BLOKE OF ALL AGES, perspectives of Bloke Modisane

259pp., illus., paperback, Wits University Press, Johannesburg, 2026

ISBN: 9781776149759

Foreword by David Attwell.

A collection of literary essays on the works of one of South Africa’s most important literary, intellectual and artistic figures, William Bloke Modisane (1923-1986). The contributors offer insight into his early short stories, his autobiography Blame Me on History, his journalism, and his writings while in exile in the United Kingdom, East Africa, North America, Italy, the German Democratic Republic, and the Federal Republic of Germany. The volume also includes previously unpublished essays written during his time in exile. 

Born in Sophiatown, Modisane joined Drum magazine in the 1950s together with Henry Nxumalo, Can Themba, Es'kia Mphahlele and Lewis Nkosi. He was also the jazz critic at the Golden City Post. Modisane went into exile in 1959.

Contributors: Shane Graham, Colette Guldimann, Liz Gunner, Vusumuzi R Kumalo, Benjamin N Lawrance, Siphiwo Mahala, Siyabonga Njica, Bafana Radebe, Mark Sanders, Molebogeng Sebesho.

"Bloke Modisane was one of the finest South African writers of the twentieth century. Finally, he is being given his due: this bracing and illuminating collection demonstrates how he is indeed 'of all ages' and not just the Drum generation. If, like me, you are a fan, it will enhance your understanding of his work and his life immeasurably. If you don't yet know him, it is a great introduction - alongside his incomparable memoir, Blame Me on History, of course." Mark Gevisser, author of The Pink Line: Journeys across the world's queer frontiers

"Bloke of All Ages showcases Modisane's varied intellectual, cultural and journalistic skills to reveal an inclusive transnational (pan-)African and international 'citizen' whose resistance to and navigation of political and ideological strictures is mirrored in the book's own interpretive breadth. The essays by a range of academics and short texts by Modisane himself offer refreshingly new insights into one of South Africa's most important literary figures, expanding and solidifying his place in the South African (and international) cultural canon." Aretha Phiri, Department of Literary Studies, Rhodes University

Literary and cultural historian Siyabonga Njica is the Isaac Newton Trust Fellow in Global African History at the University of Cambridge.

Siphiwo Mahala is Associate Professor in the English Department at the University of Johannesburg. His book Can Themba: The Making and Breaking of the Intellectual Tsotsi (2022), won the Creative Non-Fiction Award at the South African Literary Awards.