Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali

Biography

Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali was born in 1940 in Vryheid, Natal, South Africa, where he attended Inkmana High School. He worked as a messenger in Soweto before becoming a poet, and his first book, Sounds of a Cowhide Drum (1975), explores both the banality and extremity of apartheid through the eyes of working men of South Africa, even while it recalls the energy of those Mtshali frequently calls simply "ancestors". Published with a preface by Nadine Gordimer, Sounds of a Cowhide Drum was one of the first books of poems by a black South African poet to be widely distributed. It provoked considerable debate among the white South African population, but was extremely successful, winning the Olive Schreiner Prize for 1974 and making a considerable profit for its white publisher, Lionel Abrahams.

Birth Date

1940-01-17

Place of Birth

South African

Country of Nationality

South Africa

Country of Residence

South Africa

Languages Spoken

Afrikaans; Zulu; English.

University of Iowa , Columbia University

Poems

Mtshali, Mbuyiseni Oswald. "The Shepherd And His Flock." _Poem Hunter_, https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-shepherd-and-his-flock/. Accessed 16 August 2024.

Mtshali, Mbuyiseni Oswald. "High And Low." _Poem Hunter_, https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/high-and-low-5/. Accessed 16 August 2024.

Mtshali, Mbuyiseni Oswald. "Always A Suspect." _Poem Hunter_, https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/always-a-suspect/. Accessed 16 August 2024.

Poetry Collections

Mtshali, Mbuyiseni Oswald._ Sounds of a Cowhide Drum._ Johannesburg, Renoster, 1971; London, Oxford University Press, and New York, Third Press, 1972.

Mtshali, Mbuyiseni Oswald._ Fireflames._ Pietermaritzburg, Natal, Shuter and Shooter, 1980; Chicago, Chicago Review, 1983.

Speeches, Lectures, Interviews, Performances / Critical Articles, Media

Mtshali, Mbuyiseni Oswald. "Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali." _Wikipedia_, . Accessed 16 August 2024.

Mtshali, Mbuyiseni Oswald. "Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali." _South African History Online_, https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/oswald-mbuyiseni-mtshali. Accessed 16 August 2024.

Mtshali, Mbuyiseni Oswald. "Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali." _Poetry Foundation_, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mbuyiseni-oswald-mtshali. Accessed 16 August 2024.

Sources

Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Mbuyiseni_Mtshali. Accessed 16 August 2024.

Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali. South African History Online, https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/oswald-mbuyiseni-mtshali. Accessed 16 August 2024.

Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali. Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mbuyiseni-oswald-mtshali. Accessed 16 August 2024.