While the festive season is a time of celebration and family reunions for many of us; for others, it emphasises their sense of loneliness and isolation.   As South Africans prepare for these holiday festivities, the AVBOB Poetry Project celebrates the work of Saaleha Idrees Bamjee, award-winnin...

The 2026 AVBOB Poetry Competition officially closed at 23:59 on 30 November 2025.   Poets were invited to submit up to 10 poems in any of South Africa’s 11 official written languages on the theme I Wish I’d Said… At the time of closing, more than 18 000 poems had been entered...

Ever since songs and spells were first committed to memory, poetry has allowed us to chart the most difficult emotional terrain. It has also offered us encouragement and advised us to persevere in the face of adversity.   Eduard Burle is a Cape Town-based poet and champion of other poets’...