Artist in Exile: Mongane Wally Serote (Poet Laureate of South Africa)

Photo Courtesy: Wally Serote

This August, City of Asylum is honored to welcome South African Poet Laureate and celebrated author Mongane Wally Serote to discuss his literary oeuvre and experience as an activist and author. Additionally, Mr. Serote will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Soweto rebellion, sharing notes about his friendship with the activist Steve Biko and other members of the Black Consciousness Movement—and drawing parallels to the Black Power Movement and Black Lives Matter Movement in the USA.

This program will be followed by a public reception with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and drinks for all artists and attendees.

About the Author:

Exiled South African poet and novelist Mongane Wally Serote grew up under apartheid in Sophiatown, now a white suburb of Johannesburg. Politically active, he was held without trial in solitary confinement for nine months under the regime’s Terrorism Act. Serote was barred from reentering South Africa in the late 1970s after earning an MFA at Columbia University while on a Fulbright scholarship. He lived in Botswana before settling in London. One of the Soweto “township” poets, Serote writes poems that speak directly to social activism and resistance. His numerous poetry collections include Yakhal’inkomo (The Cry of Cattle at the Slaughterhouse, 1972), No Baby Must Weep (1975), Third World Express (1992), and History Is the Home Address (2004). His novels include To Every Birth Its Blood (1981) and Revelations (2011). Serote’s honors include the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, the Ingrid Jonker Poetry Prize, and the Chilean government’s Pablo Neruda Award. He has also served as a member of the South African Parliament.

About Your Visit: 

The in-house restaurant, Cucina Alfabeto, is open for brunch from 9:30 to 2 p.m. and for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Please visit OpenTable or call 412-435-1111 to make a reservation.