Poet Thabiso Mohare talks to Johannesburg-based writers and poets about the changing cityscape and how the past impacts on the present in their work. He takes a walk through the bustling University district of Braamfontein with Ivan Vladislavic, who has documented the city in his novels and non-fiction work Portrait with Keys. They explore writing about Hillbrow, the troubled inner city district, where the social integration and dynamic culture looked as though it might be a positive future vision of the country in the early 1990s.

He talks to the prominent poet Lebo Mashile, an inspiration to the younger poets coming through now, about the emergence of the black female voice in the past 20 years, and the legacy of the past. And, he meets Niq Mhlongo, whose most recent book Way Back Home, looks critically at the struggle against apartheid, and the way those who went into exile to fight for the movement are haunted by their experiences.

(Photo: Locals enjoy Ethiopian coffee at one of the street cafes in Maboneng, Johannesburg, 2013. Credit: Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images) Show less