On the 6th of December, Rhodes University’s MA in Creative Writing will be launching its 4th annual collection of heart heating literature, Tyhini, by students doing the MA this year. The launch will be held at one of Joburg’s headquarters of arts and culture, The Afrikan Freedom Station.
The Rhodes MA in Creative Writing (MACW), in the Institute for the Study of English in Africa (ISEA) has proved to be a popular and effective course, graduating almost 70 students in its first five years. Full time staff in 2015 have been Robert Berold (coordinator) and Paul Wessels (assistant coordinator). There are ten part time teachers, all of them practising writers: Anton Krueger, Lesego Rampolokeng, Ingrid Winterbach, Paul Mason, Eben Venter, Vonani Bila, Joan Metelerkamp, Mxolisi Nyezwa, Mpumi Cilibe and Stacy Hardy. The diversity of styles and approaches by the teachers allows the course to meet young South African writers wherever they are, and respond to any genre or stylistic interest that the students want to pursue.
In 2015 the course had 7 students doing the one year full time MA, and 16 students doing the second year of their part time MA. Their work is presented in this edition of Tyhini. The collection includes works by Antoinique van Staden, Napo Masheane, Maakomele R. Manaka, Jo-Ann Bekker, Kabelo Mofokeng, Ayanda Billie, José Claassen, Jana du Plessis, Connie Fick, Zukile Fundakubi, Kerry Hammerton, Zongezile Matshoba, Jeannie Wallace McKeown, Mmatshilo Motsei, Moses Mtileni, Tania Terblanche, Daniel Whitehorn, Maruping Phepheng, Thabiso Mofokeng, and Tariro Ndoro.
The book offers a wide range of different styles of writing and a variety of multilingual voices, from isiXhosa to Sesotho, from English to Xhivenda to Afrikaans, making the collection a unique piece of South African literature, a collector’s item. The diversity of these dynamic works cover all corners of literature, moving from short stories to the eye opening essays on writing, from book reviews to the hard hitting honesty of uncompromising poetry.
The launch will take place at 2:30pm for 3pm on Sunday 6th December at the Afrikan Freedom Station in Westdene, Johannesburg. The 350 page book will be sold at a launch price of only R150.
Taken from the isiXhosa language, Tyhini is an exclamation of surprise, disbelief, shock, dismay, or indignation. The work in this collection is just that, an exclamation of surprising voices that make you go “Tyhini!”
For further enquiries, please contact Mak Manaka on 060 705 7613 / 011 477 0611 or email [email protected].