Saul Dubow is a Professor of African History at Queen Mary, University of London. His latest book ‘Apartheid, 1948-1994’ is a comprehensive account of South Africa’s tumultuous political history during the 20th century.
Saul was born in South Africa and grew up in the country during the implementation of the apartheid system. He studied at the University of Cape Town, before moving on to complete his education at Oxford. His research is focussed upon his home country. Past publications include ‘The African National Congress’ (2000), ‘A Commonwealth of Knowledge: Science, Sensibility and White South Africa, 1820-2000’ (2006) and ‘South Africa’s Struggle for Human Rights’ (2012). He has also been the chair of the Journal of Southern African Studies, where he is now a member of their editorial board.
Saul’s latest offering is a contemporary take on the history of apartheid, adding further context and extra viewpoints with which to approach this issue. He takes an analytic approach to the issue, yet delivers his hypotheses in crisp, clear language that is accessible to the most casual reader, or those with only a passing knowledge of South Africa's turbulent past.
Join Susan and Saul as they discuss the complex history of South Africa. Has the discussion about how apartheid ended distracted the debate about why it lasted so long? Is apartheid much more than a simple story of black oppression by whites? And where does South African society stand now in the aftermath of this upheaval?
Then, in part two, Susan will be chatting with Pulitzer Prize winning poet Philip Schultz about his life and recent work.
Philip has enjoyed a highly acclaimed career in poetry to date. His work has been widely published, beginning with ‘Like Wings’ in 1978. This was followed with ‘Deep Within the Ravine’ in 1984, which was met with much praise, receiving the Lamont Poetry Selection (now James Laughlin Award) in that year.
Perhaps his greatest achievement was winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2008, for his work ‘Failure’ (2007). This was a work inspired by the life of his father. More recently, he has produced ‘The God of Loneliness: Selected and New Poems’ in 2010; while his latest publication ‘The Wherewithal’ was released this year.
He has also published a memoir entitled ‘My Dyslexia’ (2011). This was inspired by son, who, like Philip, is dyslexic. It deals with his discovery about his sons condition and also his own.
Philip spends most of his time teaching at The Writers Studio, which he founded in 1987. Here he teaches poetry and fiction writing. It is based in New York City, where Philip lives with his family; though they often run workshops all over the United States and in Europe.
Join Susan as she chats with Philip about the inspiration behind his poetry. What was the nature of his relationship with his father? How has this shaped him as a poet and as a parent? And what are his thoughts on society and poverty in America today?
