September 2018 By Juwayriya Bemath For a while now, I’ve been asking myself where I fit in. The sense of belonging has always felt ephemeral if not altogether elusive. The constant brick-laying and demolition of identity and personality often does this to us — it leaves us wondering where our parts fit a little more […]
the hermit and his home
A Poem By Juwayriya Bemath where do i belong? within calcified echo behind this patterned guise do i really? where do i fit? inside the spiralling shell I’ve taken solitude winning out over lonesomeness do i really? what happens when i grow? far too large now i simply gather my bearings and find a new […]
Persian Poetry: Reed’s Tale
A Column By Mehdi Bagheri Reed’s Tale Listen to the reed flute as it tells a tale For the separations, it complains Ever since I was cut from the reed-bed In my grief, men and women wailed I sigh for a heart, torn by separation So I tell the tale’s pain of aspiration Whoever that’s […]
Sunday morning radio
A Poem By Sithembiso Mdlalose It took me forever to write these words I’m still writing these words This poem is unfinished And I don’t know if it ever will Like how my adolescent black body longed For his presence Running barefooted With an unfinished sketch of him in my mind Nothing seemed permanent […]
The Cities
A Narrative Essay By Chariklia Martalas I can hear Johannesburg breathe at night. The hum of the cars travelling in her veins while her heart beats, an exhalation of moving stillness. Lights flickering so we know she is dreaming. What does it mean to find a home in the living breathing entity of a city? What […]
Home is second-hand
A Poem By Pippa Browning It is an antique that much is obvious dark wood, majestic, used organised mess from manageable brilliance to ignored wonder spirals of colour coordinated consciousness there’s a locked drawer and an unimaginable lock that seems to have misplaced a key the idea of filing cabinets shouldn’t be this traumatic but, I […]
Book Review: Wuthering Heights
A Book Review By Melissa Fortuin Wuthering Heights Author: Emily Brontë Year published: 1847 Genre: Gothic, bildungsroman, romance, tragedy Let’s get into it. Wuthering Heights is not for the faint of heart, and despite it being a romance it’s definitely not for revelers of your stereotypical vanilla swirl love affair enthusiasts. But upon hearing I would […]
Skwata camp
A Poem By Pelonomi Itumeleng home is a skwata camp my mother’s house hosts our demons. parallel paralysis, we look to our walls They know the secrets. my mother’s house a concentration camp, a safe space for all in need of holding their demons hostage. our brother’s feed off our mouths we are children of the […]
Na Ghar Ka Na Ghat Ka
A Narrative Essay By Shubham Mehta “Where are you from? Your accent, it’s different.” Little did my 14-year-old self-know, when I first agreed to move to South Africa, that this question would plague the rest of his life. Perhaps “plague” is a strong word. Having lived in many places and having a strange accent that people […]
Old Gold on Trains
A Short Story By Kris Van der Bijl “Do you think we can smoke in here?” “You want a cigarette as well?” My friend Michelle and I were taking the train to Cape Town. The coastal track offer sights of rocks. The sea breeze bellows to one’s nose and carries the grains of eroded sand to […]