Fools' Gold: Selected Modjaji Short Stories

by Arja Salafranca

An anthology of selected short stories, all of which were previously published in an individual writer’s collection or in either Stray or The Bed Book of Short Stories published by Modjaji Books. The authors include Sarah Lotz (internationally best selling author), Lauri Kubuitsile, Makhosazana Xaba, Meg Vandermerwe, Arja Salafranca, Wame Molefhe, Jolyn Phillips, Melissa de Villiers, Sandra Hill, Reneilwe Malatji, Jayne Bauling, Jo-Ann Bekker, Julia Martin, Isabella Morris, Alex Smith, Isabella Morris and Colleen Higgs. Several of the authors went on to win awards for their collections, see below, and one of the stories was shortlisted for the Caine Prize. Modjaji has a proud history of publishing debut short story collections that are successful in literary and sales terms. There are few other publishers who take the risk of publishing debut short story collections.

163 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 23, 2020

Reviews

[Mbali (flowahh_) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75* had fun with it!

[Tiah]

~The hand holding the wooden clipboard with the sheets of paper on it, it is plump and strong. It could do anything that she asked of it.~

~The foam was pale yellow, fresh and firm and unmarked, like a page waiting for writing.~

~Women in the village of Nokanyana, named after a small river that on one had yet been able to discover, were notoriously greedy, and, without exception, surly.~

~The man had to move on and look for more people he could carry luggage for. This was how he made a living. If he did not find customers he would go to bed hungry.~

~I feared conversations about fathers the way other people feared dentists.~

~Mistress Maluke says, "There is money out there to give to AIDS orphans, the only question is how to access it." And I disagree. I think if there's money for AIDS orphans, there is money for orphans of any kind.~

~Try and explain to a Brit why you didn't think things had really changed that much back home-that where you came from, your mom and dad arse-kissed their colleagues at work but still called them '[K-word]' round the dinner table, and eight times out of ten they'd just cough politely and look blank.~

~To sell margarine he had to become margarine, he had to inhabit margarine, to write from margarine's perspective, but he didn't want to be margarine.~

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories! My favorites: Botswana Rain, Stains Like a Map, Heaven (or Something Like It), South Bound, and The Dream of Cats is All About Mice.