The Granta Book of the African Short Story

by Habila, Helon

• ISBN13: 9781847084132
• ISBN10: 1847084133
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-05-01
• Publisher: Ingram Pub Services

Summary

The Granta Book of the African Short Story introduces a group of African writers described by its editor, Helon Habila, as 'the post-nationalist generation'. Presenting a diverse and dazzling collection from all over the continent - from Morocco to Zimbabwe, Uganda to Kenya - Habila has focused on younger, newer writers, contrasted with some of their older, more established peers, to give a fascinating picture of a new and more liberated Africa. Disdaining the narrowly nationalist and political preoccupations of previous generations, these writers are characterized by their engagement with the wider world and the opportunities offered by the internet, the end of apartheid, the end of civil wars and dictatorships, and the possibilities of free movement around the world. Many of them live outside Africa. Their work is inspired by travel and exile. They are liberated, global and expansive. As Dambudzo Marechera wrote: 'If you're a writer for a specific nation or specific race, then f*** you." These are the stories of a new Africa, punchy, self-confident and defiant. Includes stories by: Rachida el-Charni; Henrietta Rose-Innes; George Makana Clark; Ivan Vladislavic; Mansoura Ez-Eldin; Fatou Diome; Aminatta Forna; Manuel Rui; Patrice Nganang; Leila Aboulela; Zoe Wicomb; Alaa Al Aswany; Doreen Baingana; E.C. Osondu

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. vii
The Arrangers of Marriage	p. 1
Faeries of the Nile	p. 18
Stickfighting Days	p. 31
Dancing to the Jazz Goblin and His Rhythm	p. 47
Promenade	p. 56
An Ex-mas Feast	p. 66
Ships in High Transit	p. 92
The Moustached Man	p. 122
A Good Soldier	p. 129
Préférence Nationale	p. 142
Homecoming	p. 149
Street of the House of Wonders	p. 164
Bumsters	p. 169
Passion	p. 179
The Fugitive	p. 200
Haywards Heath	p. 208
Missing Out	p. 215
Why Don't You Carve Other Animals	p. 232
The Centre of the World	p. 236
Propaganda by Monuments	p. 252
Mme Zitta Mendès, a Last Image	p. 277
An Unexpected Death	p. 283
The Homecoming	p. 292
Oxford, Black Oxford	p. 295
You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town	p. 301
Cages	p. 318
The Last Bordello	p. 326
The Eyes of the Statue	p. 341
Slipper Satin	p. 355
Contributors	p. 362
Permissions	p. 374
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