bookshy: Kwani?

A few days ago when I really should have been getting ready for bed, I don't know why, but I started thinking about the Kwani? Manuscript Project. Specifically the books that have been published following the Prize. And so, as I do when an idea gets stuck in my head, I started looking into the prize and its legacy.

Image via Africa in Words

Five years ago (April 2012 to be exact), Kwani? announced the launch of its one-off Kwani? Manuscript Project for unpublished fiction manuscripts from African writers across the continent and in the Diaspora. It aimed 'to celebrate the African novel and its adaptability and resilience'. The Project received almost 300 manuscripts from 19 countries, of which 30 were longlisted and 7 shortlisted.

The overall winner was Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's The Kintu Saga. First published by Kwani?, it follows the stories of Kintu Kidda - Ppokino of Buddu Province, in the kingdom of Buganda - and his descendants. I finally had the pleasure of getting a copy of Kintu when I was at the Writivism Festival in Kampala last year, and Kintu is one of those beautiful books where I savoured every word written in it. I really took my time to absorb it all and enter the cursed world of Kintu Kidda and his descendants. Kintu was recently published in the US by Transit Books.

East African (Kwani?) and US editions of Kintu

Well, a look at the longlist a few years later reveals a number of other amazing books that were on that list that have since been published by Kwani? and other publishers, including Cassava Republic Press, New Con Press and Weaver Press. It also reveals how truly remarkable this one-off project was through the range of stories that came out of it.

This includes Saah Millimono's Boy, Interrupted - a love story set in Liberia during the civil war, which was second place in the Project and also published by Kwani? and Nick Wood's debut adult novel, Azanian Bridges set in an alternate South Africa where Nelson Mandela was never released and an Empathy Enhancer has been created to connect two humans together in the hopes that they can understand each others experiences more easily.

Then, there's Nikhil Singh's absolutely terrifying and thrilling Taty Went West about a teenager who runs away from her home in the suburbs of the Lowlands into the Outzone - a creepy, out of this world place definitely not for kids. The UK (Jacaranda) and US (Rosarium) editions will be published late 2017/early 2018.

East African (Kwani?) and US editions of Taty Went West

There's also Ayobami Adebayo's Bailey's shortlisted debut novel, Stay With Me - centred on the pressures to start a family and even more than that learning to deal with loss - it's also about heartbreak, infidelity, parenthood (it's as much about being a mother as it is about being a father).

East African (Kwani?), UK and Nigerian editions of Stay With Me

As well as Toni Kan's Carnivorous City about a Lagos big boy who goes missing and Ayesha Harruna Attah's Saturday's Shadows set in a West African country at the end of 17 year military dictatorship. I also found out while writing this post that Weaver Press in Zimbabwe published Christopher Mlalazi's They are Coming, about a small family in a township in Bulawayo.

While it may have been a one-off, the Kwani? Manuscript Project also shows how manuscripts and books that first got recognition on the African continent (through an African prize) have gained recognition internationally. Beyond that, it's a testament to the fact that organisations in African countries are putting structures in place to support literature. Since the Kwani? Manuscript Project, there has been the Jalada Prize for Literature in 2015, the Saraba Manuscript Prize for Fiction and Non fiction, as well as Writivism's Short Story Prize and Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Non Fiction,and the Huza Press Award for Fiction.

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Once in a while, a novel comes that defies categorisation - that's Nikhil Singh's debut novel Taty Went West. It has been described by Lauren Beukes as 'a hallucinogenic post-apocalyptic carnival ride'. When I first read it I felt like it was Alice in Wonderland on crack, but to be honest it's more like Alice in Wonderland on what seems like never-ending crack. Told in 4-parts, Taty Went West is an absolutely terrifying and thrilling read.

