Download or read book In Conversation with Bessie Head written by Mary S. Lederer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2020-12-24 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Conversation with Bessie Head shows how reading the novels and letters of Botswana's most influential writer, Bessie Head, fosters an ongoing conversation between reader and writer and is in fact a very personal undertaking. Each chapter tackles two parallel threads, the first regarding Mary S. Lederer's own history of reading Head-from her first purchase of Maru, through completing a Ph.D. on Head's trilogy, through living in Botswana and connecting with various aspects of Head's life, to examining how reading Head has affected her own development as a human being. This history then ties each chapter into discussion of how Head develops her own vision of the “brotherhood of man.” Alongside critically informed discussion, Head's vision is examined through the prism of specific questions. Why is madness not a useful concept for understanding Head's ideas? Why did Head say she was not a feminist, and what is the significance of “male” and “female” in her novels? What is the relationship between individual, race, and community? How can the nature of God be a clear expression of love but also an indistinct force for both good and evil? Head's novels present opportunities for personal growth, and through these “conversations” with her, we become different readers.
Download or read book A Woman Alone written by Bessie Head and published by Heinemann International Incorporated. This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of autobiographical writings, sketches, and essays that covers the entire span of Bessie Head's creative life.
Download or read book A Question of Power written by Bessie Head and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 2017-03-06 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this fast-paced, semi-autobiographical novel, Head exposes the complicated life of Elizabeth, whose reality is intermingled with nightmarish dreams and hallucinations. Like the author, Elizabeth was conceived out-of-wedlock; her mother was white and her father black—a union outlawed in apartheid South Africa. Elizabeth eventually leaves with her young son to live in Botswana, a country less oppressed by colonial domination, where she finds stability for herself and her son by working on an experimental farm. As readers grow to know Elizabeth, they experience the inner chaos that threatens her stability, and her constant struggle to emerge from the torment of her dreams. There she is plagued by two men, Sello and Dan, who represent complex notions of politics, sex, religion, individuality, and the blurred line between good and evil. Elizabeth’s troubling but amazing roller-coaster ride ends in an unfettered discovery.
Download or read book Race Nation Translation written by Zoë Wicomb and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-20 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first collection of nonfiction critical writings by one of the leading literary figures of post-apartheid South Africa The most significant nonfiction writings of Zoë Wicomb, one of South Africa’s leading authors and intellectuals, are collected here for the first time in a single volume. This compilation features critical essays on the works of such prominent South African writers as Bessie Head, Nadine Gordimer, Njabulo Ndebele, and J. M. Coetzee, as well as writings on gender politics, race, identity, visual art, sexuality, and a wide range of other cultural and political topics. Also included are a reflection on Nelson Mandela and a revealing interview with Wicomb. In these essays, written between 1990 and 2013, Wicomb offers insight on her nation’s history, policies, and people. In a world in which nationalist rhetoric is on the rise and diversity and pluralism are the declared enemies of right-wing populist movements, her essays speak powerfully to a wide range of international issues.
Download or read book Maru written by Bessie Head and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 2013-09-16 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Read worldwide for her wisdom, authenticity, and skillful prose, South African–born Bessie Head (1937–1986) offers a moving and magical tale of an orphaned girl, Margaret Cadmore, who goes to teach in a remote village in Botswana where her own people are kept as slaves. Her presence polarizes a community that does not see her people as human, and condemns her to the lonely life of an outcast. In the love story and intrigue that follows, Head brilliantly combines a portrait of loneliness with a rich affirmation of the mystery and spirituality of life. The core of this otherworldly, rhapsodic work is a plot about racial injustice and prejudice with a lesson in how traditional intolerance may render whole sections of a society untouchable.
Download or read book When Rain Clouds Gather written by Bessie Head and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 2013-09-23 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rural Botswana is the backdrop for When Rain Clouds Gather, the first novel published by one of Africa’s leading woman writers in English, Bessie Head (1937–1986). Inspired by her own traumatic life experiences as an outcast in Apartheid South African society and as a refugee living at the Bamangwato Development Association Farm in Botswana, Head’s tough and telling classic work is set in the poverty-stricken village of Golema Mmidi, a haven to exiles. A South African political refugee and an Englishman join forces to revolutionize the villagers’ traditional farming methods, but their task is fraught with hazards as the pressures of tradition, opposition from the local chief, and the unrelenting climate threaten to divide and devastate the fragile community. Head’s layered, compelling story confronts the complexities of such topics as social and political change, conflict between science and traditional ways, tribalism, the role of traditional African chiefs, religion, race relations, and male–female relations.
