Lusaka Punk and Other Stories by Kwani Trust: book review

Lusaka Punk and Other Stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2015 (2015) is a collection of 17 stories from African authors of 17 African countries. There are variety of themes, but they all have in common ‘’unforgettable characters drawn with insight and humour.’’ The themes covers love, loss, life as a young orphan, disfigurement, adolescent escapades, insecurities, the transition from childhood to adulthood, and dark passions.

My favourites include Flying by Elnathan John, a Nigerian writer, from the point of view of a young orphan boy, a class prefect and dorm leader for the boys’ dormitory in junior secondary school, who discovers the truth of his origins. Aunty Keturah is the founder of the Kachiro Refuge Home (and school): ‘’The whole day passes like a breeze … Aunty Keturah is everywhere, in the breeze, in the whispers, in the dorm.’’

Another favourite is Wahala Lizard by Cameroon writer Nkaicha Atemnkeng about an agama lizard on board a flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which highlights fears – fear of flying, fear of lizards, fear of people’s reactions – in all their reality and absurdity.

The Song of a Goat by Pede Hollist of Sierra Leone begins with Ajuah Danjuma’s daughter Stella, who has been suspended from school for two weeks for punching another student. What does Ajuah do? She remembers the time when she had Rika the goat as part of her on-campus activities for the GASP initiative: Girls for Agricultural Science Progress. The song of the goat has a lesson for both mother and daughter.

The stories are a mixed collection in terms of structure, style, plot, character, and quality of writing. But there is likely to be something for every reader as they take a literary journey around the continent of Africa.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).