ice-cream headache in my bone by Phillippa Yaa De Villiers

In this, her third collection of poetry, Phillippa Yaa De Villiers invokes images of past and present with hypnotic clarity, summoning the heart and heat of memory – painful and happy alike – with the distinct musicality and visceral punch she is known for. Some poems invite contemplation. Question and provoke. Others are elegiac, moments for reverence in a rich, diverse collection that both spans decades and pauses to revel in the intensity and beauty of a single moment. In liquid form that incorporates prose and poetry, De Villiers fearlessly confronts and disrupts, dipping into a well spring of images that are euphoric and horrifying. At once prophetic and playful, ice cream headache in my bone is an exploration and celebration of language, a definitive collection that yields and responds, burns and soothes, all the while, calling to a longing for truth, and a tongue not tempered by oppression or pain.

About the author

Phillippa Yaa de Villiers writes, performs and lectures in Creative Writing at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. In 2006 her debut collection, Taller than buildings was published and The everyday wife in 2010 – it was awarded the SALA Prize for poetry in 2011. ice-cream headache in my bone is her third collection. She co-edited No Serenity Here, an anthology of African poetry translated into Mandarin. (2010). Her short stories have also won prizes, “The day that Jesus dropped the ball” (shortlisted for Pen/Studinski Prize 2009) and “Keeping everything the same” (winner: National Arts Festival/Het Beschrijf Writing beyond the fringe winner 2009). Her one-woman play Original Skin toured South Africa and abroad. Since 2007 she has read and performed at poetry festivals in Germany, Denmark, UK, Cuba, Sweden, Zimbabwe and Ghana, and her work is translated into French, Dutch, Flemish, Burmese, Mandarin, Italian, German and Spanish.

Date of Publication: 2017
ISBN: 9781928215325
Publisher: Modjaji Books