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Associate Professor
Name: Siphiwo Mahala
Location: B Ring 716 Auckland Park Kingsway Campus
Department of English Academic Staff, Department of English Staff听 Staff Members
Contact Details:
Tel: (011) 559 3414
Email:听siphiwom@uj.ac.za
About Prof Siphiwo Mahala
Prof Siphiwo Mahala is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg. He is a prolific writer plying his trade in English and IsiXhosa. He was the Communications Director (and Acting Chief Director) at the Presidency鈥檚 Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and the founding Deputy Director for the Books and Publishing unit at the Department of Arts and Culture. He hosted prominent writers and scholars like Wole Soyinka (Nigeria), Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana), Ngugi wa Thiong鈥檕 (Kenya), Njabulo S. Ndebele (South Africa), Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe), Ben Okri (Nigeria), Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt). In 2023, he conducted a US lecture tour, which included guest lectures at prestigious institutions like Yale, New York, Rutgers and Johns Hopkins Universities. He serves as the Chairperson of the National Arts Festival (Makhanda) and chairs the Sunday Times Literary Awards fiction panel.
Teaching and Research听
His research interests include Contemporary African Literature, Black Intellectual History, Colonial and Post-Colonial Literature, Short Story Writing as well as Creative Writing.
Books Authored
The House of Truth听& Bloke and His American Bantu : Two Plays . Wits 欧美福利100000 Press, 2025
The Missing Pages听(short stories): Foundation for Culture, Arts and Literature, India, 2025
Can Themba: The Making and Breaking of the Intellectual Tsotsi (A Biography) ; Wits 欧美福利100000 Press, 2022
Red Apple Dreams and Other Stories听(short stories) ; Iconic Productions, 2019
The House of Truth听(Play) ; Iconic Productions, 2017
African Delights (short stories); Jacana Media, 2011
Yakhal鈥� Indoda (novel); UKZN Press, 2010
When a Man Cries (novel); UKZN Press, 2007
Articles Published
“Finding the true heart of manhood鈥�. Sunday Times Newspaper; 22 December 2024.
鈥淓xperiments in Publishing: A Journey with Commercial, Independent and Academic Publishers鈥� in Publishing from the South: A Century of Wits 欧美福利100000 Press edited by Sarah Nuttall and Isabel Homeyr, Wits 欧美福利100000 Press; 2024.
鈥淐onfluences and Divergencies: An Insider鈥檚 View of South Africa鈥檚 Cultural and Creative Industries鈥� in The SA Handbook of Agency, Freedom and Justice, edited by Muxe Nkondo and Reuel Khoza, UKZN Press; 2024.
鈥淰oice of the Present鈥�, Sunday Times Newspaper; 10 September 2023.
鈥淪omething in Me Died鈥�, Sunday Times Newspaper; 22 January 2023.
鈥淎 Friendship Through Letters鈥�, Stranger鈥檚 Guide (US based publication); January 2023.
鈥淪hort Stories Born from the Womb of the Past鈥�, in The Short Story in South Africa: Contemporary Trends and Perspectives, edited by Rebecca Fasselt and Corrine Sandwith; Routledge, 2022.
Notable Achievements
Winner of the 2024 Vice Chancellor Award: Book of the Year, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg
Winner of the 2024 Innovation in Teaching and Learning Award, Faculty of Humanities, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg
Winner of the 2023 Emerging Researcher Award, Faculty of Humanities; 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg
Winner of the 2023 Students鈥� Choice Teaching Award, Faculty of Humanities, 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg
Personal听Website