Download or read book Bessie Head written by Craig MacKenzie and published by Macmillan Reference USA. This book was released on 1999 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In critiquing the oeuvre of South African black writer Head (1937-1986), who has a growing following notably among feminists, MacKenzie (English, Rand Afrikaans U., Johannesburg) contends that her self-exile to Botswana is mirrored in the alienation-to-wholeness theme of such parable-like novels as Maru (1971) and A Question of Power (1973). Includes a chronology, discussion of posthumously published works, and critics' views. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Download or read book The Collector of Treasures written by Bessie Head and published by Heinemann. This book was released on 1992 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Botswana village tales about subjects such as the breakdown of family life and the position of women in this society.
Download or read book The Cardinals written by Bessie Head and published by Heinemann. This book was released on 1995 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cardinals--thought to be the first long piece of fiction Head produced and the only one she ever set in South Africa--is an exciting literary event.
Download or read book Conversations with African Writers written by Lee Nichols and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book is composed of transcriptions of radio interviews conducted by the Voice of America with African authors from 1974-1978. A total of 78 interviews were broadcast in the series from 1975-1979. .. The series itself was organized by VOA African Division Special Projects Officer Lee Nichols ... The programs were produced by the Production Branch of the VOA African Division"--Page v.
Download or read book Postcolonial African Writers written by Siga Fatima Jagne and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-11-12 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This reference book surveys the richness of postcolonial African literature. The volume begins with an introductory essay on postcolonial criticism and African writing, then presents alphabetically arranged profiles of some 60 writers, including Chinua Achebe, Nadine Gordimer, Bessie Head, Doris Lessing, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Tahbar Ben Jelloun, among others. Each entry includes a brief biography, a discussion of major works and themes that appear in the author's writings, an overview of the critical response to the author's work, and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. These profiles are written by expert contributors and reflect many different perspectives. The volume concludes with a selected general bibliography of the most important critical works on postcolonial African literature.
Download or read book Third World Women s Literatures written by Barbara Fister and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1995-09-14 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This reference volume serves as a companion to Third World women's literatures in English and in English translation by presenting entries on works, writers, and themes. Entries are chosen to present a balance of well-known writers and emerging ones, contemporary as well as historical writers, and representative selections of genres, literary styles, and themes. What plays have been written by women in the developing world? What books have been written by Sri Lankan or Brazilian women? Which works address themes of feminism or exile or politics in the Third World? These are the types of questions that can now be answered through Fister's companion to Third World women's literatures in English and English translation. Organized alphabetically, this reference volume presents entries on works, writers, and themes. Entries are chosen to present a balance of well-known writers and emerging ones, contemporary as well as historical writers, and representative selections of genres, literary styles, and themes. By providing information about and leads to works by and about Third World women, an important and largely marginalized literature, Fister has created a unique reference tool that will help teachers, scholars, and librarians, both public and academic, expand their definitions of the literary, making the voices of Third World women available in the same format in which many companions to Western literature do. An important book for all public and college-level libraries.
Download or read book The Woman Next Door written by Yewande Omotoso and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. debut of award-winning writer Yewande Omotoso, in which an unexpected friendship blossoms in contemporary Cape Town—and in a community where loving thy neighbor is easier said than done. Hortensia James and Marion Agostino are neighbors. One is black, the other white. Both are successful women with impressive careers. Both have recently been widowed, and are living with questions, disappointments, and secrets that have brought them shame. And each has something that the woman next door deeply desires. Sworn enemies, the two share a hedge and a deliberate hostility, which they maintain with a zeal that belies their age. But, one day, an unexpected event forces Hortensia and Marion together. As the physical barriers between them collapse, their bickering gradually softens into conversation and, gradually, the two discover common ground. But are these sparks of connection enough to ignite a friendship, or is it too late to expect these women to change? A finalist for: International DUBLIN Literary Award • Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Fiction •Barry Ronge Fiction Prize• Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize • University of Johannesburg Main Prize for South African Writing Longlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction •One of the Best Black Heritage Reads (Essence Magazine) • One of NPR's Best Books of the Year • One of Publishers Weekly's Writers to Watch
Download or read book A Study Guide for Bessie Head s The Lovers written by Gale, Cengage Learning and published by Gale, Cengage Learning . This book was released on with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Study Guide for Bessie Head's "The Lovers," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
Download or read book Bessie Head written by and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Travelling While Black written by Nanjala Nyabola and published by Hurst & Company. This book was released on 2021-04-09 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does it feel like to move through a world designed to limit and exclude you? What are the joys and pains of holidays for people of colour, when guidebooks are never written with them in mind? How are black lives today impacted by the othering legacy of colonial cultures and policies? What can travel tell us about our sense of self, of home, of belonging and identity? Why has the world order become hostile to human mobility, as old as humanity itself, when more people are on the move than ever? Nanjala Nyabola is constantly exploring the world, working with migrants and confronting complex realities challenging common assumptions - both hers and others'. From Nepal to Botswana, Sicily to Haiti, New York to Nairobi, her sharp, humane essays ask tough questions and offer surprising, deeply shocking and sometimes funny answers. It is time we saw the world through her eyes.
