Mazisi Raymond Fakazi Mngoni Kunene was born in Durban on 12 May 1930. He grew up in AmaHlongwa on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, where he attended primary school. He later attended Marianhill where he matriculated and Maphumulo Teachers Training College where he obtained certification, and then to the University of Natal where he graduated with a Masters Degree.
Kunene went into exile in 1959 and in 1962 was appointed the Chief Representative of the African National Congress in Europe and America. He played a pivotal role in the founding of the anti-apartheid movement in Britain. He also worked closely with leading ANC figures, including Moses Mabhida, Oliver Tambo and Robert Resha. After establishing the South African Exhibition Appeal in 1972, to raise funds for the ANC, Professor Kunene received resounding support from renowned figures of the art world including Picasso, Chagall, Giacometti and Rauschenberg. He also served as a Cultural Advisor to UNESCO.
While out of South Africa, he studied further, and lectured at a number of universities. He then taught for 19 years at the University of California in Los Angeles, where he was awarded a professorship in IsiZulu. The former University of Natal bestowed an honorary doctorate on Prof Kunene in recognition of his contribution to creative writing. Professor Kunene’s literary output in exile included the published epics: Anthem of the Decades and Emperor Shaka the Great as well as two further poetry anthologies The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain and Zulu Poems. In 1969, Kunene wrote an introductory essay to John Berger and Ann Bostock’s translation of Aime Cesaire’s Return to my Native Land.
Upon his return to South Africa in 1993, UNESCO honoured him with the title of Africa’s Poet Laureate. He published books in Zulu including Isibusiso sikamhawu (1994), Indida yamancasakazi (1995), Umzwilili wama-Afrika (1996) and Igudu likaSomcabeko (1997). In 2005, the Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan, honoured him as South Africa’s first Poet Laureate. Mazisi Kunene passed away on 11 August 2006 and is survived by his wife, Mathabo Kunene, daughter Lamakhosi and sons Zosukuma, Ra and Rre.
The Mazisi Kunene Foundation Trust was launched on 3 June 2006. Its primary mission is to preserve and promote a cultural literary archive of African writing with the works of renowned South Africa's first Poet Laureate, Mazisi Kunene at its nucleus.
This involves translation, publication and distribution of Mazisi Kunene's work as well as identifying other neglected historical and new African writers for the purposes of publication and collection.
This bold and visionary initiative is in understanding that preserving the South African legacy is a responsibility of all South Africans.
MAZISI KUNENE PROJECT AT POETRY AFRICA
The objectives of this project are to pay tribute to Mazisi Kunene and highlight his contribution in the literary world, and promote a culture of reading and writing in indigenous languages.
Project implementation involves a team of young poets, who will prepare a structured presentation involving a background introduction to Mazisi Kunene, readings and performances of his work, followed by interactive discussions about Mazisi's work and the importance of reading and writing in our indigenous languages in general. Educative and inspirational in nature, dynamic in style, these workshops would be one hour in duration.
We anticipate that this project will grow over the years and make a contribution in educating and conscientising the younger generation in particular about the value of indigenous literary work.
The 10th edition of Poetry Africa celebrates indigenous literature with a special focus on the work of the late Durban-born Mazisi Kunene.
" ...it is not extravagant to posit him as one of the artistic giants Africa has been privileged to have. it may take several centuries before another poet of mazisi Kunene's stature emerges again." Professor Ntongela Masilela (Pitzer College, California and University of California) commenting on Prof Kunene's appointment as the inaugural South African National Poet Laureate.