DESCRIPTION
Borrowing its name and image from township slang for black youth who rode the overcrowded African sections of the racially segregated commuter trains by hanging onto the outside or sitting on the roofs, Staffrider had two main objectives: to provide publishing opportunities for community-based organizations and young writers, graphic artists and photographers; and to oppose officially sanctioned state and establishment culture.
Produced by the same Durban "moment" that saw Steve Biko begin the South African Students Association, Staffrider had a view of literature with a small "I": it's base was popular rather than elite and it sought to provide an autobiography of experience in its witness of daily black life in South Africa. The magazine's nonracial policy and choice of English as a non-ethnic mode of communication attracted a cross-section of writers, artists and other contributors to the magazine. Debates around Staffrider's "self-editing" editorial policy were ongoing and the magazine eventually adopted quality control measures under the editorship of Chris van Wyk. But the magazine's early flexibility ensured that the work of previously unpublished writers and artists appeared alongside that of many South African notables including Nadine Gordimer, Lionel Abrahams, Rose Zwi, and Mtutuzeli Matshoba.
PEOPLE
Mothobi Mutloatse, Mike Kirkwood, Kay Hassan, Njabulo Ndebele, Achmat Dangor, Paul Weinberg, Mafika Gwala, George Hallet, Mzwakhe Nhlabatsi, Sam Nhlengetwa, Malopoets, Es'kia Mphahlele, Kelwyn Sole, Chris van Wyk, Andries Oliphant,Thami Mnyele, William Kentridge, Gerard Sekoto
FAMILY TREE
- The Classic (1970)
- Pen Johannesburg (1978)
- Wietie (1980)
- Botsotso (1994)
RE/SOURCES
- Staffrider on Wikipedia
- Ten Years of Staffrider, Oliphant, A. and Vladislavic, I. (eds.), Raven Press: Johannesburg, 1988.
- Oliphant, Andries. Staffrider Magazine and Popular History: The Opportunities and Challenges of Personal Testimony. Temple University Press: Johannesburg, 1991.
- Gardiner, Michael. South African Literary Magazines, 1956-1978. Warren Siebrits Modern and Contemporary Art: Johannesburg, 2004.
- "Rose Zwi in conversation with Mothobi Mutloatse," Interview conducted 09-09-2006.
- Gwala, Mafika. "Writing as a Cultural Weapon." In Momentum, Margaret Daymond, Johan Jacobs, and Margaret Lenta (eds.). University of Natal Press: Pietermaritzburg, 1985. 37-53.
- Manganyi, Chabani N. Looking Through the Keyhole. Ravan Press: Johannesburg, 1981
- Mutloatse, Mothobi. Forced Landing. Ravan Press: Johannesburg, 1980.
- Ndebele, Njabulo. Rediscovery of the Ordinary. Congress of South African Writers: Johannesburg, 1991.
- "Staffrider Magazine."
- Newell, Stephanie. Readings in African Popular Fiction. Indiana University Press: Bloomington, 2002.
