In Weeping Becomes a River, Siphokazi Jonas transforms language into a vessel of remembrance and renewal. This debut poetry collection traces the currents of identity, grief, and belonging—flowing between personal and collective histories. Through evocative verse and quiet power, Jonas invites readers to witness how sorrow, when spoken, can carve pathways toward healing.
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ABOUT THE AUDIOBOOK:
Weeping Becomes a River, narrated by award-winning author and performer Siphokazi Jonas, weaves seemingly discordant worlds, rooted in her experiences of growing up in an Afrikaans dorpie, attending an English boarding school, and going on annual holidays to a village emaXhoseni during the transition years of South Africa’s democracy.
Migrating between forms, between poetry and intsomi, she navigates the waters of tradition, religion, intergenerational experiences of rural and urban spaces, and the ways in which family dynamics affect the body. She is not only a referee of the raging tensions within her, but she also pieces together a language for pathways of leaving and returning.
Her poems grapple with the past, the present, and possible futures without forgetting that “the body is marked territory from birth, and the scent of it never leaves.”
Recorded by: Creafluence
Sound design: Elvis Sibeko
Mixing and mastering: ES Studios
“Unonkala wadidiyela” sung by: Zimbini©2024 Penguin Random House South Africa (P)2025 Penguin Random House South Africa
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Siphokazi Jonas is a weaver of seemingly discordant worlds; growing up in an Afrikaans dorpie, attending an English boarding school, and going on annual holidays to a village emaXhoseni during the transition years of South Africa’s democracy made this a necessity.
In Weeping Becomes a River she confronts the linguistic and cultural alienation experienced as a black learner in former Model C schools in the 1990s and early 2000s, then fashions the fragments to reclaim and rewrite her place within a lineage of storytellers.
Migrating between forms, between poetry and intsomi, she navigates the waters of tradition, religion, intergenerational experiences of rural and urban spaces, and the ways in which family dynamics affect the body. She is not only a referee of the raging tensions within her, but she also pieces together a language for pathways of leaving and returning.
Her poems grapple with the past, the present, and possible futures without forgetting that “the body is marked territory from birth, and the scent of it never leaves”.
“… Look at all these pages, I am heir to women who bore the weight of the river on their heads without spilling.” – Siphokazi Jonas
AWARDS
CULTURAL AWARDS 2025: LITERARY EXCELLENCE AWARD
Siphokazi Jonas has been honoured with the Literary Excellence Award at the 2025 Cultural Awards, a recognition that celebrates her extraordinary contribution to South African literature and performance. A poet, playwright, and storyteller whose work transcends genre and language, Jonas continues to affirm the power of words to bridge worlds and provoke reflection.
Her writing—rooted in the rhythms of oral tradition yet boldly contemporary—has carved a distinct space in the nation’s literary landscape. From her acclaimed stage productions and poetry performances to her debut collection Weeping Becomes a River, Jonas has consistently elevated the art of South African storytelling, weaving together themes of identity, language, belonging, and collective memory.
This award acknowledges not only her creative brilliance but also her commitment to nurturing new voices and preserving the oral storytelling heritage that continues to shape the country’s artistic soul. Through projects like #WeAreDyingHere and her ongoing literary advocacy, Siphokazi Jonas stands as both a torchbearer and a trailblazer—illuminating pathways for future generations of writers and performers.
Winning the Literary Excellence Award is a testament to her enduring impact: her words do more than move audiences—they remind us who we are, where we’ve been, and the stories we must keep telling.
UJ PRIZE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN WRITING: DEBUT PRIZE WINNER
The University of Johannesburg Prize for South African Writing (UJ Prize) in English is pleased to announce the winners for both the Debut and the Main Prize categories. This follows a rigorous adjudication process, in which six judges drawn from three universities evaluated a wide range of books published in 2024. This year’s adjudication panel was comprised of the following members:
- Prof Ronit Frenkel (Chair), University of Johannesburg
- Prof Sikhumbuzo Mngadi, University of Johannesburg
- Prof Marzia Milazzo, University of Johannesburg
- Dr Rebecca Fasselt, University of Pretoria
- Prof Grace Musila, University of the Witwatersrand
- Prof Nedine Moonsamy, University of Johannesburg
The UJ Prize is open to published South African works in English. This has been an extraordinary year for the prize, as reflected in the selection of winners. The winners have been selected from a large number of remarkable entries in both categories. Commenting on the process, Prof Ronit Frenkel, Chair of the Judges, remarked, “It has been a very difficult year to assess the entries as we had so many excellent choices from both very well-known authors and new voices. As usual, we have read across genres to select our winners.” The 2025 UJ Prize winners for books published in 2024 are as follows:
Debut Prize Winner:
• Weeping Becomes a River by Siphokazi Jonas
Jonas’s remarkable book impressed the judges, earning its place as one of the very few poetry collections to win the prize, which is open to all literary genres. Reflecting on the debut prize winner, Frenkel said, “Our debut winner introduces audiences to a new voice in South African poetry, who we believe is a rising star in the literary world.”
Main Prize Winners
The judges noted the challenging task of adjudicating the main prize, which was closely contested. Subsequently, the following titles have been named joint winners:
- The Comrade’s Wife by Barbara Boswell
- The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil by Shubnum Khan
HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES (HSS) AWARD: JOINT WINNER – Best Poetry
Weeping Becomes a River, a poetry collection by Siphokazi Jonas, won the Best Poetry award at the 10th Annual Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Awards on March 28, 2025, as a joint winner alongside Lynthia Julius’s work. The book explores themes of migration, family, language, and identity, blending English with isiXhosa and the storytelling tradition of intsomi. This award recognizes the work’s significant contribution to the field of poetry and its insightful reflection on societal and personal experiences.
Reviews
unique writing and wild book structure. Each chapter, words so carefully selected, reaches a climax and then boom it stops and I am faced with thought provoking verse before returning to the story and onto the next climax. As a white South African who grew up in the old Transkei the settings and stories were so relatable but oh so challenging. My head is spinning. Stumbling on the book at a fun launch a few days ago was fate. This book has earned a special place on my bookshelf.
– Diana Boynton
I know very little about poetry, but these poems have a way to speak to your heart and evoke poignant images. They are relatable yet foreign, hers but also sometimes mine.
Thank you for writing this.
— Allison
it’s the writing, it’s the storytelling… it’s the experience for me!
having read this work and sat with the different elements for a while now, i had not expected to be more blown away. Siphokazi carries us with the gentle allure that is the theft of ixhalanga. now we are here. not concentrating. stealing time from our work and our lives..searching frantically for our tongues, spring cleaning our own experiences, smelling samoosas and left with no land… only poems. and a river that reminds us every time we try to go home… that asinankabi. oh my dear heart!
even the glossary has me undone!!! “bring yourself into the room by listing your genealogy” i mean!!!!
— Anonymous
Siphokazi Jonas 