Breyten Breytenbach (1939-2024) was an artist, poet, thinker and outspoken political activist who changed the literary landscape in South Africa. He died on 24 November in Paris, where he had first been exiled in the 1960s.
Exploring themes of identity, exile and justice in a career spanning almost six decades, his paintings were exhibited in major galleries and he was awarded prestigious literary prizes.
Breytenbach was a master of metaphor. Metaphors transcend the literal meanings of words, creating new associations and images that stir the reader’s imagination. But his metaphors leave all definitions and theories about metaphor short.
