ADIEU, CHARLES MATORERA!

Encomiums keep on pouring in across the board for talented Zimbabwean writer, Charles Matorera, who died this week.

Matorera, a promising writer with many strings to his bow was essentially a writer of short stories (fiction) and an essayist and journalist to boot.

Many pundits believe that if Matorera had not given up the ghost prematurely he would have gone on to become a key novelist of repute. But during his lifetime he was also a publisher; the international publication, The Diaspora, was his brainchild. The paper was distributed far and wide within many countries in Africa.

Indeed, Mr Matorera "displayed a deft and adroit hand whilst churning out his fiction of the shorter variety". 

His short stories included, Singwizi, and Tribalism curse of Africa".

Tributes to Matorera keep on pouring in. South African poet and essayist, T Matthew Thiba said this week: “Regarding the unsettled situation in his home country Charles decided to leave his country Zimbabwe come to South Africa and he stayed in Johannesburg then later stayed in Bloemfontein. In the city of roses he got introduced to many writers by his writing and his own creative work got known to the public. He wrote plenty of short stories that promote arts and culture in spectrum of literature. His grandfather the WW2 hero was the one who instilled the culture of writing and reading into his heart. Charles recalls clearly that he went as far as to read anything and even trashed paper! Matorera was a creative writer, essayist and critic.

“As a writer Charles had his favourite writers; namely NguyiwaThiongo, MtutuzeliMatshoba, Chinua Achebe to name a few. Charles’ dream regarding literature was to see or transform African stories into motion pictures. As it has always been true, the good die young. Plenty of fine artists and writers across the world have died young and though expectations were rocking the sky-high from their blazing talent. Charles will be remembered for his good work and it will go down with history to the future generations. Adieu!” a disconsolate Thiba rounded off.

Also the Deputy Director at the Sesotho Literary Museum (SLM), Tseliso Masolane said: “I have heard of Mr Matorera’s death with a great shock as he was still young and talented. Not long time again Sesotho Literary Fraternity and the world of academia lost one of the literary Giants, Professor Benito Khotseng. We are still trying to heal those wounds and all of a sudden we are losing a talented writer again!”  

“Charles, will surely be remembered for his scintillating short stories, many published on the internet and in a litany of books around the world; e.g Free State Brewed Short stories. We will miss him,” said a sombre Masolane.

DON MATTERA HONOURED

Veteran black journalist and poet extraordinaire Don Mattera was honoured in Johannesburg, South Africa at the SABMiller World of Beer on Saturday [24 January 2015]. The Media Fraternity Network hosted the lunch to honour Don Mattera that was sponsored by the SABMiller World of Beer.

The Media Fraternity Network is a loose structure supported by veteran journalists. Mpikeleni Duma, Len Maseko, Oupa Ngwenya and Ngila Muendane are part of this loose structure that is patronized by the
veterans.

Mr Monwabi Fandeso, Director at the SABMiller welcomed the guests and aid it was a great honour to open the function of Don Mattera. He added that it was so good for the SABMiller to be part of such an event.

Veteran journalist Sello Sekola, and former City Press Political editor said he told Mpikeleni Duma, journalist and coordinator of the event that there were four veteran journalists who could talk competently about Don Mattera.

Sekola mentioned them at the gathering:  Joe Thloloe, Juby Mayet, Mike Mzileni and ZB Molefe. Sekola welcomed everybody at the function presided over by Sowetan newspaper deputy news editor Victor
Mecoamere.

Mayet paid tribute to Don Matterra and read one of the poems of dissident poet of Cape Town James  Matthews. Mayet said she knew Mattera for many years. Also, Mayet worked at renowned Drum Magazine and various newspapers before she retired.

Mike Mzileni, veteran photographer and  former City Press pictures editor told the audience that he and Don Mattera have seen the apartheid era and the democracy. He said that it was up to the young
generation to take it over. He lamented the plummeting standard of journalism in the country.

Joe Thloloe, former Sowetan managing editor, SABC TV news head and ETV and trade union activist said when he read Don Mattera's books it reminds him of Marikana, the shooting of the mine workers, and attacks of foreigners shops in Soweto.

"Your book, Don Mattera,' says Thloloe, " Memory Is the Weapon it reminds us of many thing that are happening in the country and nobody seems to notice them in totality."

Mathatha Tsedu, another veteran journalist told the gathering that he was from the farms of the Limpopo Province. "I used to read about Don Mattera's poems as a young man. In each and every protest rally Don Mattera would be featured and recite a political poem. I later met Don Mattera at rallies of the Azanian People Organization reciting poems against the apartheid government. Indeed it is a great honour to speak today here."

