Abstract
A change in direction of the journal New Coin during the 1990s saw the emergence of a
diverse group of poets who had previously struggled for publication. This article
recognises this often overlooked collective and argues that they quickly established their
own style of ‘poetry of no sure place’, which expresses a malaise of sadness within South
Africa that is popularly felt but rarely articulated. By focusing on three collections of
poetry by Mxolisi Nyezwa it is shown how this group’s work rests on a permanent - and
possibly worsening - sense of imbalance. The article explores how Nyezwa attempts to
reconcile a felt public and private need to write, struggles to find a source of connection,
and questions the permanence of social change in South Africa. Nyezwa epitomises the
marginalisation, apprehension, and uncertainty of New Coin’s Poetry of No Sure Place.