K. P. D MAPHALLA DIES !

  ... Legendary Sesotho Writer Gives up the Ghost

The literary world is in mourning after the news broke that legendary
Sesotho (South Africa) writer, K. P. D Maphalla, is dead. The pertinent
tributes keep on cascading with gusto.

As Wikipedia succinctly states: ‘Kgotso Pieter David (K.P.D.) Maphalla
(born 1955, South Africa) is a writer in the Sesotho language. An author of more than 40 books, Maphalla has received an honorary
doctorate from the University of the Free State, as well as a Lifetime
Achievement Award in Literature.
Amongst his many books (not to mention radio plays,) are the
following: Tahleho (drama); Tshiu tseo (novel); Kabelwamanong
(detective novel); Botsang lebitla (novel); Tsie lala (poetry);
Mahohodi (poetry); Dikano (poetry); Ditema (poetry); Fuba sa ka
(poetry); Kgapha tsa ka (poetry); Seitebatso (poetry); Sentebale
(poetry); A tale of two fathers (English novel); Mohlomong Hosane
(essays/short stories); Bashemane ba Dibataolong (novel).’

Indeed, one of Maphalla’s most popular books is Kabelwamanong, which has been lauded thus:

‘An action packed adventure that begins when a young cop, Tsheolo and
his two friends are hijacked and kidnapped. Their militant and
ruthless captors were from the neighboring country of Kgaphadiolo .
The intention was to use the three as Trojan horses against their own
country of Tsekanatsatsi. Tsheolo's friends do not come out alive.
Circumstances reduce Tsheolo to a refugee who is forced to do whatever
it takes in attempt to survive and to escape from that foreign land
(courtesy Puleng Hopper)

Pule Lechesa, South African author and critic who as a youngster and beyond was positively influenced by the prodigious works of Maphalla, said: 'It's the end of an era, a horrific loss. Maphalla was world class, consummately fecund,
vibrant and prolific. This hurts...in profound fashion,'

Lechesa has also authored a cardinal study (book) on Maphalla titled The
Awesome Literary Legacy of Dr KPD Maphalla . Here is how Google
Books describes the work: 'One thing that often depresses me about
African literature is that the works of many of its outstanding writers are completely unknown to the majority of readers in the continent especially when the writer puts pen to paper only in his or
her mother tongue. Eg how would Chinua Achebe’s name or works be known all over Africa and the world if he wrote only in his own Igbo language? I never knew anything about the writer, Dr Maphalla, until I saw and read this book (Maphalla writes in a South African language). But thanks to this superb study on Maphalla by the author Pule Lechesa, I now fully realise that Maphalla is one of Africa's greatest writers,’


SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Botsang lebitla by K. P. D Maphalla

Kgapha tsa ka by K. P. D Maphalla

Mahohodi by K. P. D Maphalla

Fuba sa ka by K. P. D Maphalla

Tahleho by K. P. D Maphalla

Tshiu tseo by K. P. D Maphalla

Kabelwamanong by K. P. D Maphalla

A tale of two fathers by K. P. D Maphalla

Ntekeletsane by K. P. D Maphalla

Dikano by K. P. D Maphalla( Book )