It follows Taty who runs away from her home in the suburbs of the Lowlands Into the Outzone to escape from something terrible she has done. Taty is around fifteen/sixteen at the beginning of the story. Once in the Outzone she is captured by Miss Muppet, and taken to the malicious imp, Alphonse Guava's, lair where she meets a number of interesting characters including Number Nun (a robotic, sex slave nun), the zombie Typhoid Mary, The Sugar Twins - a pair of 'Detachable Siamese', and the overweight Michelle 'nailed to a large wooden cross'.

The fact is the world and characters Singh has created is completely bonkers, and you can only wonder what goes on in that beautiful mind of Singh's to create it. Also, there are a lot of characters in this novel - some of which I have named already, and there are more, and also many settings. Surprisingly it wasn't too confusing, but more than that Singh was able to make every character and very setting quite distinct.

Now Alphonse the imp is the Oga of the Soft House - a sort of twisted brothel - and Taty, having been captured by Miss Muppet, will come in handy for Alphonse who wants her to work for him, particularly because Taty is special:

' ... these sno-globes were something like our emotions sensations and mental emanations rendered invisible' and Taty was 'not just any sno-globe.'

'See, when most people are receptors, you are, in fact, a transmitter...'

'You can be tuned to create specific sensations and emotions within people - just the sight of you playing tennis in the right skirt, if amplified correctly, could be enough to kill a person'. p38

You see Alphonse was in the business of pleasure, and young Taty had something that would take his customer's pleasure to another level.

While all this is going on and Taty was settling into her new life, in another dimension - at the Clock Shop - Dr.Dali had found something sinister for a rival of Alphonse, Mister Sister. Dr. Dali had an 'inter-dimensional Venus Flytrap' that enabled him to capture foreign specimens - and what he had found, the Symbiote, was really going to take the pleasure game to a whole 'nother level.

Now I said Singh created beautiful characters in his world, well here's a glimpse:

A figure crawled and crept like a gecko along the outer walls of the lifeguard station. It resembled a lanky teenage boy, except that it was possessed of slick, green skin, similar to that of a tree frog. The amphibious resemblance did not end there. The arms and legs of the being were double-, if not triple-jointed and possessed of a rubbery flexibility. An extra elbow and knee joint lent the legs and arms a vague 'z' shape when they flexed. When the creature stopped moving, these limbs folded up like wet origami and it assumed a sickening sort of yogic position, not unlike that of a grasshopper. Another dramatic feature of the thing were its long antennae, which quivered in spasms upon its head. The antennae themselves were gigantic and feathery, like a moth's, fluttering spastically against surfaces. The eyes of the symbiote were disproportionate, bulbous and reflective, Nictitating membranes licked across their surfaces while complex sets of mandibles operated below. Someone had dressed the thing in loud, neon surf shorts, whether for a joke or modesty it was hard to tell. (p85)

I mean really Singh has a way of making you feel like you are right there. I really can picture that symbiote in its loud, neon surf short.

Now with the discovery of the symbiotes, let's just say that Taty running away from home and being kidnapped by Miss Muppet and becoming a pleasure transmitter for Alphonse Guava is not the worst thing that happens to her - or, for that matter, the other characters in this books. You see, the symbiotes are special - it 'can evoke a sensual bliss unparalleled on this plane', and 'also deliver a state of almost perpetual orgasm' (p. 86). And so I ask you, dear reader - what would you give and do for a state of almost perpetual orgasm?

Taty Went West definitely takes you on a journey along with Taty - who is quite an interesting character. She's not really a damsel in distress - even with all the things she experiences. She is also quite aware of the decisions she makes, and it seems that in spite of all that happens to her once she's in the Outzone she doesn't regret her decision to leave the Lowlands. I was also amazed by her bravery, and hurt by the amount of abuse and sexual violence she experienced once in the Outzone and beyond. Yes, this book makes it clear that the Outzone might be a place that gives you freedom, but that could come at a price, especially with regards to your body. I should also add that every character in this novel is flawed - some more than others; and some (read Alphonse) even quite a bit more selfish than you can imagine. Then again someone like him never painted himself as an angel.

