2011. Hard cover with dust cover, 559 pages. Very good condition. Tightly bound, neat and clean. Book dealer's rubber stamp in front. Parcel over 1kg.
In his memoir, award-winning and renown South African playwright, novelist, professor, artist, musician and film maker Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda, known as Zakes Mda, describes his biggest life influences and events that shaped him from childhood until the present days.
Candid, humorous, often emotional and deeply personal, Zakes intertwines his personal story and family affairs with the political and social history of Lesotho and South Africa over half a decade. At fourteen, Zakes is forced into exile in Lesotho, then Basutoland, to join his father, A P Mda, considered the “founding spirit” of the Pan African Congress (PAC), a party that broke away from the African National Congress (ANC) in 1959. Away from South Africa, Zakes enjoys his freedom years drinking at the sheebens of Maseru and becoming acquainted with political exponents and activists. His high school and working years are laden with the spectacular insights in the growth and development of both PAC and ANC in exile.
First drawn by painting, drawing and jazz music, Zakes developed his literary gifts from an early age. From love letters to poetry and play writing, Zakes has evolved to become one of the most performed and published play writers in South Africa and abroad. His published work has resulted into a teaching role in creative writing at the Ohio University, where he earned two master’s degrees, followed by a doctorate at the University of Cape Town.
Today Zakes lives in small town Athens, Ohio and travels to South Africa regularly to support local theatres through his playwrights, promote his novels (“Black Diamond” is one of his most recent writing) and get involved in economic empowerment initiatives, such as the beekeeping project in his former ancestral village in Eastern Cape. He regularly visits the Southern African Multimedia AIDS Trust, which he founded in Sophiatown.
“Memoirs of an Outsider” is a fascinating book. The title is a true reflection of Zakes’ own perception as an “outsider” who observed the social and political scene of South Africa from a distance, being sidelined in many aspects of the country’s society. Although based in USA, Zakes is very much an exponent of the social and cultural advancement of South Africa. Zakes has written over 20 playwrights and novels since 1977. His most recent novel, “Black Diamond”, was published in 2009. One of Zakes’ most awarded and popular writing is “The Heart of Redness”, published in 2000 and reflecting the Xhosa’s culture and myths, past and present. of one's circumstances, not just for Africans but for individuals the world over.
