Victor Hugo once said: “A writer is a world trapped in a person.”
In Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani’s case, that world is one shaped by the harsh and painful past we share — a world she captures with such nuance and lyricism that, even when she confronts unsettling truths and conflict, her words feel alive, almost dancing off the page.
The rain gushing over the pavements and pooling in the streets outside on Thursday evening in Melville was no distraction as we sat entranced when the 2024 Dinaane Debut Fiction Award recipient read two extracts from her novel, Buried in the Chest.
“It p**ses me off when people say, ‘Oh, it is so many years after democracy ... but show me the progress we have made.’ And so in this book I deal with the period leading [up] to the 1994 elections and their immediate aftermath ... in order to think about identity politics, in order to think about gender politics, in order to think about the role of the rural areas during apartheid, but also to think about language — how much we gravitate towards speaking isingisi [English],” explained the writer from Dutywa, who now lives in the US, where she is an English professor at Greenville University in Illinois and teaches critical race theory.
The book launch took place at Melville’s Love Books, an independent book store and treasure trove of fiction titles you won’t find in the chain outlets.
I greet the store’s owner Kate Rogan when I arrive, before meeting Lindani, resplendent in a gorgeously ruffled African print dress run up by a friend.
Learning that the writer and academic holds a slew of degrees (she is now completing a second MA in special education), I wonder when she finds the time to write.
“Usually at about 2am, when the house is quiet and the new day is starting,” is her answer.
We proceed through a door to Service Station cafe, where the room quickly fills with an impressive gathering of friends and family, book lovers and literary figures, all of whom tuck in to an array of eats — including moreish butternut, feta and leek filo triangles; roast tomato and artichoke mini quiches; and crunchy chickpea falafels — laid out on a long table.
Among the crowd, I spot Jamil Khan, the multi-award-winning author of Khamr, catch up with former journo Gillian Anstey (who had alerted me to the launch), and meet Margaret Canca, the chief fundraising officer for the African Union Foundation.
The reading, followed by a Q&A session, is expertly moderated by literary journalist Karabo Kgoleng.
Formalities are brief, punctual and insightful (oh, do let this set the tone for the rest of the year!), with Kate opening the evening with a warm welcome and Diolan Govender from the Jacana Literary Foundation highlighting the significance of Lindani’s award.
Bridget Impey from Jacana Media, the novel’s publisher, expressed heartfelt confidence in Lindani’s work, telling the writer and academic, “You are following in the footsteps of the greats!”
She pointed out that Coconut — the novel by previous Dinaane Debut Fiction Award winner Kopano Matlwa, which has gone on to become a local literary classic — sold an impressive 40,000 copies.
On to the piano lounge of one of those shiny newish Sandton hotels for a change of pace the next morning.
While Buried in the Chest deals with the painful search for identity, this event was the launch of a TV insert showing partygoers how to put their best foot forward.
“We spend thousands of rand on makeup and outfits and shoes and tanning and hair, and then we arrive at an event and don’t know what to do,” explained Marika Opperman, a former Mrs SA finalist, about the idea behind her segment Moves & Mimosas, which debuted on Afrikaans cable network channel Via yesterday.
Coming out in full force to support the stylish redhead at the Hotel Sky Sandton brunch was a veritable army of glam gals such as TV personality Kim Jayde, model agency owner Avril Albetti, TikToker Halle Tshungu, and Marika’s bestie, Mrs SA 2022 Jo Judnick-Wilson.
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