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