Best of
African-Literature

2016

Cold Case Confession: Unravelling the Betty Ketani Murder


Alex Eliseev - 2016
    The chilling words are followed by a confession to a murder committed nearly 13 years earlier. The chance discovery of the letter on 31 March 2012 reawakens a case long considered to have run cold, and a hunt begins for the men who kidnapped and killed Betty Ketani – and were convinced they had gotten away with it. The investigation spans five countries, with a world-renowned DNA laboratory called in to help solve the forensic puzzle. The author of the confession letter might have feared death, but he is very much alive, as are others implicated in the crime.Betty Ketani, a mother of three, came to Johannesburg in search of better prospects for her family. She found work cooking at one of the city’s most popular restaurants, and then one day she mysteriously disappeared. Those out to avenge her death want to bring closure to Betty’s family, still agonising over her fate all these years later.The storyline would not be out of place as a Hollywood movie – and it’s all completely true. Written by the reporter who broke the story, Cold Case Confession goes behind the headlines to share exclusive material gathered in four years of investigations, including the most elusive piece of the puzzle: who would want Betty Ketani dead, and why?‘Wonderful, evocative and vivid writing. Eliseev is a very exciting new talent.’ – Peter James‘This case is like an Agatha Christie whodunnit: abduction, murder and a confession.’ – Carte Blanche‘A relentless search for truth and justice. Cold Case Confession is a story that inspires confidence in the system and affirms that, indeed, we are all equal before the law.’ – Thuli Madonsela

The Yearning


Mohale Mashigo - 2016
    Marubini is a young woman who has an enviable life in Cape Town, working at a wine farm and spending idyllic days with her friends ... until her past starts spilling into her present. Something dark has been lurking in the shadows of Marubini’s life from as far back as she can remember. It’s only a matter of time before it reaches out and grabs at her. The Yearning is a memorable exploration of the ripple effects of the past, of personal strength and courage, and of the shadowy intersections of traditional and modern worlds.‘A bewitching addition to the current South African literary boom. MohaleMashigo tells her story with charming lucidity, disarmingcharacterisation, subversive wisdom and subtle humour.’ – ZAKES MDA

Catching Ricebirds: A Story of Letting Vengeance Go


Marcus Doe - 2016
    Catching Ricebirds: A Story of Letting Vengeance Go is Marcus Doe's true story as a Liberian refugee who lost his family and fled his country, and ultimately learns to forgive and find peace again.Marcus Doe was born in Liberia, West Africa, in 1979. Affectionately nicknamed Jungle Boy by his family, he reveled in his childhood life and was hardly aware of the dangerous political climate swirling around him. But by mid-July 1990, a violent civil war erupted and Liberia was thrown into a time of fear, starvation, and death. Separated from his family, Marcus embarked on a remarkable journey to escape the war-ravaged country he loves and the wounds that he carries in his memory. Marcus's life unfolds in four movements: first as a young boy living in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, during a period of growing unrest; second as a refugee fleeing from rebel forces that would kill him and his family without a second thought; third as a wanderer in foreign countries (Ghana and the United States) unable to return to his childhood home; and finally as an adult, coming to grips with the loss he experienced and longing to see his own healing extend to others still haunted by Liberia's suffering. Where he had been filled with hatred, Marcus slowly learned to forgive. Now his mission is to bring the hope and the peace of Christ to others.Fans of the New York Times bestseller Unbroken about Louis Zamperini will love this story of one man's struggle to find redemption in the face of incredible hardship.

Season of Crimson Blossoms


Abubakar Adam Ibrahim - 2016
    Brought together in unusual circumstances, Binta and Reza faced a need they could only satisfy in each other. Binta - previously reconciled with God - now yearns for intimacy after the sexual repression of her marriage, the pain of losing her first son and the privations of widowhood. Meanwhile, Reza's heart lies empty and waiting to be filled due to the absence of a mother. The situation comes to a head when Binta's wealthy son confronts Reza, with disastrous consequences. This story of love and longing - set against undercurrents of political violence - unfurls gently, revealing layers of emotion that defy age, class and religion.

Water: New Short Story Fiction from Africa: An Anthology from Short Story Day Africa


Nick MulgrewChido Muchemwa - 2016
    This carefully-curated anthology of twenty-one stories is harvested from the over-400 entries to the project’s annual short story competition, the Short Story Day Africa Prize, in 2015.The collection includes well-known authors – such as Cat Hellisen, Fred Khumalo, Pede Hollist, Mary Okon Ononokpono, Efemia Chela and Louis Greenberg – alongside emerging stars like Megan Ross, Dayo Ntwari, Louis Ogbere and Alexis Teyie. With settings both realistic and fantastical, and stories both lyrical and urgent, this collection is the definitive high watermark for fiction from Africa this year.

Kwezi: Issues 1-3 Collector's edition


Loyiso Mkize - 2016
    His journey starts off as a self-serving narcissist who only uses his abilities to further his social status. This is until he is tracked down by three individuals who exhibit similar evolutionary talents. It is not long until Kwezi is confronted with the truth about his powers and is faced with an important decision: to carry out his life serving no particular purpose, or joining his new companions on a journey to discover who he really is and what he is destined to be.

