Poems & Songs from the Mire by Hale Tsehlana

While the poems in this volume explore varying themes such as space, gender, music and song, emotions and exile, it is kept unified by attention to women's experiences, their strength, wisdom, suffering and resilience. The music of the poems is persuasive and seductive, as is the language used, such that reading the poems is a shared experience with the poet, as pertinent issues are delved into, decried, and celebrated. This innovative approach to poetry reflects a solemn African spirit that expresses a deep feeling of being a woman in modern Africa. It provides a wealth and variety of poetry that enables the reader to follow the poet's evolution as she experiments (and succeeds) with a variety of forms, language and subjects.

Nwabisa Bangeni - Academic

This collection of poems provides the reader with rare insight into everyday postliberation South African life. Hers is cheeky feminist and spontaneous yet well treated poetry blended with jazz tunes, glimpses of celebration of womanhood and landscape. Some poems with controlled lines and sustained imagery can leave you nostalgic - longing for warmth and love. A worthy reading to be available in schools and libraries.

Vonani Bila - Poet and Editor of Timbila - A Journal of Onion Skin Poetry

In these works I have felt the tenderness of wind and clouds, the gravity and grandeur of mountains with all the stories they could tell. I have also heard the music of Hale's passions and yearnings in the rivers of words that wrap you sometimes in sweet rhythm and rhyme, other times smack you like an unexpected wave or necessary wake-up call. In these pages you will experience the heat of a fire that is unashamed, fiercely determined, a force of cleansing and transformation. This poet is on the one hand flexible and on the other firm in her style. Her messages range from sensual to philosophical, but most of all make a music that is a true and brave reflection of where she comes from, who she is. "

Malika Ndlovu – Poet, Theatremaker & Arts Project Manager