In all this, I am yet to mention the absolutely stunning illustrations, which add another layer to this novel. And don't be fooled! I said at the beginning that Taty Went West defies categorisation. Well, just because the heroine is a teenage girl doesn't make this a YA novel. Similarly, just because there are illustrations doesn't make this a graphic novel. Taty Went West in the general sense is a Sci-Fi and Fantasy novel - although I read it as more Fantasy (a very trippy one), but to be honest, what Taty Went West really is, is a novel that each reader needs to decipher for themselves. Regardless, it is one that must be read and every word and illustration savoured.

The Soft House. © Nikhil Singh

Indeed, while it isn't a short book - there are 408 pages - I read it in one day because I couldn't put it down. I was fascinated, intrigued and terrified by this world Nikhil Singh had envisioned. Taty Went West is an absolutely stunning debut and I can honestly say I didn't expect what I read. This is certainly not your average teenage girl on an adventure story. It's dark, it's twisted, it's morbid, it's painful, it's heart-wrenching, and I loved it - every single bit of it.

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Calling all SF and Fantasy lovers, there's another new release, and this time from Cape Town-based artist, writer, musician and film-maker Nikhil Singh, whose debut novel Taty Went West will be launched by Kwani Trust as part of the fifth edition of Kwani? Litfest, a biennial gathering of writers, artists and thinkers from across Africa, taking place in Nairobi from 1st-6th December 2015.

Described by Lauren Beukes as ‘a hallucinogenic post-apocalyptic carnival ride’, this stunning debut novel was longlisted for the 2013 Kwani? Manuscript Project - a one off literary prize launched in April 2012 for unpublished fiction from African writers across the continent and in the diaspora.

With over 280 qualifying submissions from 19 African countries, Nikhil Singh’s Taty Went West was identified by Kwani? as one of the most exciting manuscripts submitted for the prize from a longlist of 30. And with a character, Taty, who has been described as 'a new modern literary heroine - part Ophelia, part Buffy' (she sounds awesome!), I can see why. Here's a bit more about Taty Went West:

Taty is a troubled adolescent living with her equally troubled mother in the suburbs of the Lowlands. In a moment of uncontrolled anger she finds her life changed forever and, hiding a terrible secret, she becomes a runaway, heading West into the Outzone. When she is captured by a malicious imp, befriended by an evangelising robotic nun and wooed by a transgender hoodlum, it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary adventure story.

With moustachioed wrestlers, marauding Buddhist Punks, a feline voodoo surgeon and the enigmatic presence of the disfigured Dr Dali, Nikhil Singh has created a unique universe and a heroine whose petulant nonchalance hides a mighty spirit. As Taty navigates the collapse of an already chaotic society, struggling against present danger while confronting the demons of her own past, her story is narrated in prose that soars with elegance and swagger in equal measure. 'Taty Went West' is an introduction to an electrifying new talent – an imagination unfettered by any known convention.

On Taty Went West, Billy Kahora, Managing Editor, Kwani Trust says:

'At a time when the African story is undergoing a renaissance through the blurring of literary and genre fiction, Kwani Trust is delighted to be part of bringing Taty - a new kind of literary African heroine - into the world. Savvy, ultra-modern, Taty straddles the mediated realities of our own continent and the ground-breaking possibilities of our ongoing universal imaginaries.

With chapter heading illustrations that match the beauty and imagination of its prose, Nikhil Singh’s Taty Went West is exactly the kind of boundary shifting novel that Kwani Trust has been looking for to build its literary fiction list’

Artist, writer, musician and film-maker, Cape-town based Nikhil Singh is all kinds of talented. He has fronted the critically acclaimed South African art-rock bands The Wild Eyes and Hi Spider, as well as a plethora of solo albums under the moniker ‘Witchboy’ (released on Aural Sects). He has illustrated graphic novels: The Zuggart (Bell- Roberts 2003) by The Constructus Corporation (now Die Antwood) and Salem Brownstone with writer John Harris Dunning (Walker Books 2009). His short fiction has been published by Jungle Jim and Chimurenga. Taty Went West is his first novel.

