Athol Williams

Athol Williams

BUMPER CARS

I will combine live poetry reading from my latest book, Bumper Cars, with poem-videos which are professionally-produced videos that capture the essence of a series of poems. The poems explore the root of conflict and present hopeful images of a more harmonious society. 

Athol Williams (aka AE Ballakisten) is a South African poet and social philosopher born in Cape Town in 1970. He was awarded the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award for 2015. Athol has published three poetry collections, the most recent being Bumper Cars (The Onslaught Press, 2015) and edited a poetry collection at Harvard University. His poems have recently been published in New Contrast, Clare Market Review (UK) and Popshot (UK). Recent poetry readings include SANAA Africa Poetry Festival, AfrWEka Poetry Festival and readings at Harvard and Oxford. He holds five degrees and is currently studying political philosophy at Oxford University.