S6E4: Historical Fiction and Complicated Families

Image credits: Thando Njovane by Dirk Pieters

Thando Njovane chairs a discussion with Rešoketšwe Manenzhe and LaToya Watkins about their debut novels Scatterlings and Perish, respectively.

They reveal which authors influenced their work, contemplate the transatlantic legacy of slavery and the South African Immorality Act (1927), de-centring whiteness, inter-generational trauma, stories of mothers and daughters, and possibilities of healing.  

Thando Njovane is a lecturer and an Andrew Mellon early career scholar in the Department of Literary Studies in English at Rhodes University. Rešoketšwe Manenzhe is a South African villager and storyteller. Her award-winning novel Scatterlings was first published by Jacana Media in 2020. LaToya Watkins was born in Texas and received a PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas. Perish was published by Tiny Reparations Books in August 2022.

In this episode we stand in solidarity with Zimbabweans Tsitsi Dangarembga and Julie Barnes. You can read more about their case here and read PEN SA’s statement on their conviction here.

Listen to the episode here: