Mxolisi Dolla Sapeta
skeptical erections is a book of startling visual and verbal imagination. Sapeta’s poems are short narratives of survival – his own and those of others. In a graphic language style, the book creates a world of mistrust and skepticism, tinged with humour. Despite their distortions and traumas, the characters are treated with respect and compassion.
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Sapeta is an artist who sees, feels and puts to words as much as he expresses himself through painting. His often-short poems (quintain style) carry powerful imagery if not the dire conditions. In “dreams and heroes” he writes: “each day I am repeatedly told that it’s ok, that I am truly part / of a harmony. The next day I am erased and promised to be / redefined with detailed contours.”
skeptical erections is the work of a true multimedia artist. I call him a storyteller because in skeptical erections Sapeta has proven that in a few words you can tell a story, paint a picture and evoke thought.
– Mkhulu Maphikisa
