Serote, Mongane Wally, 1944-

found: Unedited, interview with Wally Serote, 2001:videodisc label (Wally Serote)

found: The Presidency, Republic of South Africa WWW site, viewed Aug. 15, 2016: award web page (The Order of Ikhamanga in Silver awarded to Mongane Wally Serote for excellent contributions to literature with emphasis on poetry; born in Sophiatown north of Johannesburg in 1944; attended school in Alexandra; worked as a journalist after school; more widely know as "Wally"; one of South Africa's pre-eminent poets and writers; he developed an interest in Black Consciousness (BC); in 1969 arrested and detained in South Africa; 1973, published his first book in poetry; the following year he travelled to Columbia University where he obtained a master's degree in Fine Arts; after his degree in 1979 he returned to Africa, living in self-imposed exile in Botswana; in 1986 he relocated to London and began working for the ANC's [African National Congress], Department of Arts and Culture; returned to South Africa in 1990; appointed to oversee the construction of Freedom Park, a national monument; currently chief executive officer of the Freedom Park Trust)