"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
~ Anton Chekhov
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
~ Douglas Adams
"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."
~ Dr. Suess
Star Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5 The Terrible Yrsa Daley-Ward Penguin, April 2018 Online Price: R198 Poet, model and actor Yrsa Daley-Ward, best known for her debut poetry collection, Bone, and her spoken-word performances, has written a heartbreaking memoir in The Terrible, where she talks readers through a tale of a dark-skinned girl growing up […]
Star Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5 The Fatuous State of Severity Phumlani Pikoli Pan Macmillan SA, January 2018 Online Price: R177 Phumlani Pikoli is one of the ascending young literary voices. The Fatuous State of Severity, a series of short stories and illustrations, marks his debut in the literature landscape. The author made a brave […]
Star Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5 The Ones with Purpose Nozizwe Cynthia Jele Kwela Books, April 2018 Online Price: R244 The writing in this heartbreaking novel is nothing short of impeccable. Nozizwe Cynthia Jele, author of Happiness is a Four-Letter Word, awards us with her second offering – it is as if we didn’t wait […]
Star Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5 Sing, Unburied, Sing Jesmyn Ward Bloomsbury, November 2017 Online Price: R188 Sing, Unburied, Sing is the fourth novel by bestselling and multi-award-winning author, Jesmyn Ward. It is a poignant tale that explores the dynamics of an African American family trying to survive while navigating racism, drugs, abuse and death. […]
Star Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5 Hope Is Our Only Wing Rutendo Tavengerwei Hot Key Books, May 2018 Available 3 May A brilliant debut full of Zimbabwe’s golden sunsets. Shamiso is a fifteen year old girl forced by the death of her political journalist father to move back to Zimbabwe from London, this is just […]
SAfm LITERATURE – closing chapter Q1. You present a literary delight on SAfm every Sunday. How do you continuously up your game in terms of exposing South Africans to the textured literary landscape? A – Yup, you’re right, it has been a delight to present a line-up of literati on SAfm each Sunday. When I […]
Star Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky Lesley Nneka Arimah Riverhead Books, April 2017 Online Price: R380 Lesley Nneka Arimah’s debut is a vibrant collection of 12 compelling stories set in the US and Nigeria. From fantastical myths to a post-apocalyptic world, all the shorts are […]
Star Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3/5 Colour Me Yellow Thuli Nhlapo Kwela Books, September 2017 Online Price: R246 Reading Colour Me Yellow, I felt like an adult watching helplessly over a child’s unfolding plight. A relentlessly heart-breaking story of rejection – first by Thuli’s own mother, then by society, because she is different – this […]
Q: Tell us about #AbidjanLit – what’s it all about? Abidjan Lit is a movement of passionate readers based in Côte d’Ivoire but from diverse horizons. As we love to say, identities are complex and diverse. By saying Abidjan Lit, we are playing on words. Our Anglophone counterparts will say the T part and imagining […]
Star Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3/5 A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars Yaba Badoe Head of Zeus, September 2017 Online Price: R216 If book covers are anything to go by—they shouldn’t be, but they are—this one draws you in immediately. It is a beauty, and tells you straight away that A Jigsaw of Fire and […]
