The African Heritage Collections preserve and celebrate Africa’s rich historical and cultural legacy. The collections bring together genealogies of clans, tribes, and nations; images of Africans, including chiefs, kings, and rulers; and creative works by African poets and writers. They offer valuable insights into African leadership, lineage, and artistic expression, and support learning, teaching, and research into Africa’s past and present.
The Works by African Poets, Writers, and Intellectuals collection is a digitised archival grouping from the Cory Library and Historical Archives at Rhodes University, highlighting the literary, intellectual, and cultural contributions of African authors and thinkers preserved in the library’s holdings. Situated within the African Heritage Collections, this item set brings together materials that reflect creative expression, literary production, and intellectual discourse from prominent African poets, writers, and scholars.
The collection encompasses sub-collections and individual item groups such as works and related archival material by authors including Henry Masila Ndawo, Malcolm Everitt Mlungiseleli Nyoka, pieces associated with the S.E.K. Mqhayi Collection, and materials linked to jazz-era cultural figure Todd Matshikiza (including parts of a King Kong thematic grouping). Collectively, these materials document a range of literary voices and intellectual traditions from the African continent, with a particular focus on South Africa, spanning poetry, prose, correspondence, manuscript materials, and related cultural artefacts. By foregrounding African creative and intellectual heritage, this collection supports research in literature, cultural studies, history, and African studies.
