Christopher Michael Zithulele Mann(1948 – 10 March 2021) was a South African poet.

Biography

Chris Mann was born in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

in 1948 and went to

Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established on ...

(Bishops) in

Rondebosch Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town. History Four years after the first Dutch s ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He studied English and Philosophy at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

, and went to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

where he was awarded an MA in English Language and Literature. He also studied African Oral Literature at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. From 1977 to 1980 he held a lecturer post in the English Department at

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. From 1980 to 1995 he worked with an NGO, The Valley Trust at KwaNyuswa outside

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, after which he returned to Rhodes University where he was a professor of poetry with the Institute for the Study of English in Africa. He was founder and convenor of Wordfest, a national multilingual festival of South African languages and literature with a developmental emphasis. A native English speaker, Mann was also conversant in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

isiZulu Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal of ...

and

isiXhosa Xhosa (, ) also isiXhosa as an endonym, is a Nguni language and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 8.2 million people and by another 11 million as a second ...

. He performed his work at festivals, schools, churches, universities and conferences in South Africa. He was married to artist Julia Skeen.

Works

Books

* ''First Poems'', 1979. Cape Town: Bateleur Press. * ''A New Book of South African Verse'', 1979. With Guy Butler. Cape Town: OUP. * * * * * with Julia Skeen * ''The Roman Centurion’s Good Friday'', 1999. Grahamstown: Cathedral of St Michael & St George. * * ''In Praise of the Shades'', 2003. Grahamstown: Cathedral of St Michael and St George. * ''Walking on Gravity'', 2004. Grahamstown: Cathedral of St Michael and St George. * ''Thuthula'', 2005. Johannesburg: Ravan & PanMacmillan. * ''Beautiful Lofty Things'', 2005. Grahamstown: Cathedral of St Michael and St George. * ''Walking on Gravity'', 2005. In: Dante in South Africa. Cullinan, Patrick and Watson, Stephen (Eds.). Cape Town: Centre for Creative Writing, University of Cape Town. * ''Lifelines'', 2006. With: Skeen, Julia and Craig, Adrian. Pietermaritzburg: UKZN Press. * with Julia Skeen * ''Small Town Big Voice'', 2012. Ed. Renard, Andrew. Port Elizabeth: SACEE. * ''Rudiments of Grace'', 2014. Grahamstown: Cathedral of St Michael and St George. * ''Epiphanies'', 2017. Grahamstown. Cathedral of St Michael and St George. * ''Heraclitus in Africa''. forthcoming.

Plays in verse and multimedia poetry productions

* ''The Sand Labyrinth''. 1980 National Student Drama Festival. * ''Mahoon’s Testimony''. Broadcast on SAfm in 1998, rebroadcast 2007. * ''Frail Care''. Broadcast on SAfm in 1997 and re-broadcast in 1999 and 2007. * ''The Crux of Being''. 1999 National Arts Festival Fringe. * ''In Praise of the Shades''. 2003 National Arts Festival Fringe. * ''Thuthula''. 2003 National Arts Festival Main Programme. * ''Walking on Gravity''. 2004 National Arts Festival Fringe. * ''Beautiful Lofty Things''. 2005 National Arts Festival Fringe production. * ''Lifelines''. 2006 National Arts Festival Fringe poetry performance production. * ''LifeSongs''. 2007 National Arts Festival Fringe installation. * ''Epiphanies''. 2008. National Arts Festival Fringe installation. * ''LifeSongs''. 2011. National English Literary Museum installation. * ''The Ballad of Dirk de Bruin'', 2014. National Arts Festival Fringe. * Anxiety and Grace. With Julia Skeen. 2016. National Arts Festival Fringe and Spiritfest. *Epiphanies. With Julia Skeen. 2018. National Arts Festival Fringe and Spiritfest.

Articles

* * * with Ileana Dimitriu * * *"Points of Illumination: Wordfest South Africa This Year and Next."

Commentary on Mann's Work

Mann's work has received critical consideration in journals such as * ''The English Academy Review''; * ''English in Africa''; * ''Shakespeare in Southern Africa''; * ''Scrutiny2''; and * ''Literator''.

Awards

* Newdigate Prize for Poetry while a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. * Olive Schreiner Prize for South African Poetry in English. * South African Performing Arts Councils’ Playwright Award. * Hon.D.Litt. University of Durban-Westville, now University of KwaZulu-Natal. * Eastern Cape Premier’s Award for Literature. * First Professor of Poetry, Rhodes University. * English Academy of South Africa Thomas Pringle Award for Poetry. * Mann's 2014 play ''The Ballad of Dirk de Bruin'' which premiered at the

National Arts Festival The National Arts Festival (NAF) is an annual festival of performing arts in Grahamstown, South Africa. It is the largest arts festival on the African continent and one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world by visitor numbers. Th ...

was awarded a Silver

Standard Bank Standard Bank Group Limited is a major South African bank and financial services group. It is Africa's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is situated in Simmonds Street, Johannesburg. History ...

Ovation Award for "artistic innovation, excellence and the exploration of new performance styles". * Honorary Artist in Residence, Grahamstown Cathedral (2017–present) *Guest poet, Incroci di civiltà international poetry festival, Venice 2019 *English Academy of South Africa Gold Medal 2019

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Biography, KZN Literary Tourism

Biography, Poetry International Rotterdam

Articles, Mail and Guardian

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Chris 20th-century South African poets English-language poets 1948 births 2021 deaths Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Alumni of the University of London Rhodes University academics People from Port Elizabeth South African Rhodes Scholars 21st-century South African poets South African male poets 20th-century South African male writers 21st-century South African male writers White South African people South African people of British descent