These Notes Are Yours

The uHlanga guide to self-publishing poetry in South Africa

A public guide for southern African writers.

In 2025, Megan Natasha Ross co-wrote These Notes Are Yours with Nick Mulgrew for uHlanga: a free, open-access guide to self-publishing poetry in South Africa.

The guide was created in response to a recurring need: since uHlanga began in 2014, writers have often approached Nick and the press for help publishing their own work, and this document was made to give them practical, generous and trustworthy guidance. It was formatted for screens and phones, and released as a Creative Commons resource so it could be shared, printed, adapted and used by others.

Across 60 pages, the guide maps the real terrain of independent publishing: budgets, layouts, zines, editors, printers, designers, distributors, ISBNs, translators, promotion + yes, how to get your poetry into readers’ hands.

“To think of writing as a country is to imagine a place without borders, passports, or customs gates. It is a nation built on shared communication and the courage to make something from nothing. When you self-publish, you are issuing yourself a passport into this republic. The act of folding, printing, or stapling your poems is in and of itself a declaration: I belong here.”

Download these fieldnotes now.