From Writing to Reading Free: Book Giveaway

I received my author's copies of "Writing Free", a collection of short stories by  Zimbabwean writers. I have an extra copy to give away, but I have to run a mini contest, right here on Wealth of Ideas (WOI). Make your entry as a comment on the blog. The deadline for all entries is Friday, September 30, at 11:59 PM.

Here are the editor's remarks on the idea of writing free: "...words that perhaps offer a small provocation, a small challenge to writers to extend their boundaries, to think something through from a lateral perspective, to approach a topic differently, to turn a perspective inside out..."

Irene Staunton, the editor, asked each of the writers in the collection to describe how their story embraced the idea of writing free. I enjoyed doing this metafictional activity, and judging by   descriptions of their stories, the other authors enjoyed this exercise too.

So, dear reader, where do you come in? You can win a copy of this book by sharing your understanding or practice of the idea of reading free. Tell us how you read free, and how that affects your appreciation of what you read. I have only one copy, so I will give the book to the writer of the best description of reading free. For the rest, make this interesting; help us appreciate reading free.

Comments

ImageNations said…
lol. This is almost like an exam. To begin with I love the editor's remark. Especially " to extend their boundaries, to think something through from a lateral perspective, to approach a topic differently, to turn a perspective inside out..."

I am one who really wants writers to write stories from their hearts not to write for acceptance. Kafka, Mann and all the great authors did write freely. Like Steve Biko's collection of essays, writers should 'Write what they like'. There are diverse themes or subjects to write. However, for sometime now writers are writing a single story. A single story carrying a single theme with the pretension that, that is what is happening. Is Africa a single story place? Is any country or town or village a single story country, town or village?

As a reader myself, I don't limit myself to specific writers or even the 'popular' authors. There are authors writing very good stories who have remained in the background. Reading freely demands that the reader be open minded. Open mindedness requires not-restricting the text being read to its general interpretation. A good book has something to offer at each round of reading.

Finally, writing freely begets reading freely.
September 27, 2011 at 12:58 AM
Alexander said…
Great post – I’m going to Tweet about your blog.
September 28, 2011 at 9:18 AM
Emmanuel Sigauke said…
Nana, thanks for the response. The book comes to you. Could you inbox you address so I can put the book in the mail?
September 30, 2011 at 12:06 AM
ImageNations said…
sent to your facebook acct.
October 3, 2011 at 9:17 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abuja Writers' Forum Call for Submissions

Wordsbody has announced the following call for submissions: CAVALCADE literary journal, devoted to publishing original stories, poems,one-act plays, reviews, critical essays and art from an African perspective,will debut in October 2008 with a special edition. The tri-annual journal, a project of the Abuja Writers' Forum (AWF), is now seeking submissions for the second and third editions. Deadline: October 30, 2008 See more details here: Contribute to Cavalcade.
Read more

Roland Mhasvi's Flowers

Image
This is the cover of my copy of Roland Masvi's Flowers of Yesterday, a collection I reviewed in 1996 for The Herald. I was going through my old stuff when I saw this book in my old collection.  As I was flipping through the pages, I saw the cut-out for the original review, which in part reads: "This is a collection of highly esoteric poetry..., which can be charged of what Afrocentric scholars have described as 'piles of esoterica and ostentatious erudition'... The language is to the ordinary reader opaque, the imagery is inaccessible and the symbolism is surprisingly unusual but invitingly novel...real food for scholars."   The review just reminds me of the Chinweizu days, when we, as university students, had rediscovered African literature and its theory. Talking about Afrocentricity had a certain appeal, and we were looking at a lot of writing through the lenses of this newly-discovered Afrocentricity. Looking back, perhaps there was more in Mhasvi's poe
Read more

FREEDOM, a poem on South Africa by Afzal Moolla

Freedom The shackles have been cast off. Chains broken. People once squashed, under the jackboot of Apartheid, are free. Free at last! Freedom came on the 27th day in that April, 1994. Freedom from prejudice. From institutionalised racism. From being relegated to second-class citizenship. Freedom came and we danced. We cried. We ululated as we elected our revered Mandela. President Nelson Mandela. Our very own beloved 'Madiba'. Black and white and brown and those in-between, All hues of this rainbow nation, rejoiced as we breathed in the air of freedom and democracy. Today we pause. We remember. We salute. The brave ones whose sacrifices made this day possible, on that 27th day of April, 18 years ago. Today we dance. We sing. We ululate. We cry. Tears of joy and tears of loss. Of remembrance and of forgiveness. Of reconciliation and of memories. Today we pause. We acknowledge the tasks ahead. The hungry. The naked. The destitut
Read more