Stranger by Sihle Ntuli

Stranger, Sihle Ntuli’s debut collection of poetry, was recently published by Grahamstown-based independent publisher Aerial Publishing.

The collection, which was edited by Robert Berold and Marike Beyers, includes 37 poems. Ntuli’s work has appeared in Nigeria’s Saraba, New Contrast and ITCH.

“The poetry is written from the perspective of a contemporary South African youth living in the current era,” Ntuli says. “The pieces are very experimental. The project itself can be considered conceptual with six different sequences (chapters) that deal with different topics such as marginalisation, lost love, introversion, nostalgia and melancholy.

“I’d say the poetry is not typical for a black South African writer … there is very little struggle poetry but more life poetry.”

The cover art for Stranger is a piece entitled Twin Two by award-winning Nigerian artist Victor Ehikhamenor.

“The artwork was chosen as a play on the fact that there is a second twin in the original artwork but it has been cropped out,” Ntuli explains. “There is significance because I am a second born twin, hence ‘Twin Two’.”

Book information from Books LIVE.

Date of Publication: 2015
Publisher: Aerial Publishing