POLI POLI

248pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2021

Memoir of South African poet, educator and activist Barbara Masekela, (born 1941). 

"Poli Poli by Barbara Masekela is an adorable book full of childhood thrills and teeming with vignettes of memory retold in brilliant prose. It reminds me of Aké by Wole Soyinka, which in and of itself is high praise indeed." Nuruddin Farah, author of North of Dawn

Barbara Masekela was head of the ANC's Department of Arts and Culture for many years, served as ambassador to France and the United States, and has held various directorships, including Director of the Standard Bank of South Africa, the South African Broadcasting Corporation and De Beers. She is a recipient of the Order of Luthuli in Silver, awarded for her "excellent contribution to the eradication of apartheid and contributing to the development of the new South African values". Barbara Masekela lives in Johannesburg.