Christine Mautjana writes on African women's writing

It is rather exciting that many young South African Black women interested in arts and culture now regard me as something of a role model after I published my first book – which is actually a series of interviews with writers. Many are putting me on a pedestal, which I do not deserve. The truth is I am just like everybody else – largely ignorant, but willing to learn. I must confess that I used to be very intimidated too as regards literature in particular until I mixed with academics, even professors, and discovered that even they were very ignorant in certain spheres. How much more myself? As a woman the scope and breadth of literature, in Africa specifically is breathtaking. I am happy to have contributed my small quota in this wise but it is just a humble beginning. The first obstacle is that I am quite young and I have to do my research about the literary past but even this can only be tentative. Also, should one focus on South Africa alone (narrow-minded, really) or Africa? I prefer our continent when it comes to our writers. But let us start with female writers. Perhaps black female writers. As a South African woman I know now that our icons include illustrious names like Miriam Tlali, Lauretta Ngcobo, Sindiwe Magona. I have tried to at least read samples of their work. Mama Ngcobo is very polished and suave; Magona strikes me as a woman who has performed miracles – somehow overcoming great poverty during apartheid (including three young kids) to travel overseas and become one of our great writers. Read her early works and how she struggled to feed her kids and you burst into tears; not to talk of the lot of “domestics” over the years… Then there are other great black African female writers, including those living overseas. From neighbouring Zimabawe the late Yvonne Vera, and Tsitsi Dangarembga have gone down in history. What about Buchi Emecheta and (the young) Helen Oyeyemi – both based in London – who are already part of English literary canon? As women there is also this impediment of feminism. Women these days are expected to be beating the drum of women’s rights and all that goes with it; but unfortunately this can be counter-productive. Feminism is a complex series of ideas that can be confusing. Let us not confuse this with a fringe male minority doing terrible things to women (eg rape) What do women want? True lasting love; or just exploiting men? This brings Nadine Gordimer to my mind, the first African (and South African woman) to win the Nobel Award for Literature. She has over the years been criticized for allegedly not supporting women’s rights or feminism which is absurd. Her literary achievements speak for themselves. It seems to me that the great lady is being attacked for nothing. What do women really want? Are we losing or gaining from this so-called feminism? I mean I am proud to be a black woman. In South Africa women continue to perform wonders, including very young and young women. We see how we work so hard to develop ourselves, take care of our loved ones. Yes there are some obstacles but should we exaggerate them? Can we in all honesty say that our sex counts against us? Are there not so many outstanding women doing great things in their field, including literature? Like Angela Makholwa a relatively new outstanding black female writer. In my book, there are many black Free State writers featured. They include Nthabiseng jah Rose Jafta who is now making waves (with two female poets) after putting together the book, Free State of mind. Three bright black young ladies. Can we accuse them of not grabbing opportunities open to them? No. - CHRISTINE MAUTJANA (Christine Mautjana is the editor of the book, Interviews with Effervescent Writers. Mbali Press. 2012. See image ABOVE)

Mfundo Ngcangca's debut work

This new book lifts the l;id on teeming tourism potential!!! "The tourism industry is one with many opportunities for entrepreneurs and the unemployed. It is well supported and encouraged in South Africa, but myself I decided to write a tell – all book about the pitfalls in the industry. Born and bred in Sterkspruit, today working for the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs. I felt the need to put pen to paper when I noticed a growing trend within tourism. People have turned to be selfish. Fewer are sharing the big cake which is tourism. This multi-faceted , money spinning industry continues to hold many in its thrall. But instead of the tourism becoming full of employment opportunities which could grow in multiple directions, I noticed companies working alone instead of together. Certain sectors do not want to share with others, now the industry becomes cruel and affect all of us. For example, people in the transportation or hospitality sector want to own everything without utilizing or outsourcing other emerging entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is important to the growth of the tourism industry at large." Read this book for more details!

