Official blog of Pan-Africanist writer and entertainer, Alexander Nderitu, author of 'When the Whirlwind Passes' and 'Kiss, Commander, Promise'. Contains articles, book excerpts, news, opinions, poems, quotable quotes, song lyrics, short stories and more...
Sunday, December 13, 2020
AFRICAN E-BOOK PIONEER ALEXANDER NDERITU IN DECEMBER 2020 COLLINS ELESIRO LITERARY PRIZE LONGLIST!
CFWriterz is has announced the longlist for the December 2020 Collins Elesiro Literary Prize. The list of twenty (20) writers contains prose and poetry entries.
The Longlist:
The Black Anthem – Nwakanma Godson
Demons are Angels Dressed in Black – Priince Bright
The Nigerian Convention on Nude Mice – Alex Nderitu
My Daughter – Fwanshishak Daniel
The Crick and Crack of the Old Man’s Back – Rina Maria
Where Do People Go When They Die – Prof Achi
She is My Abiku – Faruk Alfe
Death Porn 101 – Fatimat Okhuosami
Flames of Vengeance – Joel Riya
Going Mad – Beatrice Oluwaseun Wende
Eli’s Tattoo – Zubaida Baba-Ibrahim
A Toll for Chivalry – Rukky Otebele
No One Shares Grief – Bryan Okwesili
Returnees– Catherine Oyiliagu
The Night After the Civil War Ended – Ogedengbe Tolulope Impact
How Our Hearts Become a Haven for Hate – Anu Soneye
Where Does This Story Begin – Raphael Francis
The Little Things we Bear – Chidera Aikeakaenyi
Of Strange Men that Bear My Father’s Face – Miracle Quist
A short story titled A Body Made for Sin, written by Alexander Nderitu, has been published by IHRAF Publishes, a Pushcart Prize-nominating
literary journal. IHRAF (International Human Rights Arts Festival)'s
online journal is a growing platform for writers to submit poetry,
creative nonfiction, short fiction, essays or any other format that
comes from the heart, and focuses on social and activist themes.
A Body Made for Sin
is the first short story Nderitu has released this year. The 4378-word
crime story was inspired by the still-unsolved death of a college girl
that grabbed national attention in Kenya for five years. Alexander
Nderitu is also the author of the short stories Harvest of Blood (about the 1994 Rwandan genocide) and Live From Garissa
(about the 2015 terrorist attack on Garissa University College). The
later stories were published in Israel and the UK, respectively.
Author/critic Alexander Nderitu with WPA, in Kenya
I still remember the tingle of excitement I felt
when I received my copy of this poetry volume through the post office. I was in
Kenya and the package had been sent from Mongolia via Japan. I took the large
brown envelope home, opened it and retrieved the glossy brown-black-covered
paperback. The title was World Poetry
Almanac 2015-2016. However, it was a special edition of the series, a 10th
anniversary celebration. Founded in 2006, by Editor-in-Chief Hadaa Sendoo, the
World Poetry Almanac (WPA) publishes a wide range of poetic styles and voices
from all over the globe. Copies are also donated to the British Library, the
UNESCO library, the American Library of Congress and the Swedish Academy.
World Poetry
Almanac 2015-2016 contains the works of 116 poets from 77 countries.
There’s a very smooth feel to the pages. Abstract art adorns the page margins.
Page-size full-colour photos occasionally break up the textual pages. They
mostly depict natural scenery from around the globe. There are three ‘featured
poets’ on the front and back covers: Ko Un (Korea), Simin Behbahani (Iran) and
Yves Bonnefoy (a Franz Kafka Prize winner who passed away in 2016).
Simin Behbahani - سیمین_بهبهانی (Photo: Courtesy)
Never before have I read an anthology containing so
many prominent poets! The work is well curated and the contributors range from
Nobel Prize nominees to unknown but gifted scribes living thousands of miles
from each other. One of the more recognizable names is Derek Walcott (Santa
Lucia) whose poem After the Storm appears in the anthology. The author of many
poetry books and over 30 plays, Walcott won the Queens Medal for Poetry in 1988
and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. As an African, I am pleased to
report that the continent is well represented. I was, in fact, pleased to see
poems by two of my Facebook friends:
Fondly and Amazon by Akor
Emmanuel Oche (Nigeria) and Banana
Republics by Mbizo Chirasha. The latter is a lengthy political poem, an
African lament rich with metaphor, imagery and ethos. Other African poets
included are: Warda Al Barbar (Algeria), Ashraf Amer (Egypt), Alexander Nderitu
(Kenya), Jamal Eddine Benhayoun (Morocco), Breyten Breytenbach (South Africa)
and Ines Al Ababasi (Tunisia).
