesty, yet the verses also celebrate the resilience of life and growth in the wake of such events. From the heartrending task of dressing a child for burial to finding solace in religion or turning to divinity, these poems offer a sacred space for reflection. Nature and the universe are depicted as active participants in the dance of life and death, celebrating existence while mourning loss. Ultimately, this collection affirms the meaningful lives of those we’ve lost even when such loss is most challenging. The top six poems in each language appear alongside three commissioned poems by leading poets. English translations open doors to readers, showing the universality of our experiences and the common threads in our shared heritage. Additionally, a commissioned Khoikhoi poem from a prolific poet, Toroga Denver is also translated and completes the collection, paying homage to an ancestral language that is threatened with extinction. The verses on these pages sing in all the mother tongues of this land. Open the cover and hear a choir of deep emotions. Raise your voice as you read aloud the stirring themes and counterpoints. C…

Now in its third year, the AVBOB Poetry Project has garnered several industry prizes. • I wish I’d said Vol. 2 includes 101 poems with English translations: 55 specially commissioned poems and 44 poems drawn from the 2018 competition. And, following the blueprint of the first volume, we pay homage to the Khoisan languages, by including two poems by the |Xam poet Dia!kwain. • South African poets – old and new – were asked to submit poems on loss, grieving, love and consolation in their mother tongues. This new collection – and the online poetry portal – forms a space where the voiceless may be heard, and where we find common ground. Loss is a universal language and poetry its voice.

I wish I’d Said Vol…5 Imagine that this terrific anthology was written expressly for you. Trust that you will find between these covers some variation of the theme “I wish I’d said…” as if it were spoken by your own lips… Imagination saves us in dark days and the words on these pages will show you an experience that is as universal as it is individual. As you read the English translations of poems in all 11 languages, know that you will find resonance with a voice who knew what you were going through, albeit in a different language or cultural setting.

Now in its eighth year, the AVBOB Poetry Competition has produced another excellent and moving poetry anthology, I Wish I’d Said… Vol. 8. This beautifully curated collection of South African poetry introduces a compelling new theme—New Beginnings. It explores themes of resilience, renewal, and the quiet courage it takes to start over. The top six poems in each official language appear alongside three specially commissioned works by leading poets. English translations accompany each poem, offering shared understanding across South Africa’s richly diverse linguistic landscape. The natural world is vividly present—seeds stir, birds take flight, and rivers swell. This mirrors the emotional and spiritual renewal captured in these verses. Familiar themes of love and grief are joined by meditations on hope, healing, and the possibility of growth. This is more than a competition anthology; it is a sanctuary of reflection and a celebration of poetry’s enduring role in fostering connection, community, and meaning.

This anthology of winning poems from the 2023 AVBOB Poetry Competition is a complete delight. Step into the enchanting world of South Africa’s unique poetry community through this captivating collection. The top six poems in each category are presented alongside three commissioned poems by leading poets in all 11 official languages. English translations enable readers to sample a world of experience that would otherwise be closed to them. Additionally, a selection of Khoisan poems (with English translations) completes the collection. This inclusion is a vital aspect of the collection as it pays homage to a language that was once widely spoken in southern Africa and which is now on the verge of extinction. The verses on these pages sing in all the mother tongues of this land. Their songs are a choir of deep emotions, poignant themes, and contemplative counterpoint. Nature comes alive through the words of these talented poets, evoking a sense of awe and reverence. Love and longing intertwine with the complications of loss, weaving verses of powerful personal emergence. The complexities of life are celebrated in introspective explorations and hard-won wisdom. Poetry addresses the universal struggle to find meaning and purpose in our darkest hours. Amid the all-too-real challenges they face, the poets manifest themes of unfolding gratitude, hope, healing, recovery and resilience in every language category. This rich soundscape of South African voices brings original perspectives and revelations. Skilfully wielding language and imagery, the poems transport you to a world filled with cultural and emotional significance. Each poem is a journey – an invitation to contemplate and connect with the cultural landscape that enlivens every port and province of this vibrant land. Immerse yourself in this anthology and let the words of these poets ignite your imagination. Discover the power and beauty of words that capture the essence of the human condition with grace, depth and p…

Life under lockdown has been a dramatic event. The fourth annual AVBOB Poetry Competition coincided with the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Yet the competition attracted a record number of entries. An excess of 41 000 poems were entered by writers between 7 and 98 years of age. Six specially commissioned poems by established poets in each official language (66 poems with English translations) appear in this volume, as well as the three winning poems in each of South Africa’s 11 official languages (33 poems with English translations). To round out the collection, those 99 poems are completed by 4 contemporary Khoikhoi poems. As voices from the past reach into the present, so the voices in this anthology will stretch into the future, when they will be read as a reflection of this terribly interesting time. These words of beauty and balm by some of South Africa’s finest poets will offer readers a definite taste from diverse voices. The poems on these pages will comfort and console the bereft. Immerse yourself and be inspired, as these flights of imagination uplift your spirit.   SOFT COVER Johann de Lange & Rethabile Possa-Mogoera 210 mm x 148 mm / A5 360 pages ISBN: 9781928530541

