Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali

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Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali (1940-). Poet, journalist, critic and educationist.

Biography

He was born on 17 January 1940 in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, he attended lnkamana High School. His parents were schoolteachers. He completed a degree via correspondence through the London University-affiliated Premier School of Journalism and Authorship. In 1974 the University of Jowa invited him to be a part of the International Writers' Program. Despite obstructions from the apartheid government, he participated. He went on to earn his bachelor's degree at the New School for Social Research in New York and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Columbia University. After returning from the States, Mtshali went to work as a deputy headmaster at Pace Commercial College in Soweto. Mtshall worked briefly with the South African Council of Churches then returned to the US in 1988. He studied at Columbia for his doctoral degree then spent several years teaching until coming back to SA in 2007.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Best known for his poetry (which was often performed), notably the collections Sounds on a Cowhide Drum (1971) and Fireflames (1980).

Sources

South African History Online [1].

Various entries in the NELM catalogue.

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