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Water: New Short Story Fiction from Africa: An Anthology from Short Story Day Africa
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Water: New Short Fiction from Africa is Short Story Day Africa's third anthology of short fiction from the African continent and diaspora. This carefully-curated anthology of twenty-one stories is harvested from the over-400 entries to the project’s annual short story competition, the Short Story Day Africa Prize, in 2015.
The collection includes well-known authors – such a ...more
The collection includes well-known authors – such a ...more
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Paperback, 284 pages
Published
April 26th 2016
by New Internationalist
(first published January 1st 2016)
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Start your review of Water: New Short Story Fiction from Africa: An Anthology from Short Story Day Africa
All the stories in this volume come from the entries to the "Short Story Day Africa" project’s annual short story competition from last year. All are directly or tangentially related to the theme of water, and that spans from water shortages to water symbolism. Many of the authors are South African but others come from Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland, Rwanda, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.
I was interested to read the stories that had mermaid folklore as a basis. I think of mermaids as being very nort ...more
I was interested to read the stories that had mermaid folklore as a basis. I think of mermaids as being very nort ...more
Like a lot of short story collections, there were some good, some bad. Overall, I'd say most of them were pretty good, and I think the collection was boosted by the overall theme, but not by an overall style. The sci-fi, magical, and horroresque stories were really among my favorite, despite those being genres I don't often engage with. I'm looking forward to the next collection.
...more
Contains short story by Siyanda Mohutsiwa, who can be really funny.
RTC
Interview with first place winner Cat Hellisen: http://shortstorydayafrica.org/news/t...
Interview with second place winner Alex Latimer: http://shortstorydayafrica.org/news/h...
Interview with third place winner Mark Winkler: http://shortstorydayafrica.org/news/i...
Interview with the editor Nick Mulgrew: http://shortstorydayafrica.org/news/i...
To the African writers telling African stories with African readers in mind: Short Story Day Africa salutes you. Be brave. Keep writing. – Karina Szczurek ...more
Interview with second place winner Alex Latimer: http://shortstorydayafrica.org/news/h...
Interview with third place winner Mark Winkler: http://shortstorydayafrica.org/news/i...
Interview with the editor Nick Mulgrew: http://shortstorydayafrica.org/news/i...
To the African writers telling African stories with African readers in mind: Short Story Day Africa salutes you. Be brave. Keep writing. – Karina Szczurek ...more
African culture is laid out through these writers interpretation of one thing: Water. Told through the medium of history, folklore, dystopia, murder-mystery, fantasy and realism, the book emcompasses a truly diverse range of stories. Each is different and beautiful and fully formed, even in their brevity.
It shouldn't need saying that you can't make broad claims about a whole continent, especially one as big as Africa, but often people do. By telling 'Water' through so many interpretations the ...more
It shouldn't need saying that you can't make broad claims about a whole continent, especially one as big as Africa, but often people do. By telling 'Water' through so many interpretations the ...more
It took me ages to get through this book! I find it difficult to hop from story to story, character to character without taking some time in between. A real mixed bag - some stories were brilliant, others extremely dull, just as you would expect from any collection I guess. Some authors used the concept of water in really interesting ways.
It’s always hard to review a book of short stories, especially when they are written by different authors with some vastly different genres. I loved some of the stories but others I found to be lacking in character and story. Since there is more to like than not, I went for a 3 out of 5 stars.
The book was an interesting picture of the various experiences of Africans in different countries. I enjoyed the diverse and unique way in which each of the stories was told. Definitely worth a read for anyone who is interested in reading writers from this great stretch of dirt that we call home.
In this book,I read things of the sort that I never would have picked up on my own. Tightly woven stories that surprise and transcend. They express a broad diversity of African literature. I enjoyed the ones leaning toward magic and myth and mermaids the most.
All the stories are recently written, and some are very good. Maybe the book should be called Water: short stories from white South Africa and beyond. Eight out of 21 stories were by South Africans, most with European surnames; many of the others were from neighbouring countries.
Some excellent stories.
Really loved this collection of short stories.
such a variety of writing styles and genres.
I especially enjoyed the story Oasis - and how there are no standard (he/she) pronouns used throughout the story.
such a variety of writing styles and genres.
I especially enjoyed the story Oasis - and how there are no standard (he/she) pronouns used throughout the story.
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Nick Mulgrew is an award-winning writer, editor and publisher, currently based in Cape Town. He is the author of three books. Among other things, he is the 2016 winner of the Thomas Pringle Award, the 2014 winner of the National Arts Festival Short Sharp Stories Award in South Africa, a 2015 shortlistee for the White Review Prize and a 2017 longlistee for the Edge Hill Prize.
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Kerine Wint is a software engineering graduate with more love for books than for computers. As an avid reader, writer, and fan of all things...
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