Serote, Mongane Wally (1944-…), is considered one of the most significant Black South African poets of his generation. Serote, who writes in English, concentrates on strongly political subject matter, especially Black reactions to the policy of racial segregation called apartheid in South Africa (see Apartheid). His strong commitment to Black consciousness helped to define the poetry of Black resistance to racial oppression.
Serote’s first two volumes of poetry were Yakhal ‘inkomo (1972) and Tsetlo (1974). His long poems, No Baby Must Weep (1975) and Behold Mama, Flowers (1978), used the medium of poetry to help create political consciousness among Black South Africans. His later poetry was published in such volumes as The Night Keeps Winking (1982), A Tough Tale (1987), and Third World Express (1992). His novel To Every Birth Its Blood (1981) covers several generations of Black South Africans and their responses to apartheid. A second novel, Gods of Our Time (2000), explores in a surrealistic style the Black rebellion against apartheid in the late 1900’s. Serote’s essays were published in On the Horizon (1990).
Mongane Wally Serote was born on May 8, 1944, in Sophiatown, Johannesburg. He was detained by the government for nine months in 1969. In 1974, he went into exile. Serote studied in the United States, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University in 1979. From 1979 to 1985, he lived in Botswana. In the late 1980’s, Serote became active in the London-based cultural wing of the African National Congress. Beginning in 1986, he served as cultural attache in the Department of Arts and Culture for the Congress in London. After returning to South Africa, he became a member of Parliament and served from 1994 to 2002.
