Laughing Now

Description

Weaver Press's previous collections of short stories, Writing Now and Writing Still, were highly praised for the quality of their prose and the imagination of their writers. They confirmed, for one reviewer, 'the paradoxical truth that troubled societies somehow produce some of the most interesting writing available. Laughing Now goes further, and demonstrates the enduring capacity of Zimbabweans to find humour in even the most difficult of circumstances. The stories embrace funerals, dancing competitions, family tensions, rampant inflation and endless queues for scarce goods. They take a wry look at pompous politicians, foreign filmmakers and the aspirations of the so-called 'new' farmers. Those by Gappah, Chingono and Eppel won the first three prizes in the recent Mukuru.com short story competition. Zimbabwean fiction in English has become world-renowned in recent decades, but its concerns - war, trauma and the trials of independence - have chronicled the pain of those periods. Laughing Now suggests that we are finding new ways to reflect our reality; that however many zeros we add to the rate of inflation, and however hungry we may become, humour is as good a responce as any.

Sujets

• Literature

Informations

• Publié par: Weaver Press
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781779221292
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

L N AUGHING OW

L N AUGHING OW

edited by

Irene Staunton

Published by Weaver Press, Box A1922, Avondale, Harare. 2007

© Each individual story, the author. ©This collection: Weaver Press, 2007.

Typeset by Weaver Press Cover Photographs: Bester Kanyama Cover Design: Heath Manyepa, Harare. Printed by: Sable Press, Harare.

The publishers would like to express their gratitude to Hivos for the support they have given to Weaver Press in the development of their fiction programme.

All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be repro- duced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other- wise – without the express written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978 1 77922 068 4

iv

CONTENTS

Authors’ biographies A Grave Matter-D IANA C HARSLEY Minister without Portfolio –J ULIUS C HINGONO The Chances and Challenges of Chiadzwa – E DWARD C HINHANHU Last Laugh– S HIMMER C HINODYA A Land of Starving Millionaires– E RASMUS C HINYANI Ashes– J OHN E PPEL Cocktail House under the Tree of Forgetfulness– A LEXANDRA F ULLER The Mupandawana Dancing Champion– P ETINA G APPAH Reckless– A LBERT G UMBO Specialisation– L AWRENCE H OBA Mpofu’s Sleep– B RIAN J ONES African Laughter– R ORY K ILALEA A Dirty Game– D ANIEL M ANDISHONA Christmas– B RYONY R HEAM

v

1 7

16 23 39 43

47

51 61 69 76 82 94 104