S is for Samora: A Lexical Biography of Samora Machel and the Mozambican Dream

by Sarah Lefanu

Samora Machel led FRELIMO, the Mozambican Liberation Front, to victory against Portuguese colonialism in 1974, and the following year became independent Mozambique's first President. He died eleven years later in a mysterious plane crash. Drawing on stories, speeches, documents, and the memories of those who knew him, this biography presents the many different faces of the man Nelson Mandela called "a true African revolutionary." Machel was a trained nurse who became a consummate military strategist, a farmer's son with the diplomatic skills first to tread the tightrope between China and the Soviet Union and then to charm Margaret Thatcher, a man of the people who found himself utterly alone, a dedicated seeker of peace who never saw anything but war. The book examines the discourse of equality, liberty and comradeship that flourished during the 1960s and 1970s in the liberation struggles of the countries of southern Africa, in the face of the dominant rhetoric of the cold war. It meditates on the different languages through which the Mozambican dream was articulated: the linguistic currencies of anti-colonialism, of anti-racism, and of Marxism-Leninism, while exploring the gaps between then and now, between Mozambicans and the western idealists who wanted to be part of their new society, and between the polyglottal Mozambicans themselves.

Genres: History, Biography, Africa

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Sarah was born on the east coast of Scotland, was brought up there and in East Africa, and now lives in the west country. In the 1980s and 1990s she was Senior Editor at The Women’s Press, where she was responsible for their innovative and highly-regarded science fiction list.

From 2004 to 2009 she was Artistic Director of the Bath Literature Festival. She continues to chair events for the LitFest on a regular basis, and also for the Bristol Festival of Ideas.

Sarah teaches on the BA degree in English Literature and Community Engagement at the University of Bristol. She has just completed a year's post there as RLF Writing Fellow.

She has been a judge for the James Tiptree Award (an annual award for works of SF and fantasy that expand and explore the understanding of gender), and for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Her most recent books are S is for Samora: A Lexical Biography of Samora Machel and the Mozambican Dream (Hurst Publishers, November 2012), and Dreaming of Rose: A Biographer’s Journal (SilverWood Books, March 2013).

(from http://www.sarahlefanu.co.uk/)

Reviews

[Stephen Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

“S is for Samora” is an engaging, informative book, deserving of a wide readership. It is part biography, part history and part memoir. It taught me much about Mozambique, a beautiful country tragically sucked into no fewer than three wars in the late 20th century. Sarah LeFanu makes clear that she has a deep admiration for Mozambique’s first president, Samora Machel, but the book’s tone is never fawning. It is scholarly and fair. LeFanu went to work in Mozambique in 1978, just three years after the country’s hard-won independence from Portugal. She writes with strong first-hand knowledge and with an eye for a good, quirky story. Her description of a madcap car journey with Mozambican artist Malangatana, when they call on Graça Machel, Samora’s widow, is a lovely piece of writing. All in all this is an important work on a country which so deserves a happier future.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well written and thoughtful book that makes this subject come alive even for people who know nothing about Samora or Mozambique. Gripping, informative and fair-minded.