Tiisetso M Thiba pens WHEN I LOOKED THROUGH THE WINDOW

(Performed during Writers Workshop at Mcgregor Museum in Kimberly 18 11 2011) The cascade of the water Running down to the window-pane The mist is over now And i can see vividly The night has packed Its stars and moons and is gone I have seen the yellow sun-rise going up When i looked through the window The birds were dancing to the symphony of the new day They are no longer scared now for monsters of the sinister The heart beat is normal now All intimidation has passed When i looked thru the window I have seen exquisite roses wet with the morning mist Stomach full of glee before the agony of the sun When i looked thru the window I have seen no changes But only time has changed! By Tiisetso M Thiba

RICHARD RIVE: Advance, Retreat

The late Richard Rive was a great writer from South Africa (“coloured”) whose life was eventually tinged with tragedy as he was murdered in his South African home over 20 years ago. This is a collection of short stories. They are of remarkable depth and well written. They show the author at his masterly best, imaginative with a host of fine characters. Stories in this collection are - Moon over district 6, Dagga smoker s dream, Rain, The bench, Resurrection, No room at Solitaire, Drive-in, Riva, The visits, Make like slaves, The man from the board, Advance, retreat. The stories here can be enjoyed by readers around the world. There are excellent pictures of Cape Town over the decades. The intensity and empathy is overpowering. There is frustration, angst, sorrow, and prejudice. There is also sophisticated irony The late Rive s other books included – The emergency, The emergency continued, Buckingham Palace District 6, African Songs, Olive Schreiner, Quartet, writing Black, Modern African prose: an anthology K. Motheane

BESSIE HEAD: The collector of treasures

South Africa’s Bessie Head - though she made her name in Botswana, is one of Africa's best known and respected female writers. The collector of treasures was her fourth book, published in 1977. This book draws on the oral tradition of Southern Africa, using the language and imagery of the story-telling tradition. The collection focuses on village people from Botswana and the status and position of women in Africa. The fine stories in this collection are - The deep river, Heaven is not closed, The village saint, Jacob, Life, Witchcraft, Looking for a rain god, Kgotla, The wind and a boy, Snapshots of a wedding, The special one, Hunting, and The collector of treasures In a famous review of this work overseas, The Tribune wrote inter alia: “Bessie Head s short stories have an extraordinary simplicity and breadth of vision, a tolerant acceptance of things as they are, which if applied by a European writer inside the structure of a European novel, would cause her to be hailed as a new humanist saint, a Tolstoy, a Gorki. “ In this work, there is plenty of empathy and sympathy for the people on the ground, especially the women. There is shocking violence and tragedy too - eg in Life, and in The collector of treasures. This remains a collection of brilliant stories. - K Motheane

The Way of All Flesh

It is both depressing and inevitable. Writers come and go, metaphorically, no matter how larger than life they might appear, no matter their longevity. Two random great writers serve to show this - Agatha Christie, and John Updike. They wrote for decades, made their mark, and despite going the way of all flesh, are still admired by millions. And this is the reassuring thing about writers and books - we can still read their work even after they have departed this world. Like William Shakespeare who died a hundred years ago. The Bronte sisters. Charles Dickens. Joseph Conrad, and many others. Yet we still feel depressed when these literary giants die during our lifetime. Such is the case here in South Africa too. Over the last few years it does seem as if too many of our fine writers have died. When the illustrious Es kia Mphahlele died a few years ago at almost 90 we knew he had made his mark as a true African literary giant, world respected. We should read and re-read his works, like Afrika, my music. Largely, this applies to writers like Mazisi Kunene, and Lewis Nkosi too who also went the way of all flesh quite recently. Mazisi was a genius with his African, Zulu poetry, and Lewis Nkosi was an all-round sophisticated wordsmith. The late Denis Brutus was a very sophisticated poet, too. An academic and intellectual. Many lovers of poetry will always remember him for - A troubador I traverse all my land. And what about Phaswane Mpe and Sello Duiker who also died a few years ago? Their cases are particularly poignant, as they died very young and had so much talent. Just like Emily Bronte, one might say. Then there are others like Sheila Roberts, Bree O’ Mara, Guy Willoughby. All excellent South African writers who also departed this world recently. We should do all we can to keep their literary legacy alive. - Casely Khumalo

