Many thanks to all who participated in our annual #ReadingAfrica Week celebration! We’re already excited about next year. This last post comes from several of our authors and Catalyst staff, each expressing why they’re reading African lit, all year round.
One of the joys of my life is crossing cultures. It’s fascinating to peek into the hearts and minds of people we think are different from us and find instead the common humanity we share. Parents bond with their children; young people work at figuring out this complex world we’re born into; historical moments impact us; we adjust to our good and bad luck; we do the best we can. Reading books about Africans, African settings, and about the history of this great continent adds richness to my life. Thank you, Catalyst Press!
– Caroline Kurtz, author Today is Tomorrow and A Road Called Down on Both Sides
I have recently read two works of South African fiction and they both left me feeling like our country is brimming with talent. They made me wonder why we don’t make more of these extraordinary tales; they should be shouted from the rooftops. Beautifully written fiction set in your own country and on your own continent makes us see people and historical events from an entirely new perspective and renders them so human and comprehensible. If I was the boss of the world, I’d make Every South African school child read Shades by Marguerite Poland as a way of understanding the origins of exploitation and the devastation brought about by migrant labour. And I’d make all the grown-ups (especially those with opinions on ‘how poor people should be living’) read What Will People Say? by Rehana Rossouw. Set on the Cape Flats in the late 80’s, it tracks the fortunes of a family trying ‘to raise their kids decent’ in a place that festers with poverty, gangs and political rage. Both books are humbling, beautifully written and will change the way you see this country forever.
-Bridget Krone, author Small Mercies and The Cedarville Shop and the Wheelbarrow Swap
I’m proud to be a part of this initiative to get people thinking about global literature–in this case, literature from Africa, all kinds, all genres, for all age-groups. I love that so many other publishers and organizations get involved and I hope in another 5 years that this initiative will be spear-headed and helmed by other groups, not just one group but many just organically involved.— Jessica Powers, Publisher Catalyst Press
This place called Africa. You think you know it. You have learned about it in school. You have come across stories about it in the media. Perhaps, you have visited the place or better still live there and so you feel that you really know it. It is not until you pick up a book that you realize that you probably do not know this place called Africa — its many countries and peoples, its multitudes of languages and experiences, its overwhelming diversity and vibrancy — as well as you think you do. And that is the beauty and joy of reading African Literature — the constant discovery. —Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, author The Theory of Flight and The History of Man
I’ve always loved books, so being able to spend a week watching people champion the books they love is not a bad way to pass the time. Every year, we start this event firmly on the premise that there is not one African story, not one genre, not one language. And every year I am blown away by just how true that is. We see literature from every corner of the continent during #ReadingAfrica, and each book, each article, each poem continues to add to the story of this place, the stories of this place. I’m proud to play a small part in sharing those stories.— Ashawnta Jackson, Marketing and Publicity, Catalyst Press