Prolific poet Mbizo Chirasha. (Photo: Courtesy)
Several verses stood out for me, including two
untitled poems by Zakaria Mohammad (Palestine), Letter to My Sister by Warda Al Barbar (Algeria), Poetry and Religion by Les Murray
(Australia), Another Life by Taslima
Nasrin (Bangladesh), Chinese People by Yang Kel (China), Rings of Dew by Sun
Xue (China), Remember That You Are The Poet
by Dato Barbakadze (Georgia), Our Tears Are
Sweet by Simin Behbahani (Iran), River
by Tanikawa Shuntaro (Japan), Native
Poems by Rakhim Karim (Kyrgystan), Love
Objection by Sofia Naznim (Malysia), On
This Lost Time by Enrique Gracia, Shadow
Escaping Time by Antonia Capilla Loma (Spain), Dawn by Lam Thi My Da and Patricia Prime’s (New Zealand) very
visual poem, Woman Reading a Letter
(Vermeer).
As an art form, poetry is well known for its
economy of words. What are Those Things
and Freedom, short sweet poems by
Humberto Akabal (Guatemala), demonstrate this, as do the three contributions by
Hemante Divate from India. Hemante’s Even Now I Don’t Understand sensually
compares writing a poem to making love to a woman. He is a winner of the Bharatiya
Bhasha Parishad Award (India) and the Maharashtra Foundation Award (USA). WPA welcomes avant-garde poetry. One of the
first verses to catch my attention when I first perused this book was a poem by
Leonardo Melero Blanco (Venezuela) titled They
Tried to Make Me Go to Rehab, I Said ‘No!No!No!’ Amy Winehouse. It’s a
modernist tribute poem to troubled British singer Amy Winehouse who died of
alcohol poisoning in 2011.
Many of the poems in the collection appear in
translation. As a consequence, the reader sometimes wonders what may have been
lost in translation. For example, one wonders how much more impactful New Testament by Adonis (Syria) would be
in the original, seeing as how it is a critique about the ‘burdens’ of ‘distant
languages’. One might even say that its presentation in English translation is
a case of Dramatic Irony! Born in Syria and considered ‘one of the Arab world’s
greatest living poets’, Andonis who currently resides in Paris has been a Nobel
Prize for Literature nominee. Every language has a political connotation – a
certain reality or ‘baggage’ – associated with it. When languages are
translated, some of the baggage is often left behind.
Syrian poet Adonis (Photo: Press photo)
There are a few typographical errors in the book,
especially in the author profiles. All things considered, however, World Poetry Almanac (2015 – 2016) would
make a great coffee-table book in the English-speaking world.
FULL
DISCLOSURE: The author is one of the poets whose work appears in the WPA.
Queen Sono is an African crime drama starring
South African actress and model Pearl Thusi (Quantico) as the title character. It was the first African-created
Netflix Original to be commissioned, though not the first to be streamed. In
it, a roguish female agent acts as the spearhead of an ultra-secret South
African-based intelligence agency dubbed the Special Operations Group (SOG). From
the get-go, the SOG has a lot on its plate. Even though its South African, it
somehow has a continent-wide mandate. Two major blips on their radar are ‘Superior
Solutions’, Russian-based arms dealers/organized criminals, and ‘Watu Wema
(Good People) Brigade’, a revolutionary/terrorist group. Headed by psychopathic
fitness buff, Ekaterina Gromova, SS are trying to essentially privatize the
continent’s military, for their own benefit. Meanwhile, the stated mission of
the homegrown Wetu Wema fighters is ‘to liberate Africa from the white man’s
religion and the clutches of colonization.’ Overshadowing Queen’s high-risk job
is her personal obsession with unraveling the assignation of her mother, Safiya
Sono, a famous apartheid-era activist.
