New Acquisitions and Other News

News Item One: AmaZulu by Walton Golightly

I have got myself a copy of Walton Golightly's first novel, AmaZulu. I have not read any review of this novel before. I bought it because a friend of mine, Obed Sarpong, has a copy. 

Back of the novel: 1818 SOUTH AFRICA: The searing wind of change is sweeping across the African continent s the European powers clash over the lands they consider to be theirs by right of conquest and settlement.

But in th homeland of the Zulu tribes, a new power, which will change the course of African history and soak its soil in blood, is preparing to fight back. The warrior king Shaka begins his ruthless and violent rise to power, a path that will lead to the birth of the Zulu Nation and the formation of its legendary Impis--units of the most disciplined, courageous and fearsome army the modern world has ever known.

About the Author: Walton Golightly is a freelance writer from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal--on the doorstep of what used to be the Zulu Kingdom. He's a film buff with a passion for Spaghetti Westerners, '70s action movies and the films of Jean-Luc Godard. AmaZulu is his first novel. He shares his life with a few thousand books and two dogs. Occasionally the dogs let him sleep on the bed. (As written on the second page of the Novel).

The book was published by Quercus in 2008, however it was originally published by Kwela Books a division of NB Publishers (Pty) Limited, Cape Town, South Africa in 2007.

I purchased this copy from the University of Ghana's Bookshop at 6 Ghana Cedis or US$ 4.29.

News Item Two: ImageNations in Business and Financial Times (Friday July 9, 2010)

Hurray! The interview I had with author, Nana Awere Damoah, was published in the Friday July 9, 2010 edition of the Business and Financial Times. It is interesting to see how far ImageNations is going. Thanks to you all. You can also read this interview from the B&FT homepage.

News Item Three: What You Need to Know About Ayi Kwei Armah's The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, and the Perceived Problem with Chinua Achebe. 

Read this in the June 2010 edition of the only truly African magazine NewAfrican. It sells for GHCedis 3 but the information it contains is worth much more than the price tag. The title of the article is "Armah--in his own words" on page 92. Ayi Kwei Armah, whose novels I have reviewed on this blog, is one of the very few novelists who live what they writer. Thus, it is virtually impossible to differentiate what he says with his pen from how he lives his life. Recently, he has established and publishing company called Per Ankh, that is republishing all his books. If you don't have any of his books rush to the University of Ghana's bookshop and you would get a copy. 

Some Quotes from the Article: 

Seeing myself as an African, I had though it natural and logical to choose work that, in my estimation, would help the creation of a new society in Africa (page 93)

My writing may be inspired at times, but the inspiration comes not from palm wine or yamba, and definitely not from heaven or hell. It comes from knowledge acquire through regular, systematic research (page 94).