Thami Mazwai a colleague of Don Mattera and veteran journalist said people like the poet must be honoured. Mazwai said Mattera has sacrificed his life for the liberation of the country.

Don Mattera was born in Western Native Township [now Westbury], Johannesburg. He worked as a journalist on the Sunday Times, The Sowetan and Weekly Mail [Mail and Guardian]. He also wrote several books.

He was banned from 1973 to 1982. At the Sowetan newspaper he trained journalists on site about journalism in terms of writing, ethics, book reviews, feature writing and doing opinion pieces.

Themba Sepotokelo, a former student of Don Mattera at the Sowetan newspaper said he has gained a lot from the teachings of Don Mattera. " I learnt a lot from him. He taught us many things at the Sowetan
newspaper. Black senior journalist need to write their own books," says Sepotokelo.

 Sepotokelo urged the audience to donate for Don Mattera. Mattera refused the offer saying that the audience could rather buy his books. Mattera said he was worried of a number of poor people in South
Africa who are still in limbo.

Saths Cooper a renowned academic and political leader reader texted messages from his cellphone of his conversation with Don Mattera. He praised Don Mattera for his Ubuntu and courage. He said Don Mattera has shown courage in difficult circumstances.

Langa, the son of the late Sowetan newspaper editor Aggrey Klaaste said he was at the function to ask questions from the elder people. He announced that he was working on a documentary about his father.

Poet Maishe Maponya kept the audience in their stitches as he rendered his poem "Ant No Party". Miashe's poem highlighted the state of unedifying corruption in South Africa.

Ngila Muendane, one of the members of this loose structure criticized the Department of Military Veterans for failing to build a house for Don Mattera. Muendane said Mattera was living in difficult conditions.

In his replying remarks Don Mattera said: "I am happy that I am honoured today. It took a long time for this to happen. I am now 80 years old. I have sons and daughters, grandchildren to look after."

Snowy, Mattera's daughter cried as she recalled how her father brought them up. She said her father was a man of the people.

Socialite Nomsa Manaka was part of the audience including many veteran journalists. It was a remarkable day of kudos for Mattera, one of South Africa and Africa s outstanding bards.

NJABULO NDEBELE The Cry of Winnie Mandela

Review by Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga

Here is a phenomenal novel that presents an interesting tale of certain women who honestly waited and longed for the return of their husbands after a long departure.  Overall, the novel comprises of part one and part two respectively.  Njabulo Ndebele has creatively succeeded to establish such astronomical and glamorous novel that authentically whets the appetite.  Apparently, the novel is one of the ilks of fine literary works that fascinate dramatically.  Created by an African writer, academic, Professor and essentially it will remain one of the most resounding novels to be produced by an African.

Part one of the novel unfolds with the descendant of Penelope, the wife of Odysseus who had waited for nineteen years for the return of her husband.  “While waiting, Penelope had to bear the agony of persistent advances by countless suitors among the nobility of Ithaca.  They all wanted her hand in marriage.  In an unspeakable insult to her privacy, some of these men, in an effort to wear her down, shamelessly camped at her house.”

How terrible!

This invasion was of course equally an insult to the honour of her absent husband.

But where was he?

“He will never come back!” the persistent suitors pressed their demands.  “Surely, he is dead” they said to this waiting wife, poking at her vulnerabilities, tossing her this way and that, in an open field of uncertainty and anxiety, testing the limits of her love, loyalty, and faith.

It didn’t work

Penelope spurned them all...

In fact the author relates his novel to Penelope with other women who have similar experiences of longing and waiting for the return of their husbands after a long absence.  He precisely refers to these women as the descendant of Penelope, from the first descendant to the fourth one.  However, in wealth of detail we see in part two of the novel the essentials mentioning the participation of Winnie Mandela.

Part One

The First Descendant

Harsh realities of poverty in Lesotho make Lejone Mofolo to leave his country to search for a living to bolster his family.  Leaving behind his wife and children was not an easy thing.  Of course, it was a very difficult decision to make however; circumstances compelled him to do so.  Drought, unprecedented poverty, unproductive land to yield maize, lack of rain etc pose a daunting situation for their survival.  Felicitous, Lejone Mofolo manages to get the job in the mines as was a common thing at that time.  At first he repudiates to allow city life to allure him to forget his wife.  He will diligently send money and pay regular visits to his wife and he obviously desired to have his wife s photo as other co-workers in the hostel have them.  But things begin to change when he adapted to city life, changing language and use township accent.   He forgets to pay those regular visits to Lesotho, settles in Benoni, eThwatwa with another woman and starts another family.  At home in Lesotho his real wife begins to be overwhelmed with consternation and many tentative questions lead her to break the law of Penelope of waiting for Odysseus.  She goes to the city to search for her husband but her efforts are a complete miscarriage – she cannot find her husband.