Like the Black Panther movie, Queen Sono doesn’t shy away from the
political issues dogging the continent, especially the exploitation of minerals.
It also touches on neo-colonialism, religion, corruption, revenge, moral
ambiguity, family, and relationships. It also doesn’t side-step SA’s fabled
race issues. For instance, after Queen’s mother’s killer dies in prison, a member
of his White family claims, ‘He was a fucking legend.’ But to the Blacks in the
show it was Safiya Sono who was the ‘legend’ and her assassin a criminal.
Spook business:
Special Operations Group officials in a heated discussion
A kind of African-based
Alias, the six-episode Queen Sono shifts between numerous
locations – Zanzibar, Harare, Jo’burg, Nairobi, Boston etc - which gives it an ‘international flavour’. It
premiered globally in 190 countries, in February 2020.
EPISODES
1.‘I Am Queen Sono’ - Directed by
Kagiso Lediga- Written by Kagiso Lediga
2.‘Dying Is Sore’- Directed by Kagiso Lediga - Written by
Camilo Saloojee
3.‘The Devil's Toys’ - Directed by
Tebogo Malope - Written by Muzi Dlamini
& Karabo Lediga
4.‘Rookie’ - Directed by Tebogo Malope
- Written by Karabo Lediga
5.‘Sugar Water’- Directed by Tebogo Malope - Written by Christopher Steenkamp
6.‘State of Emergency’ - Directed by
Kagiso Lediga - Written by Kagiso Lediga
A scene from Episode 6
CASTING
The casting was
expertly done. I had never heard of Pearl Thusi before this series. The
31-year-old South African is an accomplished actress and model. Her previous
credits include the US television series Quantico
and the romantic film Catching Feelings
(also a Netflix joint and also written by Kagiso Lediga). I have a feeling that
many male (and some female) watchers will emerge from Queen Sono with a huge crush on Pearl, and who can blame them? The
lady has charm.
OUTLAWS: Shandu
Magwaza (Vuyo Dabula) and Ekaterina Gromova (Kate Liquorish)
enjoy a drink and a
chat.
Other characters
include Vuyo Dabula, Sechaba Morojele, Chi Mhende, Loyiso Madinga, Rob Van
Vuuren, Kate Liquorish, Khathu Ramabulana, Enhle Maphumulo, Abigail Kubeka,
Connie Chiume, Otto Nobela and James Ngcobo. While much praise has been given
to Pearl’s performance, I think that Vuyo Dabula’s portrayal of the emotionally
conflicted Watu Wema leader, Shandu Magwaza, is masterful. Kate Liquorish (that
last name makes me chuckle, sorry!) is also very convincing as Superior
Solutions' high-handed boss, Ekaterina Gromova.
Incidentally, veteran
Kenyan actor Raymond Ofula is in the mix, and in fine form, as Kenya’s ageing
president.
ESPIONAGE & TERRORISM: A DEADLY
COCKTAIL
SPIES & THIGHS:
Queen makes an entrance at a mixer, under cover as a wealthy arms dealer
Though the production
is definitely ‘watchable’, it has several drawbacks. For example, it’s strange
that, several years in, Queen doesn’t have a ‘legend’ to cover her identity as
a secret agent. She unconvincingly lies to friends about being an art dealer.
In Episode 1 (‘I Am Queen Sono’) her charming grandmother asks: ‘Are you a
prostitute?’
Though the show is
predominantly in English, many other languages are employed, including
Afrikaans, isiXhosa, French, Russian, isiZulu, Shona, and Kiswahili. However,
there’s a need for subtitles for long non-English dialogues, otherwise the
viewers’ attention veers off. And speaking of language, there’s way too much
swearing: ‘Fuck!’, ‘Bitch’, ‘Fucking!’, ‘Fuck all!’ This is Africa, not New
York. Unless you live in some seedy part of town, we don’t swear that much,
especially in business environments.
