Description

KwaZulu-Natal is culturally rich, offering a wide range of writers-writing mainly in English and Zulu-who are linked through their lives and their writing to this province of South Africa. The writers include, to name just a few, Alan Paton, Roy Campbell, Lewis Nkosi, Ronnie Govender, Wilbur Smith, Daphne Rooke, Credo Mutwa, and Gcina Mhlophe. And how better to understand a writer than to know about the places they are linked to? For example, who, after reading the lyrical opening sentences of Paton's famous book Cry, the Beloved Country (1948) has not wanted to see this scene in reality? There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. A Literary Guide to KwaZulu-Natal introduces readers to the regions and writers through word and image, leading them imaginatively through this beautiful province. This could include following the route a fictional character charts in a novel, visiting particular settings from a story or tracking down the places linked to a writer, whether a birthplace, home, burial site or significant setting. Literary tourists are interested in how places have influenced writing and, at the same time, how writing has created place. This is a way of reflecting upon and understanding historic and contemporary identities in a changing cultural and political South African landscape. [Subject: African Studies, Literary Studies]