Getting to grips with our literature

For we young ones who love literature, our passion is not as simple as we thought. There is so much to learn that it is frightening really. Writers clubs have been helping us. We knew English literature was boundless with hundreds of books overseas, but we did not know that even African and S.A literature is so wide and diverse. But I have learnt a lot in this wise, and will continue to do so. The experts say literature is a life-long pursuit and one should start with SA Black literature, with the pioneers. I now know about Sol Plaatje, Peter Abrahams, Es’kia Mphahlele. I even read Plaatje’s Mhudi! As regards recent S.A writing one has also been introduced to impressive writers like Lewis Nkosi, Gomolemo Mokae, Zakes Mda, Njabulo Ndebele, Duiker, Mzemane etc. I read Zakes Heart of Redness which I found quite elevated. But trying to read or understand Kgafela ao Mokgodi was even more difficult, great poet though he is. So I would rather play his C.D verses over and over again! Yet when one considers the contributions of our African women to literature our awe increases. For we young ones they are our grandmothers really. The women are among the world s best in writing. I have in mind world respected writers like Miriam Tlali, Sindiwe Magona, Zoe Wicomb, Laureta Ngcobo. Superb South African female writers. I read many parts of Magona’s Mother to mother - brilliant. - Jeffrey Tshabalala

INTERVIEWS WITH EFFERVESCENT WRITERS

Book: Interviews with effervescent writers (2012) Reading this book of interviews with writers made me realise the wide variety of writers and literature in South Africa, and Africa in general. We have to read very widely just to have an idea of the general picture. The editor of this work, Christine Mautjana, states as much in her brief introduction - this is as much a learning process for her, as the readers. Aryan Kaganof as usual shoots from the hip, and strongly calls upon each and every one of us to read. But I was a bit disappointed that he did not really answer a few of the questions, or did not do justice to them. His bibliography is staggering though. Pule Lechesa's interview is powerful and informative. Yes, he is a controversial personality, but his contributions to literature will continue to be appreciated. Bolaji’s interview is very informative too in this work. However I felt that the section was marred by too many unnecessary, rather inane questions. What has Bonny M, for one, got to do with literature? Teboho Letshaba, the young writer in Sesotho, is already among the best. This much can be ascertainned from this work. Hence it is a shame that few people are aware of what he has done for literature. Quite frankly I did not like the interview with Leboela Motopi in this book. There is something unsatisfactory, gushing, inadequate, not so earnest about it. Can we the readers really be sure about his integrity? Happily enough the interview with NMM Duman restores one faith in literature. Here is a remarkable woman who has done great things for African writing. Her interview shows her love with books, good books. She also shows a generosity of spirit, reluctant to criticise, but rather praise other writers. A nice, shrewd lady. - Paul Lothane

ZAKES MDA: Sometimes there is a Void

This is not really a review but a few tawdry reflections on this great work. I feel inadequate writing on such a great versatile artist, painter, musician, academic and general writer. This very powerful work - Sometimes there is a void - is an autobiography, shedding light on Zakes Mda's memorable journey in life and achievements - and problems with women in his life. One is almost moved to tears to read about how one woman in particular brought so much misery into his life - the bickerings, insults, lies, court cases...yet this woman was always ready to exploit and use him. Worst of all despite never supporting his writing career - it was the exact opposite in fact - she wanted the money he earned from his books. This is a sad situation many of we writers are faced with! Yet on his own admission the author has something of a weakness for women, though he says he admires beauty! An example is when he keeps on praising the physical beauty of a female literary agent of his. Also startling is the great man's admission in his autobiography that he never read Joseph Conrad s Heart of darkness! A classical work that we much younger writers have read many times. Really, to be honest one would expect an internationally renowned academic like Zakes to have read the book. But – sometimes there is a void... - Raphael Mokoena

