New from Whereabouts Press, a book for travelers who want insights more profound than a mere guidebook can provide: South Africa: A Traveler's Literary Companion edited by Isabel Balseiro and Tobias Hecht. As an avid reader of international fiction and as a fellow Whereabouts Press anthologist (mine is Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion) I am so delighted to see this excellent new addition to the series (and with such a gorgeous cover!). A couple of the authors, Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coatzee, are familiar names, but the majority are new to me and I am sure, most American readers. The section under "Gauteng" includes works by Ivan Vladislavic, Es'kia Mphahlele, Ahmed Essop and Zacharia Rapola; "Kwazulu-Natal" includes Alan Paton, Ronnie Govender, and Lewis Kkosi; "The Western Cape", Jan Rabie, Richard Rive, J.M. Coatzee,Rustrum Kozain; and finally, "The Rural Areas, the Farm, and the Game Park" includes A.C. Jordan, Oliver Schreiner, H.C. Bosman, Gcina Mhlope, Modike Dikobe, and Nadine Gordimer. The cover's painting is "Repositioning II" by Bongi Bengo 2009). More anon.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
South Africa: A Traveler's Literary Companion edited by Isabel Balseiro and Tobias Hecht
New from Whereabouts Press, a book for travelers who want insights more profound than a mere guidebook can provide: South Africa: A Traveler's Literary Companion edited by Isabel Balseiro and Tobias Hecht. As an avid reader of international fiction and as a fellow Whereabouts Press anthologist (mine is Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion) I am so delighted to see this excellent new addition to the series (and with such a gorgeous cover!). A couple of the authors, Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coatzee, are familiar names, but the majority are new to me and I am sure, most American readers. The section under "Gauteng" includes works by Ivan Vladislavic, Es'kia Mphahlele, Ahmed Essop and Zacharia Rapola; "Kwazulu-Natal" includes Alan Paton, Ronnie Govender, and Lewis Kkosi; "The Western Cape", Jan Rabie, Richard Rive, J.M. Coatzee,Rustrum Kozain; and finally, "The Rural Areas, the Farm, and the Game Park" includes A.C. Jordan, Oliver Schreiner, H.C. Bosman, Gcina Mhlope, Modike Dikobe, and Nadine Gordimer. The cover's painting is "Repositioning II" by Bongi Bengo 2009). More anon.
