Chris Mann (poet)

Christopher Michael Zithulele Mann (b.1948, d.10 March 2021) was a South African poet.
Biography.
Chris Mann was born in Port Elizabeth in 1948 and went to Bishops (The Diocesan College) in Rondebosch, Cape Town. He studied English and Philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand, and went to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar where he was awarded an MA in English Language and Literature. He also studied African Oral Literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. From 1977 to 1980 he held a lecturer post in the English Department at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. From 1980 to 1995 he worked with an NGO, The Valley Trust at KwaNyuswa outside Durban, after which he returned to Rhodes University where he was a professor of poetry with the Institute for the Study of English in Africa. He was founder and convenor of Wordfest, a national multilingual festival of South African languages and literature with a developmental emphasis. A native English speaker, Mann was also conversant in Afrikaans, isiZulu and isiXhosa. He performed his work at festivals, schools, churches, universities and conferences in South Africa. He was married to artist Julia Skeen.
Commentary on Mann's Work.
Mann's work has received critical consideration in journals such as
Awards.
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