Letters of Stone: From Nazi Germany to South Africa


Steven Robins - 2016
    Only later did he learn that the women were his father’s mother and sisters, photographed in Berlin in 1937, before they were killed in the Holocaust. Steven’s father, who had fled Nazi Germany before it was too late, never spoke about the fate of his family who remained there.Steven became obsessed with finding out what happened to the women, but had little to go on. In time he stumbled on official facts in museums in Washington DC and Berlin, and later he discovered over a hundred letters sent to his father and uncle from the family in Berlin between 1936 and 1943. The women who before had been unnamed faces in a photograph could now tell their story to future generations.Letters of Stone tracks Steven’s journey of discovery about the lives and fates of the Robinski family. It is also a book about geographical journeys: to the Karoo town of Williston, where his father’s uncle settled in the late nineteenth century and became mayor; to Berlin, where Steven laid ‘stumbling stones’ (Stolpersteine) in commemoration of his relatives; to Auschwitz, where his father’s siblings perished. Most of all, this book is a poignant reconstruction of a family trapped in an increasingly terrifying and deadly Nazi state, and of the immense pressure on Steven’s father in faraway South Africa, which forced him to retreat into silence.

Rattling In The Closet


Elizabeth-Irene Baitie - 2016
    Felice and there is a tight race for prefects' position. Fun-loving Mercy is set to form a winning team with her best buddy Perry. That's the plan-until the 'phen-aah-menal' Salvina springs into the picture. Suddenly, no one in St. Felice is certain of anything anymore. Who is this girl, Salvina, anyway? Can Mercy and her friends afford to watch her trample on their dreams? Torn between truth and lies, how far will Mercy go to protect her hopes, her best friend and her own carefully kept secret?

Gang Town


Don Pinnock - 2016
    One is beautiful beyond imagining, known since its beginning as the 'fairest cape' in the world. Here tourists come to lounge on beaches, scale misty peaks and dine in fine restaurants. The other is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, where police need bullet-proof vests and sometimes army backup. Here gangs of young men rule the night with heavy calibre handguns, dispensing heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and fear. This is the story of the second city… In Gang Town, investigative journalist and criminologist Don Pinnock draws on more than thirty years of research to provide a nuanced and definitive portrait of youngsters caught up in violent crime.

Affluenza


Niq Mhlongo - 2016
    In his characteristically humorous and piercing style Mhlongo writes about the span of our democracy and the madness of the last twenty years after apartheid: his short stories address issues such as crime, xenophobia, racism, homophobia, the new black elite, and land redistribution. The stories have been published to critical acclaim in France, Spain, Germany, Italy and in the USA but remain largely unknown in South Africa. Mhlongo is the author of three novels, all published by Kwela: Dog Eat Dog (2004), After Tears (2007) and Way Back Home (2013). Dog Eat Dog was translated into Spanish in 2006 and was awarded the Mar de Letras Prize. Affluenza follows on the success of his three novels, and is his first collection of short stories.

We Are All Blue


Donald Molosi - 2016
    African & African American Studies. History & Politics. WE ARE ALL BLUE is a collection of two plays--MOTSWANA: AFRICA, DREAM AGAIN and BLUE, BLACK AND WHITE--by the actor and playwright Donald Molosi, including an introduction by Quett Masire, former president of Botswana. With a foreword by former president Quett Masire (Seretse's vice president), the volume is a welcome contribution to African drama in English available in the United States. --Kevin Wetmore

A Prayer of a Black Man


Motsumi oa Mphirime - 2016
    We have forgotten about the depth and damage of our wounds. Even a dog gives itself a moment to lick its wounds after a brutal attack. Here in South Africa, instead of immediately addressing the damage that was caused by colonialism and apartheid, we posed for cameras, displaying our kindness to the former perpetrators. We became too preoccupied with reassuring our previous oppressors that we will be nice to them going forward. In the midst of this theatric performance we neglected addressing issues around possessions which were unfairly taken away from us. We are at the same time trying hard to impress our former oppressors by rubbishing our cultures and beliefs in the interest of theirs. Our languages are vanishing and we are meanwhile contributing to their demise by speaking only the former oppressors’ language to our children. We have turned ourselves into easy targets in all spheres and it is time we confront our weaknesses head on. Let the prayer begin…

New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Tatu)


Kwame Dawes - 2016
    The eight African poets included are D.M. Aderibigbe, Gbenga Adesina, Kayombo Chingonyi, Safia Elhillo, Chielozona Eze, Nyachiro Lydia Kasese, Ngwatilo Mawiyoo, and Hope Wabuke.The box set is an annual project of the African Poetry Book Fund, in collaboration with Akashic Books, which seeks to identify the best poetry written by African authors working today, with a special focus on those who have not yet published their first full-length book of poetry.

Rendezvous with Death: The Americans Who Joined the Foreign Legion in 1914 to Fight For France and For Civilization


David Hanna - 2016
    Historian David Hanna profiles seven of these volunteers: a poet, an artist, a boxer, a stunt pilot, a college student, a veteran of the Spanish American War, and an advertising executive. All seven men were united in courage; and some, like poet Alan Seeger, paid the ultimate sacrifice. Before he was killed in battle, Seeger penned the immortal words that inspired this book's title:I've a rendezvous with Death At midnight in some flaming town, When Spring trips north again this year, And I to my pledged word am true, I shall not fail that rendezvous.