GLIMPSES INTO AFRICAN LITERATURE

Edited by Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga

I have reviewed work of Mr Soqaga before: this one I'd have stated definitely to be his best...but since there is now a sequel (Further Glimpses into African literature) I'd sheathe my sword a bit. But this book is rather impressive.

  

There is a fine Introduction to this work by Soqaga himself, which is heart-felt and moving. Inter alia, he writes  "I have been a Pan-Africanist for years, hence my vision is not confined only to my own country, SA. I love reading about authors from all over our continent, and writing about them... " 

The reviews here, re African authors, books date back to work that came out many many decades ago. How many modern readers in our continent know about Amos Tutuola and Peter Abrahams for example? In this work we can see that Abrahams ' early books were published not far from a century ago! Eg Dark Testament  (1942) Song of the City (1945) and Path of Thunder (1948). As for Tutuola, his works include The Palm Wine Drinkerd (1952), My life in the Bush of ghosts (1954)

Here, we read essays not only on the likes of Tutuola and Abrahams; but also Okot p'bitek, Ola Rotimi, Flaxman Qoopane, Njabulo Ndebele, Asare Konadu, Pule Lebuso, and Grace Ogot.

Ogot is - was - a great East African female writer. In this work, we also get to read about another formidable African lady writer, this time from North Africa - Algeria's Assia Djebar.

I also found the short essay on Mbella Sonne Dipoko, the "erotic writer" (now late) to be very interesting.  Apparently, this legendary writer from Cameroon  was "a very good novelist and poet ".

All in all, this is an excellent small book that not only whets the literary appetite, but us unbelievably informative. It's wonderful that the book now has a sequel.  

- Review by Leke Giwa

REEF. By Romesh Gunesekera

A top notch writer; so many fine descriptions in this work eg ‘we drove…whistling over a ribbon of tarmac…framing the landscape into a kaleidoscope of bluish jewels’ ‘adventurers…each with their flotilla of disturbed hope and manic wanderlust’. ‘the shallow water seethed with creatures…whirling tails…sea snakes, sea slugs, tentacles sprouting and grasping…a jungle of writhing shapes’ ‘the debris of one mind floats to another. The same little polyp grows the idea in another head’. A distinguished wordsmith,

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Leke Giwa

COLD HARBOUR. By Jack Higgins

As an African literary aficionado and enthusiast one cannot but marvel at the proficiency and prolific nature of Eurocentric writers - not that it stops them from garnering heavy flak from readers and critics!

Like now I have just read one of Jack Higgins almost 100 novels, titled Cold Harbour. Can one conceive of an African author writing even 20 books or novels?? Yes a handful exist- a couple of Kenyan writers like Meja Mwangi, and David Maillu; Kalu Okpi, and Cyprian Ekwensi of Nigeria, Asare Konadu of Ghana...but such writers are thin on the ground.

The literary trajectory of J Higgins is very impressive having been writing international bestsellers and thrillers for over 30 years. He specialises in espionage, war novels and the like, and his books have sold in millions

Okay so it shows that the Eurocentric world has always valued literacy and literature since the days of Charles Dickens for one. But there are so many illustrious writers in Europe and America that one ends up stumped, in essence. But back to Higgins and this work.

Here he has created some memorable characters, male and female. Craig Osbourne a savvy American agent, for one, and of course the intriguing woman, Genevieve Trevaunce. Yes the story dates back decades ago to the times of the Nazis, which again reminds us of how the western world accretes countless creative writing weaved around their history.

The author does write well despite a rather jaded sceptical western readership. I loved passages like, "Death stared up at them, a skeleton with a scythe mowing not corn, but corpses..." Well Mr Higgins has been a legend for many decades anyway...

- Henry Ozogula