Local queer book wins literary award
JOBURG - Writers, queer Africans encouraged by international recognition.
A locally-published anthology of queer African fiction scooped up the fiction anthology award at the Lambda Literary Awards in New York City.
Released last year by MaThoko’s Books, an imprint of Braamfontein-based Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action, Queer Africa: New and Collected Fiction is the first African-produced book to win a ‘Lammy’.
“This award celebrates the work of African writers willing to risk expressing what it’s like to be African and queer,” said co-editor Karen Martin.
“On behalf of the contributors, editors and publisher, I would like to thank the Lambda Literary Foundation for this powerful encouragement in the extremes of our circumstances.”
The awards were established in 1988 to recognise excellence in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex writing.
Fellow editor Makhosazana Xaba praised the authors featured in the anthology.
“Queer Africa invites us as readers to see our continent through different eyes, to experience the world through different bodies,” she said.
“The stories help to surface our shared humanity, and to rethink what it means to be African and to be queer. Like all good storytellers, these writers allow us to learn more about ourselves.”
The book features 18 stories from six countries, and is the first anthology of its kind produced in Africa, by Africans.
Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action director, Anthony Manion, said with widespread homophobia taking place across the continent, there was urgent need for writing that challenged the “hateful rhetoric of religious and political leaders” and that encouraged open dialogue.
Ugandan writer Monica Arac de Nyeko, whose Caine Prize-winning story Jambula Tree is included in the anthology, described the book as an “essential addition” to the conversation on queer rights and homophobia taking place in Africa.
“We cannot draw fault lines that are too strong and stand on opposite sides of the fence, and call that a conversation. We need to talk, see and hear each other,” she said.
Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action is a centre for LGBTI culture and education.
The MaThoko’s Books imprint was established in partnership with Colleen Higgs of Modjaji Books.
Details: Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action 011 717 4239; www.gala.co.za
