Amazingly, this new anthology of short stories was
published just a few days before Alice Munro was internationally announced as the 2013 winner
of the Nobel award in literature. The blurb of this book states emphatically:
"Alice Munro, celebrated
writer of fiction of the shorter variety describes a story as ‘a world seen in
a quick glancing light’. In other words, every day events, gongs and tragedies
are briefly illuminated in the best of short stories.
The stories in this collection – written by
talented African writers - epitomize some of the best in recent
writings...Enjoy the Cornucopia of stories!”
This new book, edited by Pule Lechesa, is a collection
of interesting, wide-ranging short stories. At first brush one can see that the contributors to this work
are essentially proficient wordsmiths, hence the fine quality of most of the
stories published here. Indeed this is a cross-section of the contributors:
Charles
Matorera
Already
making his name as an astute writer of short stories. His story, Singwizi:
The golden journey is already quite celebrated – hence its inclusion
in this work. Matorera is working on his first full-length novel now.
Maxwell
Perkins Kanemanyanga
An accomplished
writer of short stories. He churns out such stories “with disarming fecundity”.
He has already published three books – collections of short stories – Enemy of
the State, How do I talk about my ordeal? and Chapindapasi (2013) Maxwell was featured
in the book, Interviews with effervescent Writers (2012)
Teboho
Masakala
Even in
his late teens, he was tipped by literary pundits to take the literary world by
storm. Since then he has remarkably been fulfilling his potential by publishing
works like Mind, pen, paper and ideas (2010), Through it all
(2011) and The fall of Marcus Desmond (2012) He has also
published the book, Shout to the Lord (2013)
O Bolaji
Multi-award-winning author who has published fiction, literary criticism, poetry, drama, biographies etc. Author of novels like Impossible Love, The ghostly adversary, and People of the townships. Creator and writer of the “Tebogo Mokoena Mystery series” which now incorporates eight volumes (adventures)
Tseliso Masolane
Tseliso Masolane is the author of a rip-roaring Sesotho poetry book, Bo naka bo maripa; which the controversial critic Pule Lechesa described “as a must read, a page-turner, coherent, didactic and thought-provoking to boot.” This dynamic polyglot works as the Deputy Director at Bloemfontein based Sesotho Literary Museum which is the first in indigenous languages. He is also the founder of Motheo Award winning newspaper called Shwehwe and Qwaqwa community radio station.
Mathibeli George Rampai
Rampai is a skilled writer of fiction whose monumental work From Where I stand is still being celebrated liberally in many literary circles. Rampai came out tops as Author of the Year (2012) courtesy of the esteemed Mbali Literary Awards.
Teboho Letshaba
Teboho Letshaba has carted away many awards and laurels thanks to his dexterity in writing, including the Best Vodacom Journalist of the year in sports and feature writing. Essentially known for his sterling works in Sesotho, his published books include Lejwe la kgopiso, Pelo ya Lerato, Ntshunyakgare, and Mehlolo e tsamaya le badumedi·
* Free State brewed Short Stories, edited by Pule Lechesa, is published by Mbali Press. Sponsored by the National Arts Council of South Africa