Seriously, Nikhil Singh is gifted! Check out some of his exquisite, Gothic illustrations for Salem Brownstone (which I have already ordered!).

Images via Forbidden Planet

... and then check out this interview he did with The Lake where he talks about his beliefs ('I believe in many kaleidoscopic things.'); a film he made in about a month without a budget; Salem Brownstone (' ... it was very much a tribute to an old style of children's book that I kind of dreamed about when I was a kid. Haunted houses, spooks and carny freaks, etc.'); Taty Went West ('Taty is the first book in a trilogy prose cycle ... [it] is also heavily illustrated, perhaps leading to confusion about it being a graphic novel.') and more. As well as this one with The Star, in which he explains how he was trying to go against the 'over-sexualised' female characters in science fiction, and how instead he 'really wanted a real girl, someone not so outstanding'.

Image via The Lake

Taty Went West is published in paperback with 50 illustrations and is currently available in bookshops across Nairobi (KSh 1200) and to order from here. It is the third novel to be published in the Kwani? Manuscript Project series, following Boy, Interrupted by Saah Millimono (February 2015) and Jennifer Makumbi’s Kintu (June 2014). eBooks editions of the first two novels in the series will also be launched at 2015.

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For 100 days, between 10th October 2014 and 17th January 2015, Angela Wachuka gave us nothing but African literary heaven with the wonderful #100DaysofAfricanReads. As described on Sister Killjoy's Facebook page - one of the social media platforms, which hosted the project - #100DaysofAfricanReads was:

"a series of portraits on books, writers and readers, over a 100 day period ... highlighting the work of an African author in print and online ".

It wasn't only images - each photo was accompanied with a blurb about the book/story and the author.

Some of the striking images from #100DaysofAfricanReads. Source: Sister Killjoy's Facebook Page.
Photos reposted with permission from Angela Wachuka

From classics (Things Fall Apart, Our Sister Killjoy, Nervous Conditions) to contemporary fiction (Open City, Ghana Must Go, Wife of the Gods) and e-books (Boy, Snow, Bird) to short pocket sized stories (easykwani) the images captured the variety of books and formats on the continent. There were also links to short stories (Teju Cole's Water Has No Enemy), essays (O Digba Ka Na’ by Michael Salu), and works from writers' collectives (Jalada) and magazines/newspapers (Chimurenga).

More than that, #100DaysofAfricanReads also captured the diversity of readers - women and men, young and old, found in different parts of a city (I'm assuming the pictures were taken in cities). From the butcher holding Okot p'bitek's Africa's Cultural Revolution, to the woman in the market by the fruit and veg stand holding a copy of Two Songs (also by Okot p'bitek), to reading at night in a downtown bar/restaurant staring out onto the street, or at home, at the bustop, in the library, in your car, in the park or even on the pavement of a busy street. Even authors, like Toni Kan, Okey Ndibe, and Nike Campbell-Fatoki got in on the action holding copies of their own books Nights of the Creaking Bed, Foreign Gods., Inc and Thread of Gold Beads respectively. If it isn't already obvious, I loved everything about #100DaysofAfricanReads.

Probably around two or so weeks into project, I noticed that the Cameroonian cultural magazine, Bakwa Magazine started featuring excerpts of stories related to #100daysofAfricanReads on their website. Recently, I got the chance to ask Dzekashu MacViban, founder of Bakwa magazine, a few questions on Bakwa's involvement with #100DaysofAfricanReads.

On his thoughts on the project:

" #100daysofAfricanReads is a challenging project which Angela Wachuka was able to pull off wonderfully. It takes the world on an African writing reading spree which cuts across several genres and forms highlighting popular and not so popular works (including purchase links) all of which are introduced such that the reader has a general idea of the work in question."