The Second Descendant

A young man at the age of thirty –five got scholarship to study in overseas.  He was a married man with two children and he wished that his young beautiful wife could join him in overseas.  Probably it was impossible.  His wife was very skilled and she always supported her husband while in the meantime she is still waiting for her husband.  After many years - six years waiting the East Rand township produced its first black medical doctor.  It was not her husband.   However she persists to wait for her husband.   But surprisingly as she was waiting for her husband, in the tenth year of her husband’s medical studies, she discovers she is pregnant.   In the twelfth year her husband finally completes his studies and returns home in the fourteenth year to find a four year old child. Six months after his return, he divorces her.  She has been honestly supportive, and waited for her husband but her husband accused her of infidelity and abandoned her.

Third Descendant                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Another reeling waiting begins when the couples were teens.  Mamello had to wait for her husband since their teen years.  Growing together, playing together and essentially attending the school together until they graduated and get married.  However, something whimsical happened when Mamello had to wait for her husband to return home.  She waited and waited and never realized about the departure of her husband, but later on she discovers that her husband went to exile for political purpose.  She continued to be patient and committed herself to take responsibility to look after her husband s aged parents.  Eventually, after ten years of waiting, his husband was jailed for fifteen years in Robben Island.  Subsequently her husband was released but he never returned home and she had to wait but only to discover later that her husband has married a white woman and ultimately Mamello was divorced. . 

Fourth Descendant

Her concern was her Odysseus to be loyal and remain at home; however in contrast her husband was not at home as a married man.  But he openly “sleeps around”.  In the meanwhile as she waits, her husband finally died and she buried him with a casket giving him a decent funeral.

Part Two

Ibandla Labafazi

The part two of the novel narrates how the four descendants met and gathered together to share their experiences about their predicament.  The women chit-chatted very emotionally and Mamello came with the proposal to talk about Winnie Madikizela Nomzamo Mandela.  She argued that it will be apposite to talk about her as she waited too.  The women declared Winnie Nomzamo Zanyiwe Mandela as a member of ibandla labafazi abalindile.  Eventually all these woman confabulated and expressed anything pertinent to their situation as ‘women waited’ with Winnie and at the very same time Winnie responded positively to their interlocution.  In conclusion of the novel we see the women with Winnie Mandela heading east for Durban and on the road they meet with a stranger.  “Women, are you Penelope?” Winnie asks in absolute astonishment.

“None other, my dear,” says the stranger.  “For more than two thousand years I have been on a pilgrimage of reconciliation.  On the morning after our first night together in nineteen years of absence, Odysseus decided to leave me again to perform cleansing rituals to forestall possible evil strife following his brutal slaying of my shameless suitors.

“Well, he left, but it has never been told that when he returned, I was gone.  I went on my own cleansing pilgrimage.  Odysseus should not have left like that on that special morning when I was still learning to savour his return.  He should have shown more sensitivity…

Apparently, this is one of the transcendent novels that when one concludes to read one will be overwhelmed with lot of euphoria considering the prodigious flair of the author.  Utterly mesmerizing!  Moreover, this is a novel that must be relished with great delectation.  Its construction, the style and contents are explicitly remarkable.  Njabulo Ndebele is one of the few African intellectuals who continue to write stunning books with profound enthusiasm.  His exhilarating books conspicuously evince the fact that he is one of the top classic African writers.  

The Cry of Winnie Mandela although it is a novel, but it wittingly gives an emotional picture of women who affectionately waited for the return of their husbands.  Albeit it furnishes the most important details about South Africa, city life and rural life like in the case of Lejone Mofole and Mannete his wife, Delisiwe Dulcie S’ khosana, Winnie Mandela etc .  The novel reveals how likely womens marriages are affected in particular when the man is absent for very long time.  Indeed it is a wonderful novel to relish and inevitably Njabulo Ndebele remains stupendous and credible as the one of the extraordinary writers in Africa.   Using European literature, impressive allusions, biographies and other sources to concoct a novel in African context patently demonstrates the ability of the author as an illustrious and veritable writer with palatable literary prowess.

