York professors launch 'The Cambridge History of South African Literature'

Posted on 26 March 2012

The African branch of Cambridge University Press hosted two highly successful launches of 'The Cambridge History of South African Literature' recently.

The Cambridge History of South African Literature

Edited by Professors David Attwell and Derek Attridge – with assistance by Hedley Twidle, a recent PhD student at York, now a Lecturer at the University of Cape Town – the book has been six years in the making. It brings together, for the first time, the literary histories of South Africa’s eleven official languages, and covers the literary history from its oral beginnings to post-apartheid narratives.

The Johannesburg launch was held in the former Women’s Gaol on Constitution Hill, a striking architectural development housing the country’s Constitutional Court. The novelist Achmat Dangor spoke to a gathering of book-lovers, media, and prominent writers, including the Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer.

In Cape Town, the launch at the city’s gracious Book Lounge attracted well over a hundred guests, including journalists, theatre practitioners, academics and writers like Andre Brink and Marlene Van Niekerk.

The distinctive feature of the book is its collaborative, multi-voiced quality, and the teamwork involved in creating a literary history that respects the full range of South Africa’s cultural production.

See also coverage at Mail & Guardian online and litnet.co.za.