UCT Writers Series

Personae is a book of voices. In assuming the identities of a variety of figures, many from biblical history, Sarah Johnson speaks of the unspoken in their lives, revealing that often troubled point of intersection between the devotional and the erotic, and also the truth – poetic and otherwise – of Emerson’s dictum: “Many . . . can write better in a mask than for themselves.” This collection is remarkable in that its voices, speaking out of their own lives and histories, connect directly, acutely to ours.

About the author:
Award-winning poet Sarah Johnson was born in 1980 and has lived in Cape Town her entire life. She completed her BA (Hons) in English and Linguistics and an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Cape Town, where she now teaches. This is her first book.

Review:
‘Undoubtedly one of the best debut volumes in South African poetry in recent years.’ Stephen Watson

ISBN:
9781874923688

Retail Price:
R80

Buy this book:
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