James Matthews (poet)

James Matthews is a South African poet, novelist, and publisher.

He was detained by the apartheid government in 1976, and was denied a passport for 23 years.

In 1987, he was elected as patron of the Congress of South African Writers, and he established the first black-founded art gallery in South Africa, and the first black-owned publishing house. In 2000, he founded the publishing house Realities.

Recognition

 * Woza Afrika Award (1978)
 * Kwaza Honours List - Black Arts Celebration, Chicago, U.S.A. (1979)
 * Freeman of Lehrte and Nienburg, Germany (1982).
 * National Order, South African government (2004)

Poetry

 * Cry Rage (1972), Spro-Cas Publications
 * Black Voices Shout (1974)
 * Pass me a Meatball, Jones (1977)
 * No Time for Dreams (1977)
 * Poisoned Wells and Other Delights (1991)
 * Flames and Flowers (2000) Realities
 * Poems from a Prison Cell (2002), Realities
 * Age is a Beautiful Phase (2008), Realities

Short stories

 * The Park and other Stories (1983), Ravan Press

Novels

 * The Party is Over (1997) Kwela
 * The Park

External sources

 * Poetry Africa UKZN entry
 * SA Government page