Witsies with the writing edge: April 2024
- Wits Alumni Relations
This autumn, cozy up with some recent titles from alumni authors.
FICTION
Flight of the Dancer
by Lisa Lazarus
Staging Post, 2023
This first novel by Lisa Lazarus (BA DA 1983, MA 2018) emerged after the death of her mother and it formed the basis for her master’s in creative writing at Wits. She says: “I was trying to make sense of the complex relationship that I had with her, as well as a desire to share what I considered to be a universal story of mothers and daughters.” The lead character Julia Glass retraces her adolescence as a young ballet dancer. According to the blurb Julia “learns how to manipulate her body as a tool of retaliation against her imperious mother, all while self-sabotaging her own best interests.” The novel is described as “a poignant coming-of-age portrait of agency and acceptance,” which combines humour and vulnerability.
Future Imperfect
by Babette Gallard
Light Eye, 2024
Babette Gallard (MA 2022) writes that Future Imperfect is the result of “wondering what life will be like for my daughter in 2050, when she is the age, I am now.” The novel is part dystopian fiction, part travelogue, telling the story of three women: Helen, Isha and Jana, who find themselves on the margins of a world with ever-shrinking resources. This imagined future has rising sea levels and temperatures, closed borders and a social order divided into four classes: entrepreneurs, directors, credit-worthy and universal income level. The women must find a place of safety, walking along an ancient pilgrims’ route from France to Italy. The novel serves as warning about the consequences of our actions today and what could happen if we continue our current path but also presents alternative actions and lifestyles. Gallard, who was born in Shropshire, England has worked and lived in several countries. She currently lives in Johannesburg and with her husband, Paul, manages their publishing company The LightFoot Guides.
Once Removed
by David Mann
Botsotso, 2024
This debut collection of 13 short stories by David Mann (MA 2022) is inspired by the South African art world. The publisher says it offers “unique views into high-end galleries, crumbling museums, immanent art fairs and out-of-work critics," which explores "the idea of having one’s life changed, in ways both profound and banal, through novel encounters with art and performance.”
Mann is a writer and arts journalist based at The Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg. He says most of the stories in the collection were written during his time in the Creative Writing Master's programme at Wits. “I was incredibly lucky to have a brilliant cohort of fellow writers to read and write alongside, as well as the generous support of my supervisor Ivan Vladislavic, throughout the process,” says Mann. “Once Removed is for readers who are familiar with the worlds of art and performance, and those for whom it is completely foreign. A reader doesn’t have to be immersed in the world of artists, critics, exhibitors, gallerists or academics to access the collection, and to enjoy the imbalances, precarity, hilarity, and possibilities represented in it.”
The stories have been described as “part wry realism” and “part experimental surrealism” and have been well received by respected reviewers, including Prof Michael Titlestad, head of Department of English at Wits: “The stories comprising Once Removed are consistently excellent: they are elegantly composed and provoking. Each depicts and evokes places, scenes, and interactions in subtle yet vivid ways. I have not been this compelled by a collection of short fiction in a considerable time.”
NON-FICTION
Buy Your First Home
South Africa’s Ultimate Property Guide for Newbies
by Zamantungwa Khumalo
NB Publishers, 2024
Zamantungwa Khumalo (BA 2019, PDBA 2022) describes herself as “an award-winning media maven”. She grew up in a township and was the first in her family to buy property. Khumalo says she stumbled into becoming a property entrepreneur while working as a corporate communicator. Her own property journey was riddled with trepidation and limited resources. Since then, she has helped many South Africans navigate home ownership by hosting “The Private Property” podcast as well as her first book Buy Your First Home: South Africa's Ultimate Property Guide for Newbies. The publishers say the book emerged after Khumalo felt compelled to share her insights after “a Twitter thread she wrote on property-buying generated so much interest that she realised others were as clueless as she had been at first”. This book is an excellent guide, packed with useful information, providing “a full ecosystem” of what a new homeowner should know. Khumalo shares all the mistakes she made, the lessons learned and insights from various experts she interviewed. “It will save you time and money,” she says.
