Sindiwe Magona · 2016

This is the story of Shumikazi, the only surviving child of Jojo and Miseka. She grows up in a small village nestling among the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape during the days of white rule – from the outside, an apparently unremarkable life. And yet Shumi is marked for extraordinary things from the moment of her birth. But then she faces an unspeakable betrayal that changes everything. Wry, tragic, funny, scathing, this rich new novel from Sindiwe Magona, one of South Africa’s most beloved storytellers, underscores the dignity of those often rendered invisible. Her characters crackle with life and verve as they step into the centre of the national narrative in Magona’s skilled hands.

A powerful meditation on the vulnerability of women, it is also a series of overlapping love stories – above all, the love a father has for his daughter.

Sindiwe Magona

Kwezi zincoko zihlanu, singayibali imvula-miomo le, sisa iso

kwintsingiselo, imfuneko, nokubaluleka kwemida. Sifuna ukugonda ukuba, kanye kanye uyintoni na umsebenzi wayo le, impendulo esiza nayo yeyothusayo mhlawumbi kulowo ungakhange akhe aziphe ithuba lakuyigwalasela le ngongoma. Imida ikho ukuze yahlule le kuleya; iphawule loo nto lyohlule ngolo hiobo ize. kananialo ivikhusele. Eyona nto ityhulu kukuba bonke ubomi obu

sisicwangciso esicekethekileyo semida.

Yimbi kuyo leyo ingqingqwa yaye ingafanele kuthintwa. Kanti ikho nengachukunyiswayo nje kungonakali nto konke. Ikwakho ke naleyo kuthe yakuthintwa, ichukunyiswa, okanye ke mhlawumbi iguqulwa okanye ishitshiswa nie mpela,

kwasuka kwakukhona kulunga nangakumbi, Kodwa ke, loo nto kunyanzelekile ukuba isoloko yenziwa ngenkulu yona inyameko le; kuzikiswe ukucinga: kwacetywa.

Ubukhulu becala, imida ilungile yaye ukuyichukumisa kukuduba olu wango bulilifa lobomi; nto leyo ingathethi kuthi, apha naphaya – a kufanelekile akungenziwa njalo. Umzekelo: lo mda wokuphapha udutyiwe ngumntu. Kanye ngoku engesidalwa sinamaphiko, umntu uyabhabha – njalo ephikisa indalo nocwangco twayo. Kwezi zincoko ke, kuveleiwa imiba kolu

‘cwangco lucekeceke luluqilima luvimida” olululo oluxhase yonk’ intw ebubomi – esiyibonayo naleyo singayiboniyo ngeliso lenyama.

In celebration of SINDIWE MAGONA’S 80th birthday, a collection of tributes from friends, family and colleagues on how this literary icon has touched their lives.

Sindiwe Magona

The Five Firm Friends – Edith, Cordelia, Amanda, Doris and Beauty – are five sassy career women who confront life head-on. But when Beauty suddenly becomes ill and, after six short weeks, passes away, their world is thrown into confusion.
The Five Firm Friends – Edith, Cordelia, Amanda, Doris and Beauty – are five sassy career women who confront life head-on. But when Beauty suddenly becomes ill and, after six short weeks, passes away, their world is thrown into confusion. On her deathbed Beauty begs Amanda to promise her one thing – that she and the rest of the FFF will not waste their lives as she has done. All because of an unfaithful husband … ‘Ukhule,’ she begs of Amanda. May you live a long life, and may you become old. Beauty’s Gift is a moving tale of how four women decide to change their own fate as well as the lives of those closest to them. This is Sindiwe Magona at her very best – writing about social issues, and not keeping quiet. Speak up, she says to women in Africa. Stand up, and take control of your own lives.

Sindiwe Magona

In August 1993, Fulbright scholar Amy Biehl was killed in Cape Town by a group of black youths incited by an upsurge in ‘anti-white’ sloganeering. She died just a few metres away from Sindiwe Magona’s house. One of the boys held responsible for the killing was her neighbour’s son.

Mother to Mother takes the form of an epistle to Amy Biehl’s mother. Sindiwe Magona imagines how easily it might have been her own son caught up in the violence of that day.

She writes about their lives in a colonised society that not only allowed, but also perpetuated violence against women and impoverished black South Africans. The result is not an apology for murder, but an exquisitely written exploration of the lives of ordinary people in the apartheid years.

Sindiwe Magona

When the Village Sleeps is a visionary novel about what the loss of identity and dignity do to a people afflicted by decades of brokenness. Told through the lives and spirits of four generations of amaTolo women, including the Old, who speak wisdom with ever-increasing urgency, it moves between the bustling township setting of Kwanele and the different thythms of rural village life. It recalls the sweeping sagas of the great A.C. Jordan and the Dhomo brothers and invokes the poetry of S.E.K. Mghayi, while boldly exploring urgent and contemporary issues. An ode to the complex strengths of South African women, When the Village Sleeps is also a powerful call to respect the earth that nurtures human life, and to live in self-sufficiency and harmony with the environment and each other.

Author(s): Sindiwe Magona
Editor(s): Renée Schatteman

These essays bring to life many facets of Magona’s personal history, her deepest convictions, love for her country and belief in her ability to activate change. They are a meaningful supplement to her fictional works, while offering insightful responses to the conditions that inspired them.

Sindiwe Magona is a celebrated South African writer, storyteller and motivational speaker known mainly for her autobiographies, biographies, novels, short stories, poetry and children’s books. I Write the Yawning Void is a collection of essays that highlight her engagement with writing that span the transition from apartheid to the post-apartheid period and addresses themes such as HIV/Aids, language and culture, home and belonging.
Magona worked as a teacher, domestic worker and spent two decades working for the United Nations in the United States of America. She has received many awards for her fearless writing ‘truth to power’. Her written work is often informed by her lived experience of being a black woman resisting subjugation and poverty.
These essays bring to life many facets of Magona’s personal history as well as her deepest convictions, her love for her country and despair at the problems that continue to plague it, and her belief in her ability to activate change. They demonstrate Magona’s engaging storytelling and mastery of the essay form which serve as meaningful supplements to her fictional works, while simultaneously offering insightful responses to the conditions that inspired them.

Sindiwe Magona

When we meet someone, one of the things we notice is the colour of their skin. But what can someone’s skin colour tell us about them? Despite what some people say, your skin means very little!

Inside we’re all the same.

Join Njabulo, Aisha, Tim, Chris and Roshni as they discover why humans have different skins, and how people’s thinking about skin colour has changed throughout history. Skin we are in is a celebration of the glorious human rainbow, both in South Africa and beyond.

The book is a testament to the inspiration, vision, and conviction of dozens of people, who created, edited, reviewed, and promoted it because they knew that the children of South Africa and the world needed it. – Nina Jablonski

A much-needed book about race and skin colour for children. – Woman Zone Cape Town

This book provides a fantastic perspective into the problematic topic of race and how to deal with it in a practical way.

– Avantika Seeth, News24

This book should be compulsory in all schools in South Africa. – Sara-Jayne King, author of Killing Karoline An informative and fun read for children and adults alike. – Lorraine Sithole, Book Reviewer and Literature Quiz Champion.

Sindiwe Magona · 1992

Sindiwe Magona continues her story at the point when her husband deserted her and left her, aged 23, to fend for herself and three small children.