Under African Skies: Modern African Short Stories

Spanning a wide geographical range, Under African Skies features prominent as well as younger African writers, including many women, from Chinua Achebe and Bessie Head to Ben Okri and Sindiwe Magona. Written originally in English, Portuguese, and French, the stories take us from colonial to post-colonial Africa, from civil war to struggles with apartheid and AIDS, to a new South Africa of cellular phones and middle-class angst. Reflecting the stunning diversity in African literaturefrom that based on traditional storytelling to a very African magical realism - the stories include Ken Saro-Wiwa's apocalyptic portrait of the innocent martyr; Amos Tutuola's hilariously surreal story of a woman who becomes bewitched by a "complete gentleman" who is, in fact, only a skull on borrowed limbs; Es'kia Mphahlele's story of an African "madam" who has a peculiar relationship with her dog; and Mandla Langa's comic account of a man who turns hair loss into business success. Under African Skies gives rich testimony to the resilience of this century's African writers, too many of whom have faced censorship, exile, even death. The collection includes detailed biographical notes and, wherever possible, textual commentaries by the writers themselves.