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Owele
A family of rivers flows through the land. Their waters gather, merge and split. But even twins must create their own paths – where do their individual journeys begin, and how far must they travel to their shared destination, the vast and turbulent ocean?
In Owele, Sihle Ntuli meditates on the origins of his family, clan and language through the earthen-toned rivers of the Zulu world.
The history of the land becomes the history of the person – but do rivers flow to a beat as blood does? The answers are not always as clear as the surface suggests.
Shifting between English and isiZulu, Ntuli’s unique, jazz-inflected poetry here reaches a new level of innovation, vulnerability and delight.
Featuring photographs by Samora Chapman
In Owele, Sihle Ntuli meditates on the origins of his family, clan and language through the earthen-toned rivers of the Zulu world.
The history of the land becomes the history of the person – but do rivers flow to a beat as blood does? The answers are not always as clear as the surface suggests.
Shifting between English and isiZulu, Ntuli’s unique, jazz-inflected poetry here reaches a new level of innovation, vulnerability and delight.
Featuring photographs by Samora Chapman
82 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2025
5 people want to read
About the author
Sihle Ntuli
6 books3 followersSihle Ntuli is a poet, classicist and editor from Durban, South Africa.
He received his Master of Arts in Classical Civilizations from Rhodes University, where he briefly lectured Classics at the University of the Free State and the University of Johannesburg. His writing has been supported by the Johannesburg Institute of Advanced Studies in South Africa and the Centre for Stories in Australia through the JIAS Fellowship & Patricia Kailis Fellowship respectively. He also served as the editor-in-chief of South Africa’s oldest literary magazine New Contrast in 2023. He is a 2024 Best of the Net poetry winner and a Pushcart prize nominee. His poems have appeared in ADDA stories, Poetry Wales, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry London, and elsewhere. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks; Rumblin (uHlanga 2020) and The Nation (River Glass Books 2023) alongside two full length collections Stranger (Aerial Publishing 2015) and Zabalaza Republic (Botsotso Publishing 2023)
He received his Master of Arts in Classical Civilizations from Rhodes University, where he briefly lectured Classics at the University of the Free State and the University of Johannesburg. His writing has been supported by the Johannesburg Institute of Advanced Studies in South Africa and the Centre for Stories in Australia through the JIAS Fellowship & Patricia Kailis Fellowship respectively. He also served as the editor-in-chief of South Africa’s oldest literary magazine New Contrast in 2023. He is a 2024 Best of the Net poetry winner and a Pushcart prize nominee. His poems have appeared in ADDA stories, Poetry Wales, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry London, and elsewhere. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks; Rumblin (uHlanga 2020) and The Nation (River Glass Books 2023) alongside two full length collections Stranger (Aerial Publishing 2015) and Zabalaza Republic (Botsotso Publishing 2023)
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