Loud and Yellow Laughter

Book excerpt: Sindiswa Busuku-Matheses debut collection of poetry Loud and Yellow Laughter, published by Botsotso, was awarded the 2018 Ingrid Jonker prize for poetry. Busuku Matheses entry was described by one judge as completely original: the presentation of family history as a play, in which the narrator is an unreliable character. The poet was praised for the the mix of WW2 history, the narrators dilemmas about being adopted, and the way she manages to weave these together without ever losing her balance or falling into incongruity. Another judge highlighted how Busuku Matheses memoir in the form of a collage offers fragments in several voices, some of them reconstructed. [The collection] movingly reflects the quest of the The Girl Child, as intimate curator of family memory and experience, to integrate the surprising puzzle that is her current self. The original version of this collection was written as part of the poets Masters thesis in Creative Writing at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. A collection of 39 pieces, some mystical and elliptical, some seemingly mundane snatches of prose-poetry that retain a poetic intensity, together they create an atmosphere of nostalgia tinged with a subtle yet matter-of-fact sadness. Accompanied by a series of graphic images, made up of old photographic portraits and scenes of natural beauty.