Monthly Archives: October 2015

Dr Raphael d’Abdon is a writer, scholar, editor and translator. He holds an MA in Arts from the University of Uppsala (Sweden) and a PhD in Linguistics and Literary Studies from the University of Udine (Italy), and is currently a lecturer at the English Studies Department of UNISA. He has read his poetry in Italy, Nigeria, and the United States, where he chaired a session on ‘spoken word and literature’ at the 2011 Chinua Achebe Colloquium, a conference that hosted poets such as Jayne Cortez, Sonia Sanchez, Yusef Komunyakaa and Prof. Achebe himself. In South Africa he has performed at various festivals and poetry events which include, amongst others: the “Jozi Book Fair”, “Jozi House of Poetry”, the “Word N Sound Poetry and Live Music Series”, and

In South Africa he has performed at various festivals and poetry events which include, amongst others: the “Jozi Book Fair”, “Jozi House of Poetry”, the “Word N Sound Poetry and Live Music Series”, and “The Orbit” jazz club (Johannesburg); the “Night of the Poets” at The State Theatre, the Pretoria Biennale and the “67 Poems for freedom” at the Freedom Park (Pretoria); the Polokwane Literary Festival; the 2013 international festival “Poetry Africa” (Durban). He is the winner of the 2010 “Anna Panicali” literary prize (Italy), and has published poems in several volumes and journals which include: Splinters of a Mirage Dawn. An Anthology of Migrant Poetry from South Africa; Unbreaking the Rainbow. Voices of Protest from New South Africa; 100 Thousand Poets for Change; Sagarana; Le Simplegadi; Semicerchio; The Palestine Chronicle; LitNet; New Coin; Guillotine. He published one collection of poems, Sunnyside Nightwalk (Geko, Johannesburg, 2013), and is currently finalizing his second collection which will be available at the end of 2015. He also translated into Italian and edited I nostri semi – Peo tsa rona, an anthology of South African spoken word poetry (Mangrovie, Naples, 2007) and Marikana. A Moment in Time (Geko, Johannesburg, 2013). With Natalia Molebatsi and Myesha Jenkins, he has co-edited the first anthology of South African erotic poetry, which will be published next year by Cassava Republic Press.

The poem “old sweet dolly” was written on the 18^th of April 2014, the 100^th birthday of Ms Dolly Saville, the oldest barmaid in the world. He found an article that was talking about a big party to be officiated in her honour at the Red Lion Hotel in Wendover (UK), the pub where she was working (see video here). After researching her amazing story, he wrote the poem as a tribute to her.