Tag: SouthAfricanLiterature

Qualified Disappointment is a candid and humorous memoir about identity, family and the expectations that shape our lives. The author transforms personal experiences into sharp comedy while exploring the complexities of growing up queer and brown in a conservative South African Indian household.

Lethabo Khumalo works at the Department of Home Affairs in Pietermaritzburg. She is also a single mother raising three beautiful children. When her new lover offers her an opportunity to earn an additional R45,000 per month, she immediately thinks about her mother's leaking roof in Soweto and her eldest daughter's university fees. Faced with mounting financial pressures, she says yes.

In this captivating collection of essays, Professor Tinyiko Maluleke invites readers on a journey. The journey begins with his eventful boyhood in Soweto. It continues through his life-changing upbringing in Limpopo. His heartfelt reflections on mothers, grandmothers and aunts stand at the centre of his story. He also explores their roles in his childhood and in the upbringing of his peers. In doing so, he highlights how these women shaped heroes and heroines across communities.

Bloke of All Ages offers refreshing new insights into the works of one of South Africa’s most important literary, intellectual and artistic figures, William Bloke Modisane. Moreover, it highlights the resilience of his work. The book situates his intellectual and cultural contribution within the historical context of South African creative arts.