Home Away

by Louis Greenberg (Editor), Kathryn White (Contributor), Karina Magdalena Szczurek (Contributor)

"Being South African isn’t as black and white as it used to be. People from all over the world make South Africa their home, while South Africans have more geographic freedom than ever before. This unique and captivating collection is a snapshot of South African writing today: emigrant and immigrant South Africans, living at home and away. In Home Away, twenty-four chapters by twenty-four writers, set in cities all around the world, make up one global day, a mosaic reflecting on the nature of home. As the provocative stories in this collaboration suggest, often it’s when we are far away from home that we see it most clearly."

Genres: Africa

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Tiah]

An intriguing collection of short-stories. But like any collection with numerous authors, the quality varies. Some are 5 star worthy, others less so. Some are highly creative, others shine through their simplicity, and others lost the idea of a story and became more essay-esq. Yet, they all fit together. They worked together, despite the vast differences in styles, tones and place. A disjointed novel, if you will. Stories that could stand alone, yet fit.

A lovely read. And lovely for when your life is very stop-go-stop-go, such as when I read this: in the midst of hospital chaos. Short stories are so unappreciated - yet there are so many times in people's lives where they make much more sense to dive into, rather than a novel.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

These one-page excerpts of all 24 stories speak for themselves.

Here are some links to early reviews and interviews:

Don Makatile in The Sowetan

Janet van Eeden on LitNet.co.za

Mandy J. Watson on Brainwavez

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved dipping into this book because I never knew whether the next story was going to be fiction or non-fiction. I especially liked Ivan Vladislavic, Lauren Beukes and Richard de Nooy's stories. Usually when one buys a book like this it's for the charity, it was a wonderful bonus to get brilliant stories too.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

24 short stories. Each taking an hour of the day. Each taking a country. All somehow connected to South Africa by being from there but not there.

It's amazing what comes out of having restraints.