The Bed Book of Short Stories launched

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Tuesday September 28, 2010 00:00

This follows successful launches of the book in Franschhoek, Johannesburg, Centurion, Windhoek and Cape Town in South Africa.

The Bed Book of Short Stories is a compilation of stories from women in Southern Africa published by Modjaji Books (South Africa) around the theme of bed.  It was edited by Joanne Hichens and compiled by Lauri Kubuitsile.  In a recent review in LitNet it was described  thus:

'There are so many more stories in this collection of thirty which deserve mention, but it's impossible to pay tribute to them all. Suffice to say that this is a Quality Street box of stories: each entirely different from the one before and each completely delicious in its own right. Do yourself a favour and spoil yourself with this delightful collection. Take a copy, well, to bed. It's obviously the only place to savour The Bed Book of Short Stories.'

There are 31 contributors, four of them were in attendance at Mmabolao. Malawian Luso Mnthali read from her story A Requiem for Daniel.  Zimbabwean Novuyo Rose Tshuma, currently studying in Johannesburg, made her way to Gaborone to read an excerpt from her story In Bed With Ikeji.

Batswana contributors include Gothataone Moeng who read from her story Lie Still Heart: Scenes From A Girlhood Devoured and Kubuitsile read an excerpt from her story In The Spirit Of Mcphineas Lata.

The guest speaker for the evening was Dr Leloba Molema from the University of Botswana (UB), English Department.  She was excited about the way the writers in the collection dealt with sexual issues, describing it as 'revolutionary' for African women.  She compared the difference between the African male approach to writing about sex and the female approach, citing examples in the book.

Molema suggested the collection would be ideal for university students to study.

The MC for the evening was well known poet Tjawangwa 'TJ' Dema.  About 40 people attended the launch among them academics such as Professor David Kerr, the newly appointed head of the soon to be Department of Media and Visual Arts at UB and writers Cheryl Ntumy, Wame Molefhe and Judy Maposa from Zimbabwe.  People in attendance agreed that more such literary events were needed in the capital city.

Copies of the book can be bought at Mmabolao, Westgate Mall, or Exclusive Books, Riverwalk.