The first large collection of poems since his Shelley Cinema of 2006 and the anthology, Invitation to a Voyage: French-Language Poetry of the Indian Ocean African Islands, both launched at the Poetry Africa Festival in Durban, and his slim volume, Taking Off of 2012.
Rough Passage brings together poems published in English-language journals in four continents, including for the first time his sequence, ‘Letters from America’, written while a fellow at the Norton Island Residency Program of Maine.
Also included is his performance poem, ‘Interview with the Last Speaker’, which was influential in 2007 in winning him the Literary Lifetime Achievement Award from the Department of Arts and Culture for his contribution to poetry in Africa.
Stephen Gray was born in Cape Town in 1941 and lives in Johannesburg.
Reviews of Shelley Cinema and Other Poems:
‘Jy kan hierdie bundel nie neersit nie.’- Joan Hambidge in Die Burger ‘Dit is ‘n aangename versameling om te lees, goed versorg, die wye digtelike reis slim deur die skrywer aangebied.’
-Gilbert Gibson in Volksblad
‘Gray’s poems here are well-travelled and well-read, filled with poetic personae as well as sharp portraits of presumably real people. At least, they feel very real.’ – Shaun de Waal in Mail & Guardian
‘Gray’s poems here are well-travelled and well-read, filled with poetic personae as well as sharp portraits of presumably real people. At least, they feel very real.’ – Shaun de Waal in Mail & Guardian
AUTHOR Stephen Gray
ISBN 978-0-9922060-6-2
Publishing date: March 2014
Format: Paperback: 200mm x 200 mm (Portrait)
Pages: 96
CATEGORY: Poetry
Recommended retail price R160