Joburg Noir

by Niq Mhlongo (Editor), Sam Mathe (Contributor), Fred Khumalo (Contributor)

Joburg Noir is a collection of writings about memories, legends, loss, jokes, stories, myths and experiences by twenty-two gifted and versatile authors in South Africa. It makes the reader experience present-day Johannesburg as if one were in the past. The stories seek to understand, reconstruct, reinvent and recover this city space of loss, joy, deprivation, resistance and possibility by revealing its complex dynamics. They are funny, shocking, violent, absurd, strangely tender and memorable.

Their lasting resonance lies in the fact that they invoke the joys and traumas of the past and present, making the two to co-exist and interlock. After reading this uncompromising and gritty anthology, the reader is bound to feel like a time-traveller who has voyaged into a magical alternate city and a reality that was either misnamed or not named at all. The intention is to help the readers to delve into their own memories in search of pictures of their sweet childhood and fractured identities.

Genres: Anthologies, South Africa, Short Stories, Africa, Fiction

209 pages, Paperback

Published October 26, 2020

About the author

Mhlongo was born in Midway-Chiawelo, Soweto, the seventh of nine children, and raised in Soweto. His father, who died when Mhlongo was a teenager, worked as a post-office sweeper. Mhlongo was sent to Limpopo Province, the province his mother came from, to finish high school. Initially failing his matriculation exam in October 1990,[1] Mhlongo completed his matric at Malenga High School in 1991. He studied African literature and political studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, gaining a BA in 1996. In 1997 he enrolled to study law there, transferring to the University of Cape Town the following year. In 2000 he discontinued university study to write his first novel, Dog Eat Dog.[2]

He has been called, "one of the most high-spirited and irreverent new voices of South Africa's post-apartheid literary scene".[1]

Mhlongo has presented his work at key African cultural venues, including the Caine Prize Workshop and the Zanzibar International Film Festival, and was a 2008 International Writing Program fellow at the University of Iowa.[3] His work has been translated into Spanish and Italian.

Reviews

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you preparing your Christmas list, add a copy or two or 10 of Joburg Noir.

A collection of 20 deathly and deadly about a city which never sleeps. A city of full of endless possibilities and opportunities it's people just have to decide on a mode of hustle. Stories from students getting on and off trains, taxis and buses on their way to Wits or UJ, doctors and engineers sharing space with other 20 migrant bodies in highrise buildings in Hillbrow, Yeoville, Malvern, rushing to minimum paying jobs in fried chicken outlets while the family left in Chadiza, Zambia and Mola, Zimbabwe keeps enough battery life for the Mpesa notification.

This is not a touristy narrative of Joburg. The Jobannesburg in Joburg Noir is grimy, grotty, dangerous and could get one killed but, it is also heaving and pulsating with opportunities. One just needs to keep one's eyes on the prize AND avoid eye contact at all times.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHNGihEji...

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[Rolland Simpi Motaung · Rating 4 out of 5]

For generations many have been chasing the elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Under the melancholy Johannesburg skyline we build dreams with our blood, spit and tears. Weather you call it Jozi, Joburg, Joni, eGoli or Juhustleburg this megacity is about survival of the bravest where both immense pain and bliss co-exist.

Compiled and edited by the award winning Niq Mhlongo, Joburg Noir is a collection of short stories penned by twenty South Africa’s prolific writers such as Fred Khumalo; Sifiso Mzobe; Yewande Omotoso, Nthikeng Mohlele and Sibongile Fisher. Joburg Noir is the latest of the “Noir” series, a concept launched by indie US publisher Akashic Books in 2004. In adding to previous anthologies such Lagos Noir, Nairobi Noir and Addis Ababa Noirexploring African major cities, this latest book offers a creative socio-cultural analysis of contemporary Johannesburg. Typical of any Joburg story key themes explored include corruption; migrant work; African spirituality; poverty; infidelity; and dubious churches.

Violence has always been part of city’s make-up either explicitly or tacitly. Most authors presented a city that is filled with explicit violence such as gender-based violence and murder (mostly emanating from gangsterism, heists and assassinations). Some explore the tacit side about killers who commit murder without blood spill or chaos a factor that could be juxtaposed to how the city itself subtlety violates its citizens. This theme presents a psychological conundrum of how city living can cause traumatic experiences that could have long term consequences.

As we give our time, energy and faith to the city, it also takes away. Individuals are able to find immerse success but can end up losing all faster than how it was acquired. Some authors explored how individuals could be callously robbed of parenthood, career-hood and self-hood which could led to disempowerment and depression. Research has shown that city living comes with degrees of loneliness where individual lose connections with family, friends and a sense of community. Finding belonging in a place filled with cold smiles and polite rudeness could take strain on city dwellers driving them to seek companionships in toxic places. However despite this loss and loneliness, the book displays how new friendships can exist across racial and economic status. Such as how high income earners can befriend migrant domestic workers or how a suburban woman can find lessons about love from a homeless man. In essence the city can be a place of newly found bravery; restoration and flexibility.

The book does live up to its title in creatively presenting a darker and gritty side of Johannesburg. However many may argue that such stories have been told in many other publications questioning the unique proposition of this offering.

