Pine Slopes

don’t miss these great book reviews by mphutlane wa bofelo on kagablog — like this one of bella by isabella motadinyane:

BOOK: BELLA

AUTHOR: Isabella Motadinyane

PUBLISHER: Botsotso Publishing

REVIEWER: Mphutlane wa Bofelo

Beginning with the title, Bella is a poetry book repudiates fixed notions of a sense of presence, self and identity and narrows the boundary between being and non-being, past and present and myth and reality. Though Bella is short for Isabella this book is not self-titled in the traditional sense of an artist naming his\her work after himself\herself and\or placing himself\herself at the center of his\her work. The choice of this the title is more in the spirit of celebrating the name and personality of Isabella Motadinyane and of remembering and re-membering her life and times (and works) rather than a suggestion that the focus of the poems is Isabella Motadinyane. It is true that Isabella passed away in 2006 without having written\published a book. Yet- since Bella consists of her works and is named after her- it is also true that Isabella Motadinyane has written a book and has given it her name. The dismantling of the chasm between now and then, and between the concrete and the abstract runs like a thread in Bella.

• Complete review on Kagablog