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(Photo: Twice25)
Share 		Leading poets from Russia and South Africa contemplate the role of poetry in their countries, and examine how poetry intersects with politics.

  
FIRST HALF


(Irina Ratushinskaya | Photo: Mikhail Evstafiev)

Internationally renowned poet Irina Ratushinskaya was incarcerated for 12 years in a labor camp for writing "anti-Soviet" verse. She continues to write, and is active in the human rights movement. She speaks with other poets and examines the impact poetry has in Russia today.

SECOND HALF



(From left to right: Napo Masheane, Lebo Mashile, Professor Keorapetse Kgositsile (South Afirca's Poet Laureate), and Phillippa Yaa de Villiers.)

Poetry has long been an intrinsic part of South African culture. Lebo Mashile is a young, forward-looking poet from South Africa, who writes "performance poetry" in an effort to reach an audience who may not be able to read or cannot afford to buy her books. She writes takes us on a tour of her nation's current poetic landscape.
     
   
   
     



THE CHANGING WORLD is the sister documentary series of PRI's The World. Each week, we offer American radio listeners two in-depth documentaries from the BBC World Service that probe issues critical to our understanding of our evolving world.
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