 
Overall this is a well-balanced book of fictional and non-fictional works by South Africa’s well established and budding writers presenting nostalgic, mythical, gloomy and bitter-sweet experiences about Johannesburg. Readers are challenged to think about their place and purpose in living in a city. In our quest for success how deep are we willing to dig for the gold in order to constitute a #MamaIMadeIt assertion? How will we protect of spirits from getting tempted by greed and instant gratifications for social status? Weather you have a love-hate relationship with city this book has a story for you and about you.


Rolland Simpi Motaung 2020 ©

South Africa

[Boitshepo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get enough of the Noir element across the contributions.

[Rirhandzu Rissenga · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of memories we think we have forgotten sometimes return to us just by reading a book.”

This is a collection of 20 short stories from different contributors that are mainly authors and Niq edited them. I enjoyed Niq’s introduction chapter where he describes what is Joburg to a lot of people and the many names known to the city i.e. Joni, Jozi, eGoli etc. Going back to the stories, some really resonated with me. When I moved to the city to start working, I lived in Joubert Park and walked to Carlton Centre where my client was located. I later moved to Newtown, still close to the city centre, and in reading these stories I found small fragments of my own experiences. I actually enjoyed Khanyi Magubane and Gloria Bosman stories they felt so real. Some stories were very dark and creepy for example the first story focused more on the mountain men rituals in the Free State than her experiences with Joburg.


Some fave quotes:

“But, for me, Joburg is where the ghost of my father roams. It is here I feel closest to him. His body has fertilised the ground these buildings stand on. The despair of my childhood is married with hope here.”

“One can never completely own time, I tell her. It is too big, too discreet, too undemocratic. Time can do all sorts of beautiful and nasty things, and it accounts to no one.”

[Geruza Bumba · Rating 3 out of 5]

If like me, you love reading but have the attention span of a toddler then short story collections are what you need in your life. 20 shorts, by 20 of Africa’s best writers feature in Joburg Noir. If you were born or raised in Johannesburg you’ll know all about the love-hate relationship editor Niq Mhlongo writes of in the introduction to this collection. The tales are as action-packed as a high-speed car chase scene, case in point: expect a suspenseful prison break in Mzuvukile Maqetuka's short and several bloody assassinations in Fred Khumalo’s 'Weep for Me, Willow'. When things slow down in Jozi…and in the book... it probably means you’re out of work, in which case your reality might look a lot like Anita’s in Keletso Mopai’s ‘Dreams and Other Deceptions’ – homeless or taken in by a kind soul & housed in a room in Hillbrow where living there "is like a claustrophobic holding her breath in a dark room. But you have nowhere to go.” Expect a saucy affair from a scorned “Man of God” in Sydney Majoko’s short and in true Jozi style a coming together of worlds in a city where the poor neighbour the rich unconventional friendships form like those in Yewande Omotoso’s 'Obedient Dogs’. It’s a beautiful collection.

[Sipho Lukhele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book yesterday, after years of it being in the TBR pile. My word, I wish I had got to it sooner.

The book is a body of work that is written by different voices, with Johannesburg as the main character or theme. The contributors are established names, but it includes news voices I have never read before. I was blown away by each story and reassured of the talent our continent is blessed with when it comes to writers.

Niq Mhlongo being the editor has surely contributed to this beautiful offering, but I have to say big up to all involved in this unique project, of which a part two I would really appreciate. The themes covered in the project are that of music, love, politics, mental health, xenophobia and organised crime to some extent.

I highly recommend it, especially to anyone who has not read work from South African writers. This would be an amazing introduction for them, and a treat to those of us that love these wonderful voices.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would after the first couple stories. They didn't really hit it for me but the rest of the stories were quite good. With Noir in the title of course they are going to be quite dark in theme, but somehow I managed to get through them despite my more recent need to read nothing but fluff. Dreams and Other Deceptions by Kaletso Mopai turned out to be my favorite, the story of a woman reacting to her desperate situation. At first the 2nd person point of view completely threw me off but after finishing it I decided the author had done so with good reason. Really makes you identify with the main character. Many of the stories were quite engrossing, more so than other short story collections I have read recently.

[Zakithi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most of the stories lacked depth.

[Sue Nyakubaya-Nhevera · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me of why I love African literature so much.

[Viwe Ntlanjeni · Rating 5 out of 5]

A splendid collection of short stories that are worth reading.

[Tony O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all compilations some stories are better than others. I particularly liked Finda Finda by Khanyi Magubane; and Feasting by Sibongile Fisher is still with me. And here’s something new that I learned - Zola Budd is slang for a taxi in Joburg!

[Lwazi Bangani · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great selection of short stories from a wide array of dynamic authors. 1 or 2 could have been excluded, but on the whole this is a great compilation.

Being an avid consumer of local history, I especially enjoyed Something From The Pot & Yeoville. These two short stories stood out for me because of their depth and richness of traditional and local history. Other than the two short stories, I must say that The Unauthorised Biography of Slow Flow was also a gem. Now I know that writers are everything but boring in their personal capacities.

Otherwise, this book will come handy if you want great insight into the realities and perceptions shared about the City of Gold, Johannesburg.

[KA Timbuktu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such short stories as The Suit & The Suitcase by Can Themba & Eskia Mphahlele - also Murder At The Mine Dumps - are some of the earliest noir works pertaining to the genra.