The Exhilarating World of African Books By George Rampai

By George Rampai

(George Rampai is the author of the absorbing novel, From Where I Stand) Growing up in the dusty streets of Manyetseng, Ladybrand in the then Orange Free State Province (South Africa) wasn't easy. As expected, we grew up without electricity and other basic necessities, and initially without the library and other recreational facilities, just a few open fields where we would hone our football skills late in the afternoon. (That's all we could do as there were no other facilities) As Africans, storytelling has always been part of our culture, during the night; we would sit outside around the cackling woodfire and listen to our maternal grandmother narrating folktales to us. This became a norm to us as there was nothing else to do, as households with Television sets were so few in those days. When I grew older, my mother managed to buy a small radio that worked on batteries. We would sit around the table in a dim candle lit room and listen to the stories on the radio. Or my older brother would sometimes read the stories to us from the magazines like PACE, BONA, and HUISGENOOT (an Afrikaans magazine) that my mother brought along from her white employers in town. Later, when the library was built, we would flock to it out of excitement and curiosity.

I would borrow all kind of books, but the ones that got my attention were those of African writers. I remember reading the Sesotho version of The Merchant of Venice, called Mohwebi wa Vernice, the translated version of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. I was very much impressed by the way Mr. K. E Ntsane translated it. I even asked my teacher to narrate the book in front of the whole class. That's how I developed the love for African literature. While exploring, I came across the books of South African writers like J. J Moiloa, K. P. D Maphalla, K. E Ntsane, Ntate Ngcangca, Thabonyane Mafata, Suzan Sefatsa, Fanie Mokoena and many others. And I also happen to come across the extract of the legendary Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. The book is beautifully woven around Okwonko, who deeply believed in the culture and traditional way of doing things. My interest grew and I wanted to know more about other African writers, that's how I came across The African Writers' Series and Pacesetters!

Among them, I can point out writers like Peter Katuliiba, Victor Thorpe, Kalu Okpi, Buchi Emecheta, Mongo Beti, and Rosina Umelo, just to mention a few. Then I began to gorge on the exciting works of Chief O Bolaji, who started the Tebogo Mokoena Mystery series. Thrilling stories and adventures!