In her debut collection of linked short stories, “Innards,” Magogodi oaMphela Makhene makes the case for herself to be labeled South Africa’s answer to Flannery O’Connor, whose gothic literature of the American South easily blended the grotesque with wit, everyday horror with everyday irony, utterly distinct to her region, religion, and upbringing. Makhene’s landscape for her vividly written fiction is Soweto where she was born, raised, and made, a suburb of South Africa’s Johannesburg. The name, like New York City’s SoHo or TriBeCa, is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships.
The grizzly ramifications of South Africa’s apartheid rage within the current of Makgene’s writing, her stories traveling across time and subject to give rich and varied voice to Soweto’s Black citizens whose mesmeric tales take on equal parts suffering and sensuality in the face of past colonization and current brutality.
An alum of the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop MFA program at The University of Iowa, Makhene will discuss “Innards” on Thursday, July 13 as the debut guest at House of Books’ new summer program, “Salon At Swyft.” Hosted at Ore Hill & Swyft in Kent, Conn., the ticketed Salon At Swyft evenings will combine signature cocktails with intimate literary discussions with emerging and notable authors.
Photo Courtesy W.W. Norton
Photo Courtesy W.W. Norton