Some of the early episodes
don’t have as much action as one might expect from a spy thriller. It’s
commendable that the writers tried to humanize the narrative and add drama, but
that’s not what espionage fans espouse in spy flicks. We were raised on James
Bond, et al. Expecting mushy family drama in a spy series is like expecting a
cuddle in a brothel. I acknowledge that there are some espionage fans that
belong to the John Le Carré school of realistic (and often tragic) spook business,
but we (for I am one) are clearly in the minority camp. Besides, Queen Sono is not based on a book series
and is neither literally nor intellectual. It’s not as consistent as foreign
rivals like Alias and Nikita. It could, however, be argued
that ‘creative’ were building towards a climax. And the season does have a
‘flying finish.’ There’s enough tension in the last couple episodes to conduct
electric power!
Episode 4 (‘Rookie’)
takes us back five years and shows us how the current team coalesced. Why the
writing team and editors decided to stick back stories there is a mystery, as
it adds little value. The personal histories of the principal characters could
have been doled out over the season or even several seasons. (The ending of
Season One clearly anticipates a continuation.) And, to steal a line from the
ERB battle rap between J. R. R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin, ‘We don’t need the back story on every fucking tree branch!’
As for the physical
fight scenes, I’ll give them an ‘average’ rating. It’s very hard to convince viewers
that a female can beat up multiple males and with relative ease (although
Angelina Jolie did a good job of it in Salt).
Yes, we suspend our disbelief when we watch shows. And yes, this is ‘just
entertainment’ but still…come on! It’s beyond the pale, unless the female is
physically massive or has a weapon like a crowbar or machete. (It’s not even
realistic for a martial-arts-trained male to beat up multiple men his own size.
Maybe one or two.) There’s Action/Drama and then there’s Fantasy.
A vein of humour
runs throughout the series. It turns out that the talented
creator and head writer,Kagiso Lediga, has also
worked as a comedian. He was the creator and writer behind Late Nite News, a satirical South
African TV show.
MUSIC
The theme song is Disco Matanga by Kenyan boy band Sauti
Sol, SA rapper Sho Madjozi and Real Black Motion. There are several other African
tracks, including music by Simisola “Simi” Ogunleye, Babatunde Olatunji and Sampa the Great . In my opinion, Final Form by Sampa the Great should have been the theme song. It has a more relevant tempo, energy,
beat, and is about ‘Black Power’. Disco
Matanga is too ‘bubble gum’ pop. The best thing about it is that it
features Sho Madjozi (and that’s not ‘throwing shade’, it’s just how the cookie
crumbles). Sauti Sol harmonies are great as usual but the song has no ‘wow
factor’ and they sing in Luhya, a language that has few speakers outside Kenya.
Given the show’s Pan-African feel, they should have sung in Kiswahili (which
they have done before). After all, Kiswahili is an AU-backed language with over 100
million speakers worldwide.
On a side note, I
have been checking out Kenya’s ‘gengetone’ music trend and my conclusion is
that when they start sounding like Sampa the Great, they will have reached
their ‘final form’. (Now that’s
shade!)
VISUALS
Queen romps through
the streets of Zanzibar in Episode 1
There’s no official
word out on the budget but the show is visually stunning; great aerial and
establishing shots of locales like Zanzibar and Jo’burg. Blockbuster
movie-quality stuff. Brilliant.The one-camera
setup was used properly utilized here. If this production deserves an award,
it’s for cinematography.
Following its
release, Queen Sono became the
most-watched Netflix show in some African and Caribbean nations. The novelty of
an African spy series is certainly one of the reasons for its success but I
disagree with the punters who suggest it that’s the only reason. It’s a decent show, especially by African standards. I
think that fans of the first season will tune in to future Seasons (hoping that
more will be commissioned) to continue the adventure, to follow the story to its
logical, arse-kicking, conclusion. Netflix also gave the production a strong
marketing push. I highly recommend it
for home-based date nights - there’s eye candy for everyone! As the famous slogan
goes, Netflix and chill!
My rating: 7.5 / 10
---------------------------
The reviewer is an
award-winning Kenyan novelist, poet, playwright and critic. His collection of
short stories – ‘Kiss, Commander,Promise’ – contains two spy stories (‘Kiss, Commander, Promise’ and ‘Life
as Game’), one of which was nominated for an international award. Website: www.AlexanderNderitu.com
