Taken Captive by Birds

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Poland, Marguerite

ISBN

9780143530442

Format

Hardback

Recommended Price

R300.00

Published

November 2012

About the book:

Taken Captive by Birds is a collection of acclaimed author Marguerite Poland’s ‘discovery’ of birds as a child and the role they have played in her and her family’s life. Interwoven with the personal story are the myths, traditions and meanings behind birds and their names within Zulu and Xhosa culture. The book is divided into 18 chapters, each of which loosely deals with one particular bird or, sometimes, a grouping of birds. The book is beautifully illustrated by Craig Ivor.

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About the Author

Marguerite Poland has successfully and eloquently mastered writing for both children and adults. Her landmark 1979 book The Mantis And The Moon is credited with establishing a market for indigenous children’s books in English in South Africa. Poetic, sensitively-layered and lucid, Poland’s novels for adults have won several prestigious awards. A meticulous researcher, she has also written a number of academic papers and reports.

Fluent in Xhosa and isiZulu, much of Poland’s work reflects her interest in African culture with some of her childrens stories in particular inspired by African oral traditions. Her keen understanding and appreciation of the South African landscape, its fauna and flora, as well as its peoples, is colourfully evident in her writing.

Married with two daughters, Marguerite Poland spends her time between Grahamstown and Durban.