Athambile Masola’s celebrated debut poetry collection, Ilifa, has been translated into English by the poet from isiXhosa. The translation titled, Inheritance, is set to be published by Batis Books in June.
“Writing from a storied literary tradition, Masola’s breezy love poems and historical re-imaginings boldly questioned the meaning of freedom in a society that is openly hostile to women, and where apartheid has been replaced by other ominous oppressions,” writes the publisher. “These daring, contemporary and inventive poems are now in English, translated by the poet, and presented here alongside the original text.”
“Inheritance is a window into the lives of Black women in South Africa right now – a deft dance between self-care and recrimination, between free love and social safety, and between the shadows of the past and the dim light of a just-as-complicated present.”
Pumla Dineo Gqola calls it “fluent in multiple aesthetic traditions, stylistically mobile, conceptually daring … A breakthrough in literary and feminist writing.”
Athambile was a participant of our 2025 PEN it Down residency in collaboration with PEN Afrikaans and PEN South Africa.
