Includes bibliographical references. / The lure of gold in the great reefs of Johannesburg near the end of the 19th century not only attracted the famous mining barons such as Cecil John Rhodes, Alfred Beit and Barney Barnato: working men also came from far and wide to feed their families with their labour. Among them was my great-grandfather, the miner from the Isle of Man, William Cogeen. He arrived via the tin mines of Cornwall and the silver mines of Colorado, and was among those Uitlanders who flocked in those early days to the Transvaal as skilled artisans - wheelwrights, farriers, bricklayers and, especially, experienced hard-rock miners. It was their labour, as well as of black tribesmen from all over southern Africa, that laid the financial foundation for what became the rich city of Johannesburg. It was also their influx that was the excuse that precipitated the Anglo-Boer War. His wife and daughters joined him in what was still a rough boom town, and they stayed on, until forced to flee as refugees from Johannesburg at the start of the war in 1899. Intrigued by the stories my mother and grandmother told me as a child, I began to research my family’s history and travelled to the Isle of Man, Cornwall and Colorado to trace their origins - and my own. This is the remarkable story of what happened to an ordinary working-class family who lived in extraordinary times, and my journey in their footsteps.

This collection is the result of an exciting approach to the study of creative writing by an academic institution. The opportunity to obtain a Masters Degree for the writing of poetry helped to energise my efforts to put together fifty-three new and unpublished poems. The poems are universal in their outreach, despite the fact that I have a particular life experience as a Black person in South Africa and the world of oppression and exploitation. Love in its various forms is a dominant theme in the writing: love for life, love for humanity, love for beauty, love as an expression of the need to oppose injustice and to strive for human freedom. Love at an intimate and personal level is also given a place of honour in the writing. Issues of political intrigue and concerns about the emergence of new strands of oppression form the sub-text of many of the poems. The need for democratic expression finds a voice in the writing and there is also support for a regenerative energy to strengthen the pillars of human freedom. This diverse collection mirrors the beauty of nature and the personal anguish of the poet. It also seeks to pose questions, about the nature of life and living and our presence, in the cosmos of a greater universe of meaning. I hope the poems succeed in their intention to inspire others.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

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Please note: this work is permanently embargoed in OpenBU. No public access is forecasted for this item. To request private access, please click on the locked Download file link and fill out the appropriate web form. / A collection of short stories / 2999-01-01T00:00:00Z

Please note: this work is permanently embargoed in OpenBU. No public access is forecasted for this item. To request private access, please click on the locked Download file link and fill out the appropriate web form. / A collection of poems / 2999-01-01T00:00:00Z