How to Make Your Salary Work for You
A Guide to Financial Freedom
by Percy Singo
Ebook, 2023
Percy Singo (MEng 2022) published his debut book titled How to Make Your Salary Work for You: A Guide to Financial Freedom in November 2023. His book covers various topics on financial management, including how to manage debt, invest, build your credit score, and protect your wealth. “I was motivated by the demand of people who sent me messages asking questions about their finances,” he said in an interview. “I wrote a book that not only offers practical solutions but also includes sums and figures so people can see exactly how I managed to save and what things cost. My goal is to teach others about finance until they achieve financial freedom. It also includes a workbook that delves into ways you can grow your income as well as wealth-protection tips as you continue to develop a positive attitude towards life.” Singo studied civil engineering at the Vaal University of Technology and completed a master’s in engineering at Wits. “I believe that by managing yourself, you can manage your finances,” he says.
Reflected on Record
– Commentary, analysis, and opinion on aspects of South African music
by Ken Haycock, Tom Jasiukowicz and Garth Chilvers
Reach Publishers, 2023
Kenneth Haycock (BCom 1973) collaborated in this second book by Garth Chilvers (BPharm 1985, DOH 1985) and Tom Jasiukowicz. Jasiukowicz was a music journalist with Music Maker and the Rand Daily Mail. Chilvers and Jasiukowicz are the authors of History of Contemporary Music (Toga Publishing, 1994 and the CD-ROM e-book Music Artists of South Africa 2007). Reflected on Record gives insight into several South African musicians who made an impact on the local and international music scene. These include heavy rock band Suck; folk musician Brian Finch, the punk rockers Radio Rats, the Cape Town band Falling Mirror, Brenda Fassie, the origins of South Africa’s national anthem as well as the history of two Durban-based musicians Mike Slavin and Louis Ribeiro. The book provides an understanding of many of the songs, from earliest recordings captured in the 1930s onwards. The authors provide some fresh insight into landmark recordings and the success that contributed to the South African musical landscape. The book is packed with a selection of never-seen-before photographs, and will be an absorbing read for any music lover.
Bristol (Bristle) Boy and The Tailor of Gloucester
by Robin N Welch
Pegasus, 2024
In this memoir Robin Welch (MEd 1983) shares some personal, historical, and professional remembrances from his life. He says his paternal grandfather, John Prichard, was a tailor in Gloucester, and is alleged to be the model for the Beatrix Potter classic, The Tailor of Gloucester. Welch went to grammar school, college, and Bristol University, graduating in 1969. He began his career by teaching in primary schools in Bristol, lecturing French to adults and selling life insurance. Some of the remarkable tales include leaving the UK to be a service inspector of schools in Botswana and later helping to introduce Macmillan Boleswa readers for the local primary schools. There is a brief mention of his time at Wits: “In 1980 I received correspondence from the University in response to an advert requesting a research monitor for an English language teaching project in Soweto.” He met “a charming lady who decided to offer me a three-month consultancy on the spot.” He made several accompanied visits to schools in Soweto and Alexandra, but after two months his contract was terminated, without reason. Welch’s tales go on to share how “he entered the world of television, starting Africa's first pay TV channel in South Africa and later introducing sport as a valuable pay TV item.” Colourful references to “my wife’s cousin”, “a friend in Turkey”, and an instance where “a friend introduced me to a former major of the British army” are all sandwiched between the various countries he served as “adviser”, “boxing promoter” and “director of Leeds United” having met “many famous sports personalities.”
"The Problem with Black People"
On Race, Identity and Systemic Oppression
by Angelo C Louw
(self-published, 2023)
This is a debut, self-published collection from Angelo Louw (BA 2008, BA Hons 2009). It contains a selection of writings spanning his career as a columnist and magazine editor, which he says “unpacks the intricacies of race and race relations in contemporary South Africa through an intersectional lens”. Louw says the title of his book is ironic. “Very often the plight of Black and brown people is met with this type of rhetoric and gaslighting when, in fact, the problems Black people face are systemically imposed.” Louw says: "I want this book to be accessible to everyone. It is my contribution to the discussion." Themes of climate justice, socio-economic rights, public policy, youth, sex and sexuality, and HIV are explored. Louw was among the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans, works for Greenpeace Africa as a digital mobilisation officer and hosted a discussion at the United Nations’ Right Here, Right Now Climate Conference in 2022.
* This article was updated 22 April 2024 to include David Mann's debut short story collection Once Removed.