Works by Njabulo Ndebele

Fine Lines from the Box: Further Thoughts About Our Country, 2007

Rediscovery of the Ordinary: Essays on South African Literature and Culture, 1991, Reissued 2006

Fools and Other Stories, 1983, reissued 2006

The Cry of Winnie Mandela, 2004

Umpropheti/The Prophetess, 1999

Death of a Son, 1996

Bonolo and the Peach Tree, 1994

Sarah, Rings, and I, 1993

THE ALLURE OF ZAKES MDA

In recent times the South African writer, Zakes Mda has emerged as one of the all-time greats of African literature. His diamond-studded novels in particular continue to garner wide-ranging praise and critical nous. His works serve to inspire young and younger African writers, including published poet, Matshidiso Taleng, (above). Matshidiso often vouchsafes that "no words can express how much I admire Mda's works, and the whole world continually learns from his books". 

Major novels of Zakes Mda:

(1995) Ways of Dying

(1995) She Plays with the Darkness

(2000) The Heart of Redness

(2002) The Madonna of Excelsior

(2005) The Whale Caller

(2007) Cion

(2009) Black Diamond

(2013) The Sculptors of Mapungubwe

(2014) "Rachel's Blue"

JAMES HADLEY CHASE - Boosting African Literature!

By Azuka Onwuka

I have been planning to write this for many years now but the article of Prof Okey Ndibe, author, columnist and literature lecturer, with the headline, “How Achebe saved me from James Hadley Chase” finally decided me. In that article, Ndibe said that because he began to read Chinua Achebe’s books early in life, unlike many of his classmates, the attraction in Achebe “saved” him from reading the novels of James Hadley Chase.

His tone showed that by not reading Hadley Chase, he felt he was saved from reading low literature. But on the contrary, I have this belief that anybody, especially a man, who is of my generation (or of a generation before me) who did not read James Hadley Chase as a youth lost a great part of his youth that is irrecoverable.

Three writers have had the greatest impact on me: Chinua Achebe, William Shakespeare, and James Hadley Chase. Because of the love I have for these three writers, I have read everything they wrote that I could lay my hands upon. In my university days, even though we were not required to, I bought, with my pocket money, The Complete Signet Classic Shakespeare, and read it from cover to cover, in spite of the aversion many have for Shakespearean English.

Each of the three writers is captivating: a weaver of words, a master of imagery, a merchant of humour. But given that Chase wrote thrillers, his novels had the continuous gripping suspense that pumped up the adrenaline and caused the heart to skip some beats. That was why boys and girls who got addicted to it could suspend every other thing, including food, drinks, parties, football, sleep, etc, until they were done with it.

I would not be exaggerating to say that the best thing that happened to me as a teenager was the discovery of James Hadley Chase. Before Chase, I was reading Pacesetters and other novels. They were interesting. I saw people reading Chase but was not courageous to read it because of the bikini girls with pistols on the cover. I assumed that it was erotica: a literary euphemism for pornography. But during a free period in school, a classmate told us an enchanting story about one James Hadley Chase’s novel named You Find Him, I’ll Fix Him. I asked him to confirm that the story he just told us was what was in that novel rather than sexual stories. He said that there was no iota of sex or eroticism in it. Not long after, I went to my brother’s library and grabbed The Vulture Is a Patient Bird. I was blown away. From the start of the novel to the end, I did not drop it. I did not eat. I did not do any work. I did not step out of the room. When it was over, I went for more.

I read The Flesh of the Orchid, The Way the Cookie Crumbles, and Want to Stay Alive? Luckily for me, my elder sister, who was married, got bitten by the bug too. She began buying them. So, she would read and pass on to me. Any day I planned to read a Chase’s novel, I ensured that I did not have any time-consuming thing to do; that I had no test or exam to prepare for; and that I did not start reading it at night. If I started reading it in the evening, I was certain to be awake all night. If there was a cut in electricity supply, I was certain to read it with a lamp or torchlight. I would continue to say: “Let me just get to the end of this chapter and stop.” But like an enchantress, the author continued to lure me page after page to the end of the book.

But while reading Chase for the enchanting stories, other things were unconsciously happening to me. My vocabulary was increasing astronomically. It was in Chase that I learnt the meaning of so many words like “safari”, “avalanche”, “homicide”, “blackmail”, “double-cross”, “amnesia”, “insomnia”, “somnambulism”, “somniloquism”, “fall guy”, and “cyanide” among others. It was through Chase that I learnt the names of many phobias: claustrophobia, agoraphobia, xenophobia, etc. It was through Chase that I learnt the names of many types of mania: kleptomania, nymphomania, megalomania. It was in Chase that I learnt the register of many professions like the police, law, medicine, music, aviation, sailing, insurance, banking, etc. In addition, my spoken and written English improved, as well as my writing skills and ability to hold the reader’s attention. Chase taught me how to cast catchy headlines.