Introducing Karen Press

Karen Press was born in Cape Town , South Africa . She has worked as a teacher of mathematics and English, with a range of progressive education projects, and has also written textbooks and other education materials in the fields of mathematics, science, economics and English, as well as children’s stories, a film script and stories for newly-literate adults. In 1987 she co-founded The Buchu Books Publishing Collective. She has published seven collections of poetry and her poems have been included in anthologies in South Africa , France , Austria , the UK and the USA . She currently works as a freelance editor and writer, and is an associate of the national advice service for South African writers, The Writers’ Network. Karen Press’s most recent anthology of poetry, The Little Museum of Working Life ( University of Kwazulu-Natal Press , 2004) will be launched at Poetry Africa 2004. Commenting on this latest work, Antjie Krog says: ’These poems present a haunting museum constructed in Karen Press’s delicate tone and vivid poetic intelligence.’ Her poetry has also appeared in the anthologies Siren Songs (ed. Nohra Moerat, BLAC, 1989), I Qabane Labantu (ed. Ampie Coetzee and Hein Willemse, Taurus, 1989), Breaking the Silence (ed. Cecily Lockett, Ad. Donker, 1991), Like a House on Fire (COSAW, 1994), The Heart in Exile (ed. Tromp and De Kock, Penguin, 1996), My African World (ed. Robin Malan, David Philip, 1996), Somewhere I Have Never Travelled (ed. Terrill Nicolay, Heinemann), The Lava of This Land (ed. Dennis Hirson, Triquarterly/Northwestern University Press, 1997), Running Towards Us: New Writing from South Africa (Heinemann USA, 2000) and It All Begins, (ed. Robert Berold, University of Natal Press, 2002); and in the magazines Staffrider, New Coin, Upstream, New Contrast, Stir, Botsotso, Slug, Boston Review, The Kalahari Review, Bleksem, Wasafiri, Poetry salvaged from Corey’s, New Letters, PN Review,West Coast Line and Illuminations. Select Bibliography This Winter Coming, Cinnamon Crocodile, 1986 Bird Heart Stoning the Sea, Buchu Books, 1990 History is the Dispossession of the Heart, Cinnamon Crocodile, 1992 The Coffee Shop Poems, Snailpress, 1993 Echo Location - a guide to Sea Point for residents and visitors, Gecko Books, 1998 Home, Carcanet, 2000 The Little Museum of Working Life, UKZN Press, 2004 (Courtesy of University of Kwazulu-Natal)

Aryan Kaganof's USELESSLY

All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son. - Matthew 11:27 Often the subject of controversy, artist and visionary Aryan Kaganof has abundant energy and enthusiasm. He works constantly at interpreting creative processes and developing a new language of art. Kaganof defies categorisation, living creatively, devoting his skills to absorbing the world around him and transmuting what he touches into the unusual and revolutionary. Uselessly, Kaganof’s most recent novel and his first to be published by Jacana, takes the form of a collection of letters to God. As once might expect from a multi-media artist, the humorous, idiosyncratic cover is imaginative and visually appealing. The book comes with recommendations from both God and the Devil. Dear God, Sorry I haven’t written for so long. It’s been a bad time. I’ve been hurting inside and I just couldn’t put pen to paper. I hope you’ve been okay. I noticed some world wars and stuff. Guess you’ve been busy enough. Had your own shit to take care of without worrying about mine. The letter writer and protagonist, J J (James Joyce) Uselessly, is born in the South Rand Hospital, Johannesburg, in 1964. He is the illegitimate son of Daphne Nobody, The Sinner Lady, and Harry Uselessly, The Devil. His aptly named mother plays a far from nurturing role, while his father flees the scene before his birth when Daphne refuses to have an abortion. Like Kaganof himself, Uselessly Jnr. leaves South Africa as a young man to avoid conscription into the apartheid army. We find him aged thirty-five in Amsterdam, indulging his considerable hash habit and penchant for the feet of very young girls, while sending out begging letters to fund his louche lifestyle. That is, until a letter arrives postmarked Sea Point, Cape Town, from his estranged father’s girlfriend, S Cohen. It is a letter which is to change the course of his life. Harry Uselessly is recovering from the removal of a malignant Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, the “ultimate status symbol” in cancer circles. Uselessly Jnr. takes up an invitation to stay in Cape Town, returning to the country of his birth, both native and foreigner, to spend time with the father he has never known. It becomes apparent that the journey he has embarked upon is more internal than geographical as the novel focuses on the intricacies of a developing emotional involvement between father and son. Through this unexpected connection and the establishment of a paternal bond, Uselessly Jnr. discovers his true identity. Uselessly Senior is a “shrivelled-up old Jewish man whose brush with cancer has cost him thirty kilos.” Sixty-nine year old Harry is a marvellous paradox. He is an irresponsible, self-absorbed miser, but also a charming Libran with a wonderful sense of humour and frequently unconventional, sage advice for his son. The eccentric old man exhibits an unconstrained zest for life and this, along with the dignity and lack of self-pity with which he faces his illness and consequent chemotherapy treatment, make him hard to dislike. J J’s letters to God include evocative childhood reminiscences, hard-won insights from lived experience, poetry, philosophy and instances of keenly observed social hypocrisy. Under his unflinching gaze, sometimes abrasive exterior and the shock value of misogynistic sentiments such as “if the bitch is old enough to bleed she’s old enough to butcher”, he is an essentially likeable and profoundly sensitive protagonist. “I’m not a nihilist. I’m not a cynic. I just don’t believe in bullshit anymore,” Uselessly writes in his opening letter. In a later missive he writes: “Finding my dad has made me happy. I never felt this happy before … When I laugh I cry, and I don’t need to cry any more unless I’m laughing. I love you Dad. I love you.” It is in this novel, perhaps more than in any other of his works, that the author reveals his own complex psyche, vulnerability and personal ambivalence. In an essay entitled “Politics and the English Language”, George Orwell offered the following rules for good English: “Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.” Kaganof’s writing is an example of precise, economical prose. Although Uselessly is written in a non-linear fashion, shifting between past and present, his deceptively simple writing style and colloquial tone make for easy, compelling reading. Short sentences are delivered with intelligence, originality and conviction within the paradigms of an engaging and morally complex book. Uselessly is challenging, funny, mystical, tough and touching. Kaganof has created a courageous and unapologetic portrait of the relationship between a father and son in a story about freedom and the redemptive power of laughter and love. An inimitable novel by an agent provocateur, put this book on your reading list. Even go out and buy it now. - Michelle McGrane This review first appeared in green dragon #4

