Description
In this collection of letters between a South African political prisoner and a community organizer in Durban, two people who have never met become dear friends during the last decade of apartheid. Ahmed Kathrada is being held in Robben Island when he sends a letter to a former flat mate and receives a reply from the man's sister, Zuleikha Mayat, the "Betty Crocker" of South Africa and the editor of the best-selling cookbook Indian Delights. Virtual strangers, these two have in common their small-town Transvaal childhoods, and they find much to explore in their different approaches to culture, politics, and religion. The letters are written with wit and style as they discuss both the issues of the day and the sustenance found in memory.
In this collection of letters between a South African political prisoner and a community organizer in Durban, two people who have never met become dear friends during the last decade of apartheid. Ahmed Kathrada is being held in Robben Island when he sends a letter to a former flat mate and receives a reply from the man's sister, Zuleikha Mayat, the "Betty Crocker" of South Africa and the editor of the best-selling cookbook "Indian Delights." Virtual strangers, these two have in common their small-town Transvaal childhoods, and they find much to explore in their different approaches to culture, politics, and religion. The letters are written with wit and style as they discuss both the issues of the day and the sustenance found in memory.
About the Author
Goolam Vahed completed his studies in South Africa and the US and has immediate family in two continents and appreciates the importance of letter writing. He teaches History at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and has published work on the Indian diaspora, Islam, and the role of sport and culture in South African society. His previous publications include Blacks in Whites: A Century of Sporting Struggles in Kwazulu Natal, 1880-2002 (2002) and Inside Indenture: A South African Story, 1860-1914 and co-edited Empire & Cricket: The South African Experience 1884-1914. Thembisa Waetjen has family on two continents and has become a practiced letter writer. She teaches history and internet studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her scholarship is concerned with gender and culture in South Africa, and the way they have informed citizenship and debates about modernity and national identity. She has previously published Workers and Warriors: Masculinity and the Struggle for Nation in South Africa. Urbana and Chicago, University of Illinois, 2004. Republished by HSRC Press in 2006.
Book Information
ISBN 9781770097537
Author Goolam Vahed
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Jacana Media
Publisher Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd
Weight(grams) 500g
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 148mm * 15mm
In this collection of letters between a South African political prisoner and a community organizer in Durban, two people who have never met become dear friends during the last decade of apartheid. Ahmed Kathrada is being held in Robben Island when he sends a letter to a former flat mate and receives a reply from the man's sister, Zuleikha Mayat, the "Betty Crocker" of South Africa and the editor of the best-selling cookbook "Indian Delights." Virtual strangers, these two have in common their small-town Transvaal childhoods, and they find much to explore in their different approaches to culture, politics, and religion. The letters are written with wit and style as they discuss both the issues of the day and the sustenance found in memory.
About the Author
Goolam Vahed completed his studies in South Africa and the US and has immediate family in two continents and appreciates the importance of letter writing. He teaches History at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and has published work on the Indian diaspora, Islam, and the role of sport and culture in South African society. His previous publications include Blacks in Whites: A Century of Sporting Struggles in Kwazulu Natal, 1880-2002 (2002) and Inside Indenture: A South African Story, 1860-1914 and co-edited Empire & Cricket: The South African Experience 1884-1914. Thembisa Waetjen has family on two continