Longlisted!
It's not as bad as it sounds...
Kaya Book Club - KayaFM 95.9
Great discussion with Kaya Sithole and Professor Oliphant on Ghana@60 and post independence Africa as seen through the lens of Ayi Kwei Armah's book, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born.
KayaFM studios, Johannesburg
8 March 2016
Click here for the podcast
KayaFM studios, Johannesburg
8 March 2016
Click here for the podcast
The Art of Sunday - KayaFM 95.9
With the wonderful Brenda Sisane
Book Evening - Cape Town Pride Festival 2017
Hosted by Roger Paulsen and with Afrikaans poet, Johann de Lange
Alexander Bar, Strand Street, Cape Town, 27 February 2017
Alexander Bar, Strand Street, Cape Town, 27 February 2017
Intense, witty and sharp
Pearl Boshomane reviews Ekow Duker’s The God Who Made Mistakes
I don’t know how I feel about it. That was my initial thought after reading Ekow Duker’s The God Who Made Mistakes, a novel about a black man living what might be the South African dream (corporate job, German car, house in the suburbs, pretty wife), but stands to lose it all because of a secret that’s threatening to disturb the performed perfection of his life. It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out what Themba’s life-altering secret is, but Duker writes about it with such delicateness and simultaneously in such a raw manner that its reveal doesn’t feel cheap or fake.
Ayanda, the pretty wife, feels trapped in a marriage with a husband like Themba who doesn’t love her and doesn’t even pretend to. Unappreciated at home and at work, she takes to dancing as a refuge from her otherwise unpleasant life.
Themba is his mother’s favourite son: he’s an attorney, has his own home in the suburbs, he’s married (although it’s to a woman she detests). He made it out of the streets of Alex, to the pride of his mother and the dismay of his older brother, Bongani.
Bongani’s resentment for Themba is amplified by the thought that Themba might be the one who inherits their mother’s house when she dies, even though Bongani is the one who has never moved out of home.
Duker is not an emotional writer. So if you’re looking to clutch your chest in despair over a lethal combination of adjectives and adverbs, please read something else or turn on a soppy Lifetime channel movie.
The God Who Made Mistakes is intense. It’s interesting that the author can deliver a book this potent while using simple, to-the-point language. Duker has no time to explain the intricacies and complexities of human beings: he just rips off the skin to show us the bare bones of the worst in people.
There is no “good guy” in this book. The closest to a decent person we get is Ayanda. His mother is an overbearing, controlling woman (the proverbial mother-in-law from hell) and his brother is a loser who blames everyone but himself for the way his life has turned out.
This is not to say Themba is a saint; far from it. He’s quite unlikeable – a mentally weak man who thinks the only way to prove his masculinity is by treating his wife terribly. But once Themba admits his secret to himself and eventually those around him, it humanises him, softens him.
For all its intensity, The God Who Made Mistakes is surprisingly witty and sharp, with acerbic asides like this one on the current state of menswear: “All the men wore blue suits these days, even the president. They thought it expressed their individuality when in fact it did the opposite.”
(He also writes great analogies and figures of speech.)
The book makes for great – and at times difficult – reading. One of its strengths is that Duker presents his characters, their lives, their thoughts, emotions and actions (and sometimes the disconnect between the last two) to the reader and leaves them there. It’s not Duker’s job to tell you how to feel; he’s not pushing the reader’s thoughts in any particular direction.
That doesn’t mean it feels as though he does not care about the subject matter and topics raised: quite the opposite.
No one could write so fiercely about something unless they cared about it deeply. But refraining from forcing your views down the reader’s throat is a skill to be admired, and The God Who Made Mistakes does this so well.
Follow Pearl Boshomane on Twitter @Pearloysias
Ayanda, the pretty wife, feels trapped in a marriage with a husband like Themba who doesn’t love her and doesn’t even pretend to. Unappreciated at home and at work, she takes to dancing as a refuge from her otherwise unpleasant life.
Themba is his mother’s favourite son: he’s an attorney, has his own home in the suburbs, he’s married (although it’s to a woman she detests). He made it out of the streets of Alex, to the pride of his mother and the dismay of his older brother, Bongani.
Bongani’s resentment for Themba is amplified by the thought that Themba might be the one who inherits their mother’s house when she dies, even though Bongani is the one who has never moved out of home.
Duker is not an emotional writer. So if you’re looking to clutch your chest in despair over a lethal combination of adjectives and adverbs, please read something else or turn on a soppy Lifetime channel movie.
The God Who Made Mistakes is intense. It’s interesting that the author can deliver a book this potent while using simple, to-the-point language. Duker has no time to explain the intricacies and complexities of human beings: he just rips off the skin to show us the bare bones of the worst in people.
There is no “good guy” in this book. The closest to a decent person we get is Ayanda. His mother is an overbearing, controlling woman (the proverbial mother-in-law from hell) and his brother is a loser who blames everyone but himself for the way his life has turned out.
This is not to say Themba is a saint; far from it. He’s quite unlikeable – a mentally weak man who thinks the only way to prove his masculinity is by treating his wife terribly. But once Themba admits his secret to himself and eventually those around him, it humanises him, softens him.
For all its intensity, The God Who Made Mistakes is surprisingly witty and sharp, with acerbic asides like this one on the current state of menswear: “All the men wore blue suits these days, even the president. They thought it expressed their individuality when in fact it did the opposite.”
(He also writes great analogies and figures of speech.)
The book makes for great – and at times difficult – reading. One of its strengths is that Duker presents his characters, their lives, their thoughts, emotions and actions (and sometimes the disconnect between the last two) to the reader and leaves them there. It’s not Duker’s job to tell you how to feel; he’s not pushing the reader’s thoughts in any particular direction.
That doesn’t mean it feels as though he does not care about the subject matter and topics raised: quite the opposite.
No one could write so fiercely about something unless they cared about it deeply. But refraining from forcing your views down the reader’s throat is a skill to be admired, and The God Who Made Mistakes does this so well.
Follow Pearl Boshomane on Twitter @Pearloysias
Good Reads - 'I am still winded'
28 October 2016
This was a really lovely review from Lorraine in South Africa
Creative Feel
Pretoria News
24 October 2016
Cape Talk with Pippa Hudson
10 October 2016
A really enjoyable chat with the inimitable Pippa Hudson
The Book Launch - The God Who Made Mistakes
Exclusive Books, Rosebank Johannesburg. 6 October 2016
Once Upon A Time...
Or the story of how Bridget and I got engaged
I saw this painting in Franschoek and fell in love with it
Zemba Luzamba's Sons of Cloth. Oil on canvas
The Franschoek Literary Festival
Franschoek, South Africa - 13-15 May 2016
It was a really lovely festival - as usual. Great organisation, great conversation and of course, great food.
I was on two panels - one of which happened to be my first sold out gig!
Thank you Bridget for the photos!
I was on two panels - one of which happened to be my first sold out gig!
Thank you Bridget for the photos!
Writing from the outside
Alison Lowry explores the perspectives gained by writers who are based outside their home country. Do they write about that country or about their new homes, the people of their past or their present — and what influences these decisions? with Chinelo Okparanta (Under the Udala Trees), Ekow Duker (Dying in New York) and Patrick Flanery (I am No One).
Knowing when to stop
Ekow Duker (White Wahala, Dying in New York) leads Fred Strydom (The Raft), Niq Mhlongo (Affluenza) and Steven Boykey Sidley (Imperfect Solo) in a conversation on structure, length and plot. How do authors decide on the end point of a novel, and how do they lead a story to its natural conclusion?
Pictures from my mother's surprise 92nd birthday
Accra, Ghana - 16 April 2016
The Unbound Book Club
27 February 2016
Eight Amazing Ladies!
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Aké Review and Book Festival
November 2015
A really punchy and animated book festival in Abeokuta, Nigeria. I was really glad to have been able to attend. The social commentary - Hear Word! - by Ifeoma Fatunwa and an all female cast was breathtaking!
Thank you Bridget for taking time out of your schedule to come along. And of course to Lola Shoneyin for putting it all together.
Click here for my interview
A really punchy and animated book festival in Abeokuta, Nigeria. I was really glad to have been able to attend. The social commentary - Hear Word! - by Ifeoma Fatunwa and an all female cast was breathtaking!
Thank you Bridget for taking time out of your schedule to come along. And of course to Lola Shoneyin for putting it all together.
Click here for my interview
The Aerodrome interview
Not my favourite picture but the interview is pretty cool.
Click here for the link
Click here for the link
Pictures from my 50th Birthday
You're only 50 once......
2 April 2015
A radio station in the middle of a plant nursery in the centre of Johannesburg? With her warmth and zest for living, Sue Grant-Marshall makes you feel right at home.
Radio Today: 1485AM / DStv Audio channel 869 / Live stream: http://www.1485.org.za
Radio Today: 1485AM / DStv Audio channel 869 / Live stream: http://www.1485.org.za
The Afro Freedom Book Club
25 March 2015
What a passionately honest group of book lovers! So many nationalities, such depth of feeling. It was well worth it getting lost on the way to Cyrildene. Thank you Lungi for the invitation, and to Celeste for the photos (not these, hers are much better). And thank you Bridget for sharing your story.
The Birthday Interview - Classic FM
February 18, 2015
Tamara LePine Williams baked me a chocolate cake and served it to me in a sumptuous wood panelled studio in downtown Johannesburg. What a wonderful way to kick off a birthday!
Read of the Week
December 17, 2014
Mail and Guardian
December 12, 2014
Vanguard Magazine and Dibookeng : Digital Anthology
December 2014
True Love Man
November 2014
Oh wow! Destiny Man
October 2014
Book Reviews
Writers Write: The best books we read in 2014
Writers Write: The Best Books We Read in 2014, featuring White Wahala
Reviewed by: Ashleigh Seton-Rogers
Date: November 2014
Link: http://writerswrite.co.za/writers-write-reviewers-choose-their-top-books-of-2014
Reviewed by: Ashleigh Seton-Rogers
Date: November 2014
Link: http://writerswrite.co.za/writers-write-reviewers-choose-their-top-books-of-2014
Open Book Festival, Cape Town
September 2014
Photos from the Open Book Festival in Cape Town with Mandla Langa, Zakes Mda, Sefi Atta, Jonny Steinberg, Andrew Brown, Karina Szczurek, Zethu Matebeni, Sixolile Mbalo and Sindiwe Magona to name a few. It was my first book festival and I must say I had a really good time! Thought provoking too... My highlight? Zelda la Grange, Nelson Mandela's personal assistant of many years, sharing some really entertaining insights of her time with the great man.
My Book launch
August 19, 2014
Photos from my book launch held on the 19 August 2014 at Exclusive Books, Melrose Arch in Johannesburg. A big Thank You to Alison, Terry, Thando, Karabo, Andrea, Laura, Babs, Bridget, Lorraine, Luntente, Shylock, Chi, Pamela, Nicolise, K, Windsor, Robyn and all those who in countless ways made the evening such an overwhelming success.
Afroshowbiz News
August 23, 2014
My first television interview! It was a bit like going to the dentist but with makeup and dramatic countdowns....
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