The enchanting fiction of Omoseye Bolaji

How does one even begin to scratch the surface of the fiction of an African writer who has been fairly prolific like Omoseye Bolaji? I suppose the same daunting obstacles will apply to the likes of Es’kia, Ngugi, Achebe, and many other greats. Most of us would rather focus on a few memorable works of a particular author. Like Fools of Njabulo Ndebele. One advantage Bolaji has is that his fiction is generally memorable, brisk and exciting. Take works like Impossible love (2000) and Ghostly adversary (2001) for example. These are books we can re-read with pleasure. The love story in the first is enchantingly yet realistically told. Most readers seem to agree that Ghostly is a well written thriller. Bolaji's Tebogo Mystery series - now eight in all – is readable, often keeps us guessing, and informative. One aspect that impresses me is how the author grapples with language, ranging from somewhat refined prose to bathos. Consider this passage from Tebogo fails (2003) for example – ‘We got to a sort of field, like a meadow, copse, quite attractive. It was a romantic setting. Shame about those who abused the place, stalking, slinking in the dark, ready to pounce on individual females who chanced to use this route alone. But the ambience itself was magnificent. Made for lovers... Youngsters no matter how intelligent, often have a devil-may-care trait in them, a predilection to brave the world and its perils sometimes. Undoubtedly, many females here must have traversed this quote short cut route in the dark, intermittently. Rape is different from murder. No child believes he/she would be killed. Decent people do not harm the young of the world...' To his credit, Bolaji creates fiction and language many ordinary readers in Africa can identify with. The above quote shows his prose at a fairly high level - though he rarely does this. But note the very first sentence of his latest Tebogo adventure: ‘The wind seemed to have a malevolent, jeering quintessence on that day..’ Tebogo and the bacchae (2012) Thereafter, the prose is relatively simple, though. In her study of the Tebogo Mystery series - Tebogo on the prowl (2006) – critic Petro Schonfeld seems bemused with the style of Ask Tebogo (2004). She writes: 'It seems that the narrator, and sometimes even the minor characters, uses a somewhat more formal language in this novelette. The style differs from the others in the series. It could be that the author wants to emphasise Dave's essays or he wants to blend a unity. Examples of English expressions and aphorisms are abundant...the sentence construction and word choices are sometimes more formal...' Page 28 In People of the townships (2003) Bolaji seems to achieve the perfect equilibrium of language that makes the work still a sterling achievement. John Lefuo, the main character is clearly a semi-literate in theory, but his love for reading makes him such a fine narrator, despite his intermittent stylistic infelicities. Aryan Kaganof, writing on People of the townships, states: 'The pace of the writing is so snappy and its un-putdownable factor so high that the reader is left out of breath as I imagine protagonist John Lefuo must have been at the end of his last Sunday walk as a free man...this is a relentlessly grim novel that is surprisingly funny along the way. There are some hilarious dialogues...' - Leke Giwa