'' Colours of a New Day : Writing for South Africa '' is an anthology first published in 1990 , edited by Sarah Lefanu and Stephen Hayward , inspired by an international tribute concert to imprisoned anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela on his 70th birthday in 1988 . As described by '' The New Internationalist '' magazine : " This is the literary equivalent of the Free Mandela concert : a collection of prose and poetry by 34 writers from around the world who have pledged their profits to an ANC cultural project inside South Africa . " Taking the title from an optimistic phrase used by a character in Lewis Nkosi 's story " Under the Shadow of the Guns " , the editors aimed to publish a book that would give writers the opportunity to express their opposition to apartheid and also to provide material assistance for the cultural work of the African National Congress ( ANC ) , to which the writers ' royalties and publishers ' profits were donated . '' Colours of a New Day '' was published almost simultaneously in 1990 in the Britain , South Africa , North America , Nigeria and India . The editors ' Preface concluded with the words : " In bringing together many of the finest writers currently working in the English language , it is our hope that this anthology will draw to the attention of a worldwide community of readers the need to maintain support for the African National Congress until the colours of a new day have lit up the whole of Southern Africa . " On 11 February 1990 , Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years . He contributed a Foreword to '' Colours of a New Day '' , dated 16 April 1990 , in which he wrote : " The past five years have seen unprecedented acts of solidarity by the international cultural community with the struggle for freedom of our people . ... But this anthology , '' Colours of a New Day '' , is the first to be produced whose proceeds go directly to the African National Congress . We salute the writers — from Africa , Asia , the British Isles , North America and the Caribbean — who have contributed towards the creation of a new dawn in South Africa . '' Amandla ! '' "
Free Mandela concert
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
Colours of a New Day