Any great intellectual and cultural formation, such was the constellation of Zulu intellectuals and writers in Durban and Johannesburg in the 1940s, requires within its actual process of genesis and gestation great readers, to guide it in its cultural trajectory, to make it aware of itself as a representor of a particular historical consciousness, to be a critical receptor of its prodigious creativity, and to make it aware of itself as a maker of history in the present. Such was the role of Walter Nhlapo in relation to Benedict Wallet Vilakazi, H. I. E. Dhlomo, Jordan Ngubane, Albert Luthuli, Ngazana Luthuli, A. W. G. Champion, A. P. Mda, Anton Lembede and others. Nhlapo was creatively attuned to each of their artistic and creative impulses. He was an extraordinary perceptive reader of H. I. E. Dhlomo and Vilakazi. Nhlapo seems to have been instantly aware of the unrapalleled intellectual achievements of these two great poets of modernity. He had a deep sense of awareness of the cultural achievements by other New African intellectuals, as can be evinced by the following excerpt taken from an obituary notice concerning Mqhayi: "In the Xhosa language he wrote his works and they bear true value and solidity and no less clearness, elegance: simple and natural declamation. This clearness and conciseness in expression and form he has designated as the fundamental qualities of Xhosa poetry. He made Xhosa heroes as well as those of other people, great. He made Xhosaland great. He gave it its own beauty and personality. Bantudom was his life. Few Bantu poets have ever interpreted the soul of Africa more poignantly and authentically as this national poet, but not only that, he reveals intrinsic originality and for this reason he belongs to the immortals. His literary aspirations are the hallmark of greatness, which is deathless as time and will always be fresh and cogent in an ever-changing world. Besides writing about heroes, he enriched other artistic potentialities of literature. He had fertility of ideas that seduce and enchant" ("He Belongs To The Ages: S. E. K. Mqhayi", Ilanga lase Natal, September 1, 1945). This penetrative appraisal was informed by his philosophical credo of the arts, which placed the arts in absolute priority over politics: "There is consternation and excitement in Bantudom as regards politics. Everybody speaks politics and he that does not partake of this dish is regarded with suspicion an anti-Bantu [anti-African]. Into this iniation of politics, everybody wants to be this and that. In politics they see the road to honour, success and fame. Even creative minds and interpreters of art, have cast art to the pigs and have become good, bad and indifferent soap-box politicians. Art, it seems must wait until we have attained our elementary rights. This is dangerous and menaces art. But art has long been burked because politics have become a national sentiment at the expense of all art. This neglect has a sequel that tells heavily on us. . . . Art is better politics than politics. Art is a greater yard stick to progress than the highfutin' words and superlative phrases of politicians. Art: music, literature and painting must either progress or perish. Art must be encouraged in its activity. . . . Bantudom is abound with unquestionable genuises but no one seems to be in the position to assist, despite the fact that in our midst has sprung up a clique of money hoarders" ("Bantu Politics Undermine Art", Ilanga lase Natal, January 26, 1946). Despite the fact that Walter Nhlapo sought to place politics under the hegemony of the arts, it does not follow that he lacked a fine political sensibility, as the following excerpt from an obituary memorializing of John Dube, the first President of the African National Congress, clearly disproves: "Another great figure has been removed from the African scene, one who dreamt great dreams and transformed at least a great part of them into living reality, and whose services in the educational and literal, social and political arenas have been of inestimable importance and magnitude, crowning and lasting glory. Through hid great energy, broadmindedness and patriotism he transformed the Zulu people into power, light and life through the establishment of the Ohlange Institute, the powerful newspaper Ilanga lase Natal, his literary works and no less his far sighted and intelligent leadership. When in America, Dr. John Langalibalele Dube, grappled with various systems and studied especially the Negro Problem which was somewhat akin to the African Problem. His impressions, broadening and deepening were espoused on the platform as well as in the press. The brilliance of American culture never dazzled him to the extent of blinding him against his people. . . . A revolutionary and fighter, he was at the same time essentially an educationist, creator and builder. . . . As a builder one of his greatest achievements lay in being one of the founders and cornerstones of the African National Congress. . . . He is gone, he belongs to the ages" ("Dr. J. L. Dube: A Great Bantu", Ilanga lase Natal, February 23, 1946). In his venture of critical appraisal of New African modernity, Walter Nhlapo traversed the whole New African canvas of cultural and political creativity from Mqhayi to Dube, from the jazz improvisations of the Merry Blackbirds Orchestra through the dramatic theater of H. I. E. Dhlomo to the poetics of Benedict Vilakazi, from the Umteteli wa Bantu newspaper in the 1930s through Bantu World newspaper in the 1940s to the Liberation journal in the 1950s. This expansiveness, comprehensiveness and multivalency undoubtedly makes Walter Nhlapo arguably the most important Cultural Critic within the New African Movement, a 'School of Intellectuals' that included among many others such outstanding intellectuals such as R. V. Selope Thema, Solomon T. Plaatje, Isaac Wauchope. The singular importance of Walter M. B. Nhlapo today in 1999 lies in the fact that the current debate about the historical possibilities of creating an African Renaissance, a proposal emanating from the political genius of Nelson Mandela, may need to consult some of his articles which anticipated this great idea: "Inside Information On The African Aothors' Conference, Ilanga lase Natal, February 14, 1948; "Bantu Art and Artist", Ilanga lase Natal, October 12, 1946; "The Johannesburg Bantu Music Festival", Ilanga lase Natal, September 24, 1949; "Drama Versus Jazz: Art Too Complex For Africans", Bantu World, February 24, 1940.