Supporting African writers: Bridge Books in central Johannesburg.
There is little joy in recognising the tragic irony that comes with being hands-and-feet on the floor of a bookshop, staring at the bottom shelves of every section from “African” to “Women” because the African-authored book did not make it to more intuitive shelves such as “Fiction” or “Classics”.
There is no joy in turning to an independent bookstore in South Africa, only to have to navigate reserves of colonial narratives about “the Dark Continent” in search of the stories written by the most marginalised. Finding titles by underrepresented authors is harder than it should be.
Luckily, there are a growing number of bookstores and cultural institutions championing the voices of marginalised storytellers.
Here is a list of some of the more accessible independent booksellers around the country — both brick-and-mortar and digital — that are collecting, promoting and advancing underrepresented literature. In the words of Fela Kuti: “Who no know go know.”
JOHANNESBURG
Afrikan Freedom Station
Founded by husband-and-wife team Steve Kwena Mokwena and Nirvana Singh, the Afrikan Freedom Station is in west Johannesburg near Sophiatown. The Station serves as a meeting place, an exhibition space and a performance space. Its location is a central aspect of its ethos. It is also home to the Afrikan Freedom Library, which is stocked by donations.
Bridge Books
Driven to support African writers and resellers, Bridge Books in central Johannesburg is another example of a bookstore committed to widening access to African literature. It is in the process of launching the African Book Trust to distribute books to schools and libraries. Find Bridge Books at 85 Commissioner Street and support a book vendor
in the city centre that they’ve helped supply. Or browse their online
store.
Xarra Books
With roots in Newtown, Kay Mguni and June Joseph’s Xarra Books is now in Midrand, close to Tembisa — opening up access to independent literature in the thick of Johannesburg’s sprawl. It stocks books, music and art mainly from across Africa and the diaspora. With a growing online store and regular events, Xarra is dedicated to promoting and publishing under-told narratives by African writers.
African Flavour Books
Located in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng, African Flavour Books is aptly named for its curatorial focus on books by African authors, including those written in the vernacular. Situated outside Gauteng’s better-known, and often pricier, areas the store is not only broadening black literary horizons, but also bringing them within people’s reach.
L’Elephant Terrible
This secondhand bookstore in Milpark is close to the universities of Johannesburg and Witwatersrand. Named for its owner’s affinity for elephants and John Cocteau’s novel Les Enfants Terribles, the shop stocks second-hand copies of classics that will have you reminiscing over schooldays. The cozy store also has an upper level dedicated to African literature.
The Collector’s Treasury
If the idea of navigating up to eight floors of mostly old suburban bric-a-brac (including an entire wall where Ayn Rands are laid to rest) seems like an adventure, the Collector’s Treasury is just that. Located near Maboneng on Commissioner Street in downtown Johannesburg, the shop is for the reader with no particular title in mind and a lot of time to spare.
CAPE TOWN
The Book Lounge
In the 10 years since its opening, the Book Lounge has become a cultural landmark in Cape Town. Standing in the company of neighbours such as the District Six Museum and the Fugard Theatre, this bookstore takes social memory and representation seriously — both on its shelves and in its events. The shop’s managing owner, Mervyn Sloman, is also behind the annual Open Book Festival, a free-to-attend “celebration of words and ideas”.
Bolo’bolo
What began as an “anarchist info-shop” is now a publisher, bookstore, coffee shop and organiser of the Cape Town Anarchist Book Fair and Winter School. Located in Observatory, Bolo’bolo describes itself as a collectively run establishment aspiring towards “anarchist ethics of mutual aid, solidarity, consensus, voluntary co-operation and compassion”. For readers interested in interrogating the foundations of society, Bolo’bolo is the place.
Chimurenga Bookstore
Chimurenga is a pan-African platform of cultural production, a podcast, studio and library of books and other resources dedicated to “stretching boundaries” and engaging the “fragilities … as well as [the] creativity and beauty that define African contemporary life”. Most of its titles, including independent publications, can be found in its online store and in the Chimurenga Bookstore in the Pan African Market on Cape Town’s Long Street.
Lesedi House Publishers
Founded in the spirit of serving the under-published and unmarketed-to, Lesedi House is Khayelitsha’s first independent publisher and bookstore. Although still light on titles (currently listed are four black-authored works) the significance of a black-owned publisher and bookseller in the city’s largest township cannot be overstated.
Kalk Bay Books
Standing somewhere between the pier and the ice-cream shop on the eastern shores of the Cape Peninsula is Audrey Rademeyer’s Kalk Bay Books. Fiction, nonfiction and independent magazines — including Chimurenga, Prufrock and other local titles — can be found here.
Clarke’s Books
Established in 1956, Clarke’s Books boasts a charming windowfull of books on Long Street, Cape Town. With a particular focus on African art and out-of-print books, the collection at Clarke’s has grown to include new and secondhand books, as well as a growing list of books and zines by black South African authors and publishers.
DURBAN
Ike’s Books
Founded in 1988 by book lover, collector and curator Ike Mayet, Ike’s Books and Collectibles is recognised as South Africa’s first independent “Africana” bookstore owned and operated by a person of colour. Located in Overport, Durban, the bookshop was an intellectual home to many anti-apartheid activists, and still functions as a meeting place for debates, readings and literary refuge.
Last Chance Books
Another member of the “Africana” book-dealer family, Last Chance Books in Durban North stocks a large number of secondhand and rare books, including limited first editions of JM Coetzee and others. The Stables Lifestyle Market in Stamford Hill, Durban, is their weekly outpost and offers a range that is wide in price and genre.
GRAHAMSTOWN
Fables Bookshop
Well known to students and visitors to the annual arts festival is Fables Bookshop, where one can pick up The Boer War Diary of Sol Plaatje together with a biography of Cecil JohnRhodes and The History of Native Policy in South Africa from 1830 to the Present Day by Edgar Harry Brookes.
Bookshops and publishing houses on the internet
Some of the most compelling literature coming out of South Africa may be slow to make it to physical bookshelves — independent or otherwise. These titles sit with a growing cohort of independent publishers online that started in direct response to the lack of representation in content, authorship and availability in South Africa.
Modjaji Books
Operating out of Cape Town, Modjaji is an “independent feminist press that publishes Southern African women writers”. Its aim is to create a “platform for serious and ground-breaking writing by new and established women writers with brave voices”. Its growing list includes novels, poetry and short story collections.
Black Letter Media
Duduzile Z Mabaso started Black Letter Media in 2011 as a full-service print and digital publisher for African storytellers. Its roots are lyrical, with Poetry Potion (both online and a quarterly print) being its founding vehicle. Black Letter Media’s online store is a trove of affordable anthologies and other titles.
uHlanga Press
Under the banner of “Poetry for the People”, uHlanga is a publisher in KwaZulu-Natal dedicated “to publishing new, experimental and classic works of Southern African poetry”. Its curated anthologies and full collections are led by contemporary authors that include Genna Gardini, Francine Simon, Koleka Putuma, Thabo Jijana and Nick Mulgrew.
African Books Collective
This nonprofit based in England is on a mission to grow the global market for African literature. It manages more than 2 000 titles from a wide network of independent publishers in 24 African countries. The site can be used as an online store or as a comprehensive guide to finding local stockists and independent publishers of African-authored titles.