I Wish I’d Said…Vol. 5 Imagine that this terrific anthology was written expressly for you. Trust that you will find between these covers some variation of the theme “I wish I’d said…” as if it were spoken by your own lips… Imagination saves us in dark days and the words on these pages will show you an experience that is as universal as it is individual. As you read the English translations of poems in all 11 languages, know that you will find resonance with a voice who knew what you were going through, albeit in a different language or cultural setting. You will find verses about tight nights, insecure days, and ensuing months of wondering whether our loved ones would live, our children would thrive, our jobs last, our economy emerge… You will find love poems to individuals who rose to the occasion and tributes to the resilience that shone through. You will find stanzas and elegies telling how people helped each other rebuild through the destruction, determined to conquer over hardship. Picture an army of poets rising every day with the express intention of writing verses to comfort you. Imagine them writing in tiny rooms, grand houses, rural classrooms, on taxis on their devices, on plain notebooks beside ordinary beds. Envision hundreds of hands noting with delicate awareness your own powerful reactions to the events of 2021. Visualise each ear sensitively attuned your own vigorous expression, offering you a robust response in words to see you through the night. See how they capture your experience, bringing comfort and hope for each new morning. The judges of the AVBOB Poetry Competition observed, yet again, that this powerful river of poems represented voices from every community, young and old. This collection contains a poem by a nine-year-old and an 83-year-old. The supreme efforts of all who entered the fifth AVBOB Poetry Competition in 2021 are found in the top six poems in each language, with three commissioned poems and a selection of Khoi and San poems.…

Johann de Lange doen dit weer in 2024! In Miniatuur vind ons ʼn behendige hantering van die kwatryn soos die digter ook in die vorige twee bundels, Weerlig van die ongeloof en Duimnaelsketse, gedoen het. Die gedrongenheid en dissipline maak die kwatryn ʼn uitdaging, en dié digvorm is duidelik ʼn vorm wat die digter aanstaan. Die 102 kwatryne is in vyf afdelings opgeneem, en open met “Skryf as bonsaikuns”: Skryf as bonsaikuns Die aandag van die oog se lens & die gawe van die verdig(sel)kuns (die tydsaam verbuig & wegflens): openbaar die kwatryn as bonsaikuns. Die langsame buig en wegsnoei om die bonsai tot stand te bring word vergelyk met die skryf van die kwatryn waar soortgelyke arbeid nodig is om aan die eise van die kwatrynvorm te voldoen. Die eerste afdeling, I Voëls, bevat kwatryne oor die natuurlike lewe, die seisoene; II Middernagtrein,  bevat kwatryne oor liefde, erotiek, die seksuele terwyl III Kom herfs, kom winter,  verse bevat wat handel oor oudword, verval, ontluistering; IV Afsien,  bevat kwatryne wat veelal oor die dood handel, oor afskeid en verlies. Die kwatryne in hierdie verskillende afdelings praat met mekaar, antwoord mekaar, en vir die belese leser is daar ʼn volgehoue gesprek met die Afrikaanse digtradisie. Die bundel sluit af met V Rust-mijn-ziel, sestal kwatryne wat Hennie Aucamp gedenk.

OOPKARDOES ’n Bundel guitige verse wat aansluit by die kabaret-wêreld, die sewe doodsondes, ’n ganse galery bevlektes word ten tonele gevoer met Aucamp se onverbeterlike humor. ’n Jaar of drie voor sy dood gee Hennie vir Johann de Lange dié manuskrip gegee met die opdrag, ‘Doen daarmee soos jy goeddink.’ Dit was vier A4 notaboeke; die verse was met die hand uitgeskryf, en in afdelings opgedeel. Hennie het selfs ’n kunswerk gekies wat hy vir die omslag wou hê, ’n werk van Theo Paul Vorster. Waarom nou? Johann de Lange sê: Daar het nou genoeg tyd verloop dat ek die nodige afstand gekry het en na die manuskrip as bundel gekyk het. Ek het besluit om benewens die nuwe, ongepubliseerde verse in die bundel ook ’n aantal vroeër verse in te sluit wat by die wêreld van die verse aansluit, verse wat saamhoort. Vir wie? Die bundel is vir gedeë liefhebbers van Aucamp se poësie, van sy humoristiese, satiriese verse.