On how the idea for Bakwa to collaborate on #100DaysofAfricanReads came about:

"Actually, the collaboration was Angela’s idea and it came about just before Bakwa published an excerpt of Awes Osman’s novel "Skinless Goat" in Somalia. After that, she said she’d very much like to feature some contemporary Cameroonian writers as part of #100daysofAfricanReads."

On the excerpts:

"With the exception of the excerpt from Awes Osman’s novel, Bakwa’s contribution to #100daysofAfricanReads was made up of short stories by Cameroonian female writers Joyce Ashuntantang and Monique Kwachou. The decision to feature fiction by Cameroonian female writers of English expression is mostly because Cameroonian writing in English is not well known in the world and the writers who are internationally recognized are mostly men."

I especially love that #100DaysofAfricanReads and Bakwa used this opportunity to showcase the works of female Cameroonian writers in English. It's just a testament to how through platforms like these, we are able to gain access to literary works we may not usually have access to.

For me #100DaysofAfricanReads is as much about showcasing how diverse (African) literature (on the continent and in the diaspora) is and how we consume it in so many different ways, as it is about the diversity of social life in Africa - it shows that reading can, and is, for everyone.

So thank you Angela Wachuka for such an awesome initiative, to the photographers (including Msingi Sasis, Michael Adesoun, Jacque Ndinda, Neo Jasmine Mokgosi [I'm sorry if I didn't get all of the names]) for such amazing visuals, and the men and women for working it in those photos.

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"To celebrate the African novel and its adaptability and resilience, Kwani Trust announces a one-off new literary prize for African writing".

April 2012, Kwani? announced its call for submission of unpublished fiction manuscripts from African writers across the continent and in the Diaspora. One year later, the long list of 30 has been selected from 280 submissions and 19 African countries. Congratulations to all longlisted authors!!!

Kwani? writes:

'The longlist of 30 has been selected, without the author’s name attached, by a panel of 9 readers, made up of writers, editors and critics from East, West and Southern Africa, as well as the UK and the US. The longlist represents 10 African countries and showcases literary fiction across and between a range genres from fantasy to crime to historical fiction. Kwani Trust’s Managing Editor, Billy Kahora said:

“This longlist begins the actualization of a long-held Kwani? ambition - to build a significant novel series of new original voices across the continent. To replicate the work we’ve been doing for the last 10 years with the short fiction form, creative non-fiction, spoken word and poetry in East Africa when it comes to the novel form.”

The longlist has now been passed to our panel of judges, chaired by Sudanese novelist Jamal Mahjoub. Working with him will be deputy editor of Granta magazine Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, leading scholar of African literature Professor Simon Gikandi, Chairman of Kenyatta University’s Literature Department Dr. Mbugua wa Mungai, editor of Zimbabwe’s Weaver Press Irene Staunton and internationally renowned Nigerian writer Helon Habila. The manuscripts will be read and debated anonymously by this high profile panel, as the judges look for new voices that explore and challenge the possibilities of the ‘African novel’.

A shortlist will be announced at the beginning of June 2013 and the three winners announced at the end of June 2013. The top three manuscripts will be awarded cash prizes totaling Ksh 525,000 (c. $6000). Kwani Trust’s Executive Director, Angela Wachuka said:

“This prize speaks to a core pillar of our institution; the identification, development and production of literary talent. Our short story competition in 2010 introduced 15 new voices from Kenya, and this prize aims to increase opportunities for contemporary writers on the continent and elsewhere when it comes to the novel.”

In addition, Kwani Trust plans to publish 3-5 of the longlisted manuscripts by April 2014, and will be appointing an in-house editor to work with authors through this process. The Trust will also be partnering with regional and global agents and publishing houses to secure high profile international co-publication opportunities'.

You can find out more about the Kwani? Manuscript Project here.

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