Monday 26 October at 19:30 SAST
"For all that poetry has been a central joy throughout my life, I’ve read infinitely more of it, and taught and talked about more of it, than I’ve actually written, this over several decades teaching literature (mainly poetry) and creative writing at graduate and postgraduate level at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. And so I’ve published, and wanted to publish, infinitely less than most poetry writers I know. This was partly due to the old consequence all teachers know of- a genuine tendency towards self-criticism and self-doubt that knowing what good poetry is will generate in you; and a real unease about my ‘carbon footprint’ when I see poets bursting into expression, on unprecedented scale, all about me! But other internal voices still need expression, and it’s been wonderful, for me, to find in my self and my life the origin, sometimes, of poems that seem to earn their own living space. Wonderful also to find enjoyment in the serious play that all creativity is. I’m especially grateful to the Ecca poets for inviting me on board these several years, giving me room and reason to try to say, to spread some wings, to get something said and done."
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