“Cape Town is the best city in the whole world!”
Reneilwe Malatji was delighted to launch her collection of stories, Love Interrupted in Cape Town, she has a long and fond history with the city. Her grandfather lived and worked here and Reneilwe feels that this family history is partly responsible for where she is today, as a writer, a teacher, an academic.
The event at the Book Lounge was the sixth or seventh event to announce the arrival of this wonderful collection of stories. Eva Hunter spoke to Reneilwe about her life and her writing.
Reneilwe is still enjoying the sense that she is a writer, she didn’t know any writers growing up, and it seemed as remote as going to Mars that she might one day become a writer. She grew the confidence she felt she needed while doing a course in Journalism and the Creative Writing MA at Rhodes University.
Malatji told us that the writers she feels influenced by are Zakes Mda, Bessie Head, Eskia Mphahelele, Tsitsi Dangaremba, Achebe, Adichie as well as Chekhov and Somerset Maugham.
Eva Hunter said that what struck her about Reneilwe’s writing is that it is full of humour and is not angry, even though she writes boldly and provocatively about painful subjects, such as racism and violent relationships. Malatji said, “I laugh and love with my characters.” She also argued that as a Black writer she feels people in her community, other black people need to become more self reflective. This is what she is attempting to do. She also argued that she doesn’t think blame, anger and judgement are not helpful. “You tell it like it is, and you write with compassion, subtlety and sophistication,” Eva Hunter told Reneilwe, during the conversation.
Eva Hunter also said she feels Reneilwe’s stories are bursting at the seams. “Yes,” laughed Reneilwe, “I write the way I cook, If I cook for 2 people, 6 people will eat.”
For more pictures from the launch, click here
Book details
- Love Interrupted by Reneilwe Malatji
EAN: 9781920590086
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