The July 2007 issue of Vanity Fair magazine is a special issue on Africa. Included there is an article that surveys African literature and offers profiles of 19 writers, including our author, Nadine Gordimer, who is referred to as a "literary giant." As is Chinua Achebe.
Elissa Schappell and Rob Spillman write:
"With her long-cool-drink-of-water demeanor and serious street cred, Nadine Gordimer, a founding member of the once banned African National Congress and "the conscience of South Africa," earns the title of Grande Dame of South African Literature. For more than a
half a century, her short stories and epic novels have articulated the real-life ramifications of apartheid in the lives of ordinary men and women. A master of employing multiple viewpoints--often those of the oppressed--she also has the chops to authentically paint the psychological nuances of apartheid's supporters, revealing the panoramic range of human experience under repression. Despite Gordimer's international fame, her novels Burger's Daughter and July's People were once banned in her own country. Ironically, when Gordimer received the Nobel Prize, in 1991, Nelson Mandela still did not have the right to vote."
The Africa issue is guest-edited by Bono. Check out the online slideshow of the 20 different versions of the cover. You may want to add this magazine to your summer reading list. There are many great articles on topics and issues found in The Pickup.
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