A hilarious send-up of Enid Blyton adventure stories. It mocks fundamentalism, racism, and pseudo-intellectuality. The novel asks, in the most unlikely manner, for reconciliation among the blighted peoples of Zimbabwe.
When Mr George loses his job teaching English at a private secondary school in Bulawayo, his pension payout, after forty years of full-time service, bought him two jam doughnuts and a soft tomato. When he backs his uninsured white Ford Escort into a brand new Mercedes Benz, the out-of-court settlement sees him giving up his house to the complainant, Beauticious Nyamayakanuna, and becoming her domestic servant. Through the prism of this engaging post-colonial role reversal, and spiced with Georges lessons on Shakespeare, John Eppel draws down the curtain on one particular white man in Africa. But before its time to go, George will delight us with the antics of his literature classes; his various arrests all timed to coincide with the police chiefs need for help with essays on Hamlet and A Grain of Wheat; his keen eye for flora and fauna; and the long trek back through the hundred years of his familys Zimbabwean past, as he returns an abandoned child to her home. Eppel has satirized the racial politics of southern Africa in many of his previous novels. In Absent: The English Teacher he turns his gaze inwards for a generous and richly rewarding parody of the land of his birth.
White Man Crawling is a collection of short stories and poems by the award winning Bulawayo writer John Eppel. His stories are uncomfortably funny; his poems uncomfortably sad. His stories speak first to all of us, then to his own quirky nature; his poems speak first to himself and to those few who know him nearly, and then to all of us. For more than forty years John Eppel has been a unique double-voice in the annals of Zimbabwean literature: the satirist and the lyricist.
The third in the prize winning Short Writings from Bulawayo series - a collection of 25 short stories and 7 poems about life in Zimbabwe. In the collections are writers who have stayed in Zimbabwe, who have passed through, or who live in the diaspora. "Here, the realities of society are captured in motion, as they happen, with the socio-economic hardships in Zimbabwe today continuing to offer a fertile template for literary works. The short stories and poetry collected here are a reflection of the diversity of cultures, races and generations from which Zimbabwean writers come." - Phillip Chidavaenzi, Sunday Mirror
Zimbolicious Anthology: An Anthology of Zimbabwean Literature and Arts, Volume 3, contains 5 short stories, 51 poems, 1 nonfiction piece and 3 drawings from Zimbabwean writers and artists. Zimbabwe continues to tumble on its unshakable political trajectory since Robert Mugabe was removed as president via a military coup. Much of the writing in this anthology addresses both the current political situation, and the hope of the Zimbabweans for a free and fair election in 2018. Within the pieces a lot of questions, anger, mistrust remain, alongside uncertainties around the enigmatic political landscape of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwean people. Despite this the writers have a lot to celebrate and also touch on issues to do with love, morality, spirituality, tradition, relationships, family, identity, individuality and joy.
Long Time Coming brings together short stories and poems from thirty-three writers that provide snapshots of this turbulent period in Zimbabwe's history. Snapshots of living in a country where basic services have crumbled: where shops have no food, taps no water, banks no money, hospitals no drugs, bars no beer. Snapshots of characters surviving against seemingly insurmountable odds. Horrific snapshots of the abuse of power, of violence and oppression, of the destruction of dreams. But this is Zimbabwe and there are lighter moments and moments of hope: in some of life's simple pleasures, in the coming of the rains, in the wink and the smile of a stranger, in a challenge to patriarchy, in the inner strength of the people, in fighting back. The writers are Raisedon Baya, Wim Boswinkel, Diana Charsley, Brian Chikwava, Julius Chingono, Mathew Chokuwenga, Bhekilizwe Dube, John Eppel, Peter Finch, Petina Gappah, David Goodwin, Anne Simone Hutton, Monireh Jassat, Ignatius Mabasa, Fungai Rufaro Machirori, Judy Maposa, Deon Marcus, Christopher Mlalazi, Gothataone Moeng, Wame Molefhe, Linda Msebele, Mzana Mthimkhulu, Peter Ncube, Thabisani Ndlovu, Pathisa Nyathi, Andrew Pocock, John S. Read, Bryony Rheam, Lloyd Robson, Ian Rowlands, Owen Sheers, Chaltone Tshabangu and Sandisile Tshuma.
Intwasa Poetry is a book of memorable poems from inside and outside Zimbabwe. The fifteen poets who are brought together in this collection have all read from their work at the Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo. There is a diversity in their work. The poems of love, of sensuality, of humour, of compassion, of yearning, of sadness, of loss and of outrage. They range from the intensely personal to reflections of life at this pivotal time in Zimbabwe's history.
Suburban and cosmopolitan, youthful and elderly, formal and experimental these binaries twist like threads which meet in this anthology, and interweave on the loom of prosody, forming rich and varied textures, Few can craft poems with the skill of these two artisans from Zimbabwe.
Weaver Press's previous collections of short stories, Writing Now and Writing Still, were highly praised for the quality of their prose and the imagination of their writers. They confirmed, for one reviewer, 'the paradoxical truth that troubled societies somehow produce some of the most interesting writing available. Laughing Now goes further, and demonstrates the enduring capacity of Zimbabweans to find humour in even the most difficult of circumstances. The stories embrace funerals, dancing competitions, family tensions, rampant inflation and endless queues for scarce goods. They take a wry look at pompous politicians, foreign filmmakers and the aspirations of the so-called 'new' farmers. Those by Gappah, Chingono and Eppel won the first three prizes in the recent Mukuru.com short story competition. Zimbabwean fiction in English has become world-renowned in recent decades, but its concerns - war, trauma and the trials of independence - have chronicled the pain of those periods. Laughing Now suggests that we are finding new ways to reflect our reality; that however many zeros we add to the rate of inflation, and however hungry we may become, humour is as good a responce as any.
African literature is a vast subject of growing output and interest. Written especially for students, this book selectively surveys the topic in a clear and accessible way. Included are roughly 600 alphabetically arranged entries on writers, genres, and major works. Many entries cite works for further reading, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography. Africa is a land of contrasts and of diverse cultures and traditions. It is also a land of conflict and creativity. The literature of the continent draws upon a fascinating body of oral traditions and lore and also reflects the political turmoil of the modern world. With the increased interest in cultural diversity and the growing centrality of Africa in world politics, African literature is figuring more and more prominently in the curriculum. This book helps students learn about the African literary achievement. Written expressly for students, this book is far more accessible than other reference works on the subject. Included are nearly 600 alphabetically arranged entries on authors, such as Chinua Achebe, Athol Fugard, Buchi Emecheta, Nadine Gordimer, and Wole Soyinka; major works, such as Things Fall Apart and Petals of Blood; and individual genres, such as the novel, drama, and poetry. Many entries cite works for further reading, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography.