I Wish I'd Said

Funeral service and insurance provider AVBOB, through its sponsorship of the AVBOB Poetry Project, gave South Africa the gentlest, most inclusive act of bereavement support in the form of an online poetry competition in all 11 official languages.

Poets submitted words of loss and consolation in all 11 mother tongues. Editors in all languages were carefully selected to curate the collection of poems entered, and they too were transformed by the process.

This is a poetry portal for all South Africans – a cathartic space where amateur and accomplished poets can use their craft to comfort others.