Barbara Masekela

Writing and literary work Masekela's poetry is included in such publications at Sterling Plumpp's Somehow We Survive: An Anthology of South African Writing (New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1982).

Her memoir, entitled Poli Poli, dedicated to her brother Hugh, was published in 2021 (Jonathan Ball Publishers, ), to critical acclaim. As characterised by Nuruddin Farah, "Poli Poli by Barbara Masekela is an adorable book full of childhood thrills and teeming with vignettes of memory retold in brilliant prose. It reminds me of Aké by Wole Soyinka, which in and of itself is high praise indeed." The Johannesburg Review of Books concluded: "As part of the rich legacy of black women’s life writing in South Africa, Masekela's Poli Poli joins the chorus of voices that includes Noni Jabavu, Ellen Kuzwayo, Fatima Meer, Brigalia Bam, and many others. Women who wrote their own stories, and in so doing wrote the histories of their families and communities, narratives that are often undermined in mainstream history." A follow-up memoir by Masekela "will reportedly give more light about her colourful life in the past sixty years."

Masekela, supported by Elinor Sisulu, in February 2023 inaugurated the Johannesburg Festival of Women Writers, hosted by the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS) at the Johannesburg Business School.

Awards Masekela is a recipient of the Order of Luthuli in Silver, which national honour she was awarded in 2008 for her "excellent contribution to the eradication of apartheid and contributing to the development of the new South African values".

In April 2024, Rhodes University awarded her an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Laws (LLD), "for her lifelong commitment to cultural activism, literature, and the fight for human dignity".

In March 2025, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Johannesburg for "her lifelong dedication to the arts, literature, and social change".