Also, it was through Chase that I learnt that characters could be described so graphically that a reader would search for them in the street.

It was through Chase that I got some basic security tips that on a number of occasions, I was lucky to escape robbery attacks while my neighbours were robbed. It was in Chase that I learnt that a person should alter one’s routes and time schedules regularly. For example, reading the kidnap account of Prof. Elechi Amadi, author of The Concubine and other books, some time ago, I discovered that he confessed that those who kidnapped him knew the route he took to work every day and that he left home at a particular time and returned at a particular time. So, they knew where and when to wait for him.

Courtesy of Chase, I learnt that a driver should periodically look at the rear-view mirror to check if a car is tailing him. It was Chase that taught me that not every suicide is a suicide, and not every fall to death is a fall. In Chase, I learnt the danger in dealing with a person who has nothing in life to lose: like reputation, family, money, job, etc.

Chase showed me vividly that any time a person wakes up and starts thinking of how to grab some money that he hasn’t worked for, he is heading for trouble and destruction.

For those of us who are writers and authors, we have a lot to learn from Chase. In the 70s and 80s, people read all kinds of books in sight. Today, most Nigerians who bother to read at all, only read the novels of authors who have a literary prize. The reading standard has nosedived. The coming of the social media has worsened an already bad situation. Interestingly, the same Nigerians who shy away from reading Nigerian novels still read novels by John Grisham, Dan Brown, Danielle Steel, etc. We writers should ask ourselves: What attracts them to these foreign authors? How can we attract them to read both the “serious” and the “unserious” Nigerian and African novels?

I think the solution lies in combining the art of a literary master like Achebe and a thriller master like Chase. Except for literature students and literary scholars who read for exams or for literary edification, the greater number of readers read for fun. Once your novel becomes too dense and winding, they get bored and move to other exciting things. And that means they may not buy another African novel. But if they get swept off their feet from the first page and are held captive with an intricate plot and suspense-filled tale, then they will pass the word around, and Nigerians and Africans will start reading for fun again.

Furthermore, when youths read captivating novels, they won’t have the time to get into crimes and vices. Their writing skills are also greatly enhanced. And their imagination and creativity are sharpened.

Today, if I were to see James Hadley Chase, whose real name is Rene Brabazon Raymond, I would buy him a drink, and tell him to “have this one on me.” If Chase were to be an arrogant man, he would look at the millions of people he has affected positively, and boast: “I hold the four aces.” Yes, that is “just the way it is.”

* Originally published in Punch

RELISHING BOOKS AND LITERATURE...

By Leke Giwa

As a new year kicks off we can perhaps look at our reading habits – if it exists at all. A depressing fact in Africa is that too few people read for leisure, or just for the sake of literature.

Many times I have heard people lamenting that they have little guidance and there are too many books out there. This is true, but it is no excuse.

 If we go by number of authors - African authors alone - it must be admitted that over the decades so many fine authors have been writing in our continent. In Nigeria and South Africa, just a couple of countries, hundreds of excellent writers have emerged over the years.

This might surprise many, but it is true. Those who know about Nigerian literature would realise that apart from names like Achebe, Adichie and Soyinka so many other novelists, poets and playwrights exist. In South Africa once we include the white writers we can mention hundreds of writers from this country!

But the fact that African writers run into hundreds and more should not discourage us from reading. The fact that there is scant guidance for us in this wise should not discourage us. The fact that many of our libraries have been vandalised should not fill us with despair.

It should be taken as a positive that there are so many authors and books out there. Most of these books are no longer available or in print anyway. As our economies generally take a turn for the worse, few can also buy
new, or even old books.

But we should try to read as many books as possible, books written by many of our fine authors. One would expect that even young or younger writers would do all they can to read sample books written by the likes of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Achebe, Camara Laye, Es'kia Mphahlele, Ayi Armah, Soyinka, Senghor etc

However with the internet there now, all lovers of literature can read about authors, books easily now - whether the books are available or not. One must admit that reading literature on the internet is often mainly superficial, as there is nothing like reading books in the original.

Yet reviews, essays, critiques of books on the internet can be invaluable. These days, even experts, scholars worldwide consult the internet everytime on authors and books. It is a very exciting process on its own as we are highly unlikely to be able to read most books anyway. For example, the information on this blog -
Black African Literature - is staggering.

As one advises our people to read as much as possible this year, it must also be pointed out that we often have our own favourite writers or books. This means that we cannot force anybody to love a particular writer or book, no matter how great they are! The reader will decide what author, or
which books appeal to them most. But we believe it is a "crime" not to read at all!