Short Stories, Interviews & New Cover for Zacht als Staal
The joyous cacophony of the World Cup seems to have inspired a rush of interest in my writing. Now that the orange sun has set and a disappointed hush has descended on Amsterdam, the time has come to blow my own vuvuzela. Here are some snippets and links:
My short story And the Hippo? here on Book SA:
“She followed him round the ring at first. Later, he would hop on her back. His feet dragged on the ground. That made people happy. They came from far and wide. We put on extra morning shows in summer. But people didn’t only come to see ‘The Hutu and his Hippo’. There were other wonders to behold.”
Annemarié van Niekerk’s interview with me on LitNet (in Afrikaans):
“Om die waarheid te sê, ek het nog nooit regtig baie gedink oor wie en wat ek nou eintlik is nie. Waarskynlik omdat ek te betrokke is in die wêreld buite myself, maar ook omdat ek oopkop oor dinge probeer bly, ook oor myself.”
My short story Chockie on LitNet:
“Chockie’s three younger brothers were sitting in the sharp grass. The powder dust off the road stuck to their bare feet, as if they were wearing beige bobby socks. You greeted each other cool as can be. As if it was an everyday occurrence – two white teenagers attending an all-black soccer match.”
The Dutch version of the above story, Tjokkie, on Multicultureel Haarlem:
“Tjokkies drie jongere broertjes zaten naast elkaar in het dorre gras. Het fijne stof van de zandweg kleefde aan hun blote voeten alsof ze korte beige sokjes aanhadden. Jullie begroetten elkaar zo koel mogelijk, alsof het doodnormaal was dat twee blanke tieners een all black voetbalwedstrijd bijwoonden.”
“Dear Granta – Your junior editor, Michael Basildone (according to the passport I confiscated along with his clothes), has been curled up naked on my doorstep for the past four days. I ordered my wife to stop feeding him on Wednesday, but he seems undeterred and has taken to intercepting my mail in the hope of finding something useful to publish in your magazine.”
And then there’s the new cover design for my latest novel Zacht als Staal, which will be out in August. A reversible image, whose symbolism coincides more closely with the content than the previous design. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this design and the stories. Enjoy!
