Brings together selections of ten outstanding South African poets, to show, in writing drawn from more than four decades, from very different cultures and traditions, a vital and diverse literature. Representing a vision of a pluralistic Africanism the anthology takes the poetry of the region away from the dichotomy which apartheid promoted.

The New Century of South African Poetry presents the challenges of a new millennium. From a 'post-apartheid' perspective, South Africa rejoins the world as it seeks a home. Simultaneously, it searches the past for a shared though diverse inheritance.

The strength of Mandela the Spear and other Poems lies in Okais burning desire to celebrate the black experience and culture, through the iconic figures who symbolize those struggles and triumphs. Thus, not surprisingly, one encounters names like Mandela, Nadine Gordimer, Amilcar Cabral, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, to name a few. Okai has long established himself as one of the towering figures in the field of modern African poetry in English. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of a vigorous reinvention of the poetic genre that revolutionized the poet/audience relationship, changed the mode of expression from scriptography to narratology, and the role of the audience from that of passive reception to active participation.

Gathers poems by writers from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mozambique, Angola, Malawi, Namibia, and Zambia.