Xhosa Poets and Poetry

Essays examining the poetry and leading poets of the Xhosa-speaking peoples in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries The Xhosa-speaking peoples who settled along the south-eastern seaboard of South Africa promoted traditions of praise poetry ( izibongo ), poetry produced orally by men and women, adults and children, about people, clans, ancestors and animals. Throughout the nineteenth century, authors who used the Xhosa language gradually developed the craft of composing poetry for publication