BRUTUS, DENNIS VINCENT

1924–, South African poet, b. Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe). Brutus grew up in South Africa and received (1947) his B.A. from its Univ. of Fort Hare at Alice. He taught high school from 1948 until 1962, when as a result of his political activism, notably his protests against all-white South African sports, he was fired from his job and imprisoned (1963) on the infamous Robben Island. In 1966 his works were banned, and he was sent into exile. His testimony concerning apartheid helped win support for the ban against South Africa's participation in the 1970 Olympic Games. Since then Brutus has taught at several American universities, including Northwestern (1971–85) and Pittsburgh (1986–), where he is currently an emeritus professor. Most of Brutus's restrained and beautifully crafted poetry reflects his prison experiences, his struggle for justice, and the agony of political exile. Brutus's first published volume of poetry was Sirens, Knuckles, Boots (1963); his others include Letters to Martha and Other Poems from a South African Prison (1969), A Simple Lust (1973), Stubborn Hope (1978, repr. 1991), Salutes and Censures (1984), Airs and Tributes (1989), and Still the Sirens (1993).

See C. W. McLuckie and P. J. Colbert, ed., Critical Perspectives on Dennis Brutus (1995); Dennis Brutus (National Public Radio sound recording, 1986).

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