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