WEALTH OF IDEAS

To the New South Africa , We Go   The struggle has just begun The struggle to stay alive. Codesa I, Codesa II, The Peace Accord… The list is endless.   But what do you know,                           With this God-forsaken country… You never know what happens next. The Massacres, Cell Deaths, Brutal Muti Killings… Are the order of the day   This despicable disrespect for human life Is unfortunate yet inevitable. What’s there left is to hope, To hope that someday we’ll all wake up, To the new South Africa. For Mother Your presence alone meant a lot of comfort Warmth and love. But above all Assurance that things would be done. Your love remains enigma. When I fell you were there to pick me up. When in pain I always came running, running to you.   For as long as I can remember There’s ...

Once in a while I check traffic statistics to my blogs, particularly this one, which is my favorite. And on some days I wake up and there have already been 300 or 400+ visits, signalling a day that may end with over 800 or more. So then I check why such a surge and I click on the traffic source tab, which shows me the source websites and search engine key words. It's the latter I always find interesting, and worth blogging about. It shows what key words brought the traffic to my blog, gives me an idea of what people are looking for. In the past there have been key words like "the rise of Petina Gappah", "Marechera and Zimbabwean literature", "Interesting characters in African literature," and sometimes just "Emmanuel Sigauke". Today's list is longer, and here it is: black history month event ideas shona literature novels abigail george poetry alice laplante, method and madness  beautifull girl south african poem  black history...

Today's feature, Abigail George, is a young South African poet, memoirist, and short story writer. I have read her moving poetry, sometimes in manuscript form. Some of her short fiction has appeared on StoryTime, the weekly African E-Zine. One of her short stories has been selected for African Roar 2011: an Eclectic Anthology of African Authors , which I am co-editing with Ivor W. Hartmann . Here is Abigail George 2010 reading list , followed by an interview I did with her. Manual of the Warrior of Light – Paulo Coelho The Pilgrimage – Paulo Coelho Like the Flowing River – Paulo Coelho The Zahir – Paulo Coelho Once in a House on Fire – Andrea Ashworth Bird by bird – Anne Lamott Body bereft (poetry book) – Antjie Krog Ribbon of rhythm (poetry book) Franny and Zooey – J. D. Salinger The bell jar – Sylvia Plath Ariel – Sylvia Plath (poetry book) I’ll go to bed at noon – Gerard Woodward Almost heaven – Marianne Wiggins Martin Sloane – Michael Redhill How I live now – Meg Rosoff The mi...