Beatnik is a bohemian memoir set in the city of Durban in 1990. M. J. Poynter is a young college student immersed in the vibrant world of performing arts. Under the bright lights of the theatre the author spends his time designing sets and writing poetry. But offstage his carefree life as a beatnik is about to end. Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison and South Africa is on the cusp of political change. Set in a coastal city overlooking the Indian Ocean, Beatnik follows the exploits of four young students who see the need for political reform but who fear the prospect of an ANC...

Bukowski and the Beats is an extended essay (14,000 words) examining the life and work of Charles Bukowski. As a solitary writer of drunkenness and despair, Bukowski's tales of ordinary madness have inspired many readers to recognise a sense of heroism within their everyday lives. His masterful depictions of skid row, with its seedy bars, prostitutes and cheap rooming houses, portrays America's underclass in graphic detail. Often regarded as a laureate of American low life, Bukowski's gritty emphasis on low-brow culture has influenced much of the "dirty realism" that became predominant in the...