Sarah Lubala is a Congolese-born poet. Her family fled the Democratic Republic of Congo two decades ago amidst political unrest as militant factions tried to overthrow the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. She relocated first to Cape Town, then Abidjan — the capital of the Ivory Coast — before settling in Johannesburg. 

Working at the limits of language and human experience, in the place of Celan’s Sprachgitter — her debut collection, A History of Disappearance, examines what happens to humanity at the margins and in the far places of experience, pain, and love.

Achingly humane, and characterised by a fine and gracious empathy, this work draws the reader into a greater fellowship with and understanding of the world and themselves in it.