Dennis Brutus, South African poet, graduate of Fort Hare college, formerly on the faculty of Northwestern University. (Source: Northwestern University Course Bulletin, 1982) Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ...

Dennis Brutus was an activist against the apartheid government of South Africa in the 60s. He worked to get South Africa suspended from the Olympics; this eventually lead to the country's explusion from the games in 1970. He was arrested in 1963 and jailed for 18 months on Robben Island. Nelson Mandela was his cell mate. Brutus was forbidden to teach, write and publish in South Africa. "Sirens, Knuckles and Boots," his first collection of poetry, was published in Nigeria while he was in prison. After he was released, Brutus fled South Africa. In 1983, Brutus won the right to stay in the United States as a political refugee, after a protracted legal struggle. He is teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. (Democracy Now.org: November 14th, 2004)

[more about Dennis Brutus]

DENNIS VINCENT BRUTUS - (b 28-11-1924) was born in what is now Harare, Zimbabwe to South African parents. He was educated in South Africa and attended the university of Fort Hare where he obtained a B.A. with Distinction, and the university of Witwatersrand. He taught English and Afrikaans in schools for 14 years.

As an activist against apartheid he was outspoken, especially in the field of sport during the 1950's and 1960's when he was President of SANROC (South Africa Non-racial Olympic Committee) His outspokenness resulted in two things:

1. The exclusion of SA from international sports. 2. His being banned and later arrested.

After escaping while on bail he was re-arrested, but when he once again attempted to escape he was shot in the back. Dennis Brutus was then sentenced to 18 months hard labour on Robben Island, where he served his time in the same section with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, & Govan Mbeki.

After his release he was categorised as a "non-person" meaning he was banned from teaching, writing, publishing, attending both social or political meetings, or from pursuing his then studies in law at the university of Witwatersrand.

He left South Africa in 1966 and for a while made his home in England before moving to America, where he taught at the university of Denver. In 1971 he became Professor of African Literature at the Northwestern university in Evanston Illinois. He is currently professor emeritus at the unversity of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

While in prison his first collection of poems was published in Nigeria by the Mbari Press. The collection was entitled "Sirens, Knuckles & Boots" (1962). This book received the Mbari Poetry Prize in 1962, but he turned the award down in protest against the fact that it was only open to black poets.

Although his main subject matter is the devastation and realities of oppression and the need to resist it, his tone remains lyrical, meditative and he does not succumb to self-pity or employ the use of propaganda in his work. His manner of mixing radical and traditional poetry is striking in its originality.

Sadly because he and his work remained banned in SA for so long he was never included in school or private anthologies.

He was "officially unbanned" in 1990 and began to revisit SA. He remains to a large degree an "unsung hero" at home, even though he is without a doubt one of SA's most important poets. His most memorable poems are those that are about/relate to his own life experiences as an opponent and a victim of apartheid.

He still has a deep concern and remains actively involved in the struggles of human and cultural rights. His current interests lie in African Literature, African Politics, Africa in the new Global order and Poetry and creative writing.

Dennis Brutus' books include:

1. Sirens Knuckles & Boots (Mbari Productions 1963)

2. Letters to Martha & other Poems from a South African Prison (Heinemann Educational books 1968)

3. Poems from Algiers (African & Afro-American studies and Research Institute 1970)

4. A Simple Lust: Collected Poems of South Africa, Jail & Exile including "Letters to Martha" (Heinemann Educational Books 1973)

5. China Poems (African & Afro-American studies and Research Centre 1975)

6. Stubborn Hope (Three Continents Press, Heinemann 1978)

7. Salutes and Censures (Fourth Dimension Pub. co. 1982)

8. Airs & Tributes (Whirlwind Press 1989)

9. Still the Sirens (Pennywhistle Press 1993)

10. Remembering Soweto (Whirlwind Press, 2004, Ed. Lamont B. Steptoe)

11. Leafdrift (Whirlwind Press, 2005, Ed. Lamont B. Steptoe)

From: Southern Rain Poetry - South African Poetry