2016

Inside-out Outside in South African Corrections Interest Group have been introduced to a poet by the name of Sthembiso Kwela who will be performing this weekend as part of a collaboration at the International Mozart Festival on Jan 30th. 

Sthembiso Khwela, aka ‘The Ambush Poet,’ a name he got from other poets in KwaMashu from where he hails, started writing at high school level and became deeply entrenched in writing poems and short stories in Durban- Westville Correctional Centre during his incarceration where he co-founded an inmates’ writing association called Umbani Writers. During this period, all inmates who took part in this project had their work published in two books of poems and short stories, namely Ziyosulwa Izinyembezi and Umuntu Akalahlwa (Nutrends Publishers).

This reformed poet has received awards and prizes from the Department of Arts & Culture’s Language Services and has performed in the Department’s annual Literature Exhibition Festival. Some of his best poetry can be found in the book edited by Dr Nakanjani Sbiya with the title Amadlingozi (Unisa Press). He is currently working on a novel which focuses on his experiences inside prison.