National English Literary Museum

The museum was established in 1972. Professor Guy F Butler, the Head of Department of the Rhodes University English Department and himself a poet, became aware of the need for the manuscripts of South African authors to be collected. His collection of his and other writers' material soon became too large for the cupboard he at first housed it in. By an Act of Parliament, NELM was eventually born.

Over the years, NELM has evolved into a national resource, housing a significant amount of literary works. In 1980, NELM was declared a cultural institution, governed by the Cultural Institutions Act (Act 119 of 1998).

In the 1960s many South African literary manuscripts were ending up in collections in foreign countries. Butler had a vision of a national repository for South African literary manuscripts, and this was the genesis of NELM. The Thomas Pringle Collection for English in Africa was founded in 1972. In 1974 this became the National Documentation Centre for English and in 1980 was declared a cultural institution and renamed the National English Literary Museum and Documentation Centre.

In 2017 the number of literary artefacts in the museum's collection stood at over 100 000. These include authors’ manuscripts, printers’ proofs, diaries, correspondence, publishers’ archives, photographs, posters, play-scripts, theatre programmes and cultural artefacts. The museum's collection of published poems, short stories, novels, plays, autobiographies, travel writing and children's literature exceeds 30 000.[3]

‘Voices of the Land’ is the National English Literary Museum's permanent exhibition.[4] The exhibition tells the story of South Africa through the lens of the country's literature, from the earliest writing of the colonial period through to some of the most recent work being produced. The two principal themes are conflict and the environment, and these are woven through the whole of the story. Five of South Africa's national languages are represented, there is a diversity of perspectives and positions, and both written and oral literatures are presented. A selection of significant artifacts from the museum's collections is on display, and there are a number of audiovisual installations.

Amazwi has two satellite institutions: Schreiner House in Cradock and the Eastern Star Gallery Printing and Press Museum in Makhanda.

Eastern Star Gallery

In 2016, NELM moved into a 147 million rand, purpose-built building in Worcester Street, on the outskirts of Grahamstown. A project of the Department of Arts and Culture, it was executed by the Department of Public Works. The building has been certified by the Green Building Council of South Africa as the first five-star Green Star certified project in the category Public & Education Buildings in South Africa. There are numerous display areas as well as humidity-controlled sealed archives. The large 'green' roof over the collections’ storage area enables constant temperature control and substantially reduces electricity consumption. There are exhibition spaces, a small lecture theatre, and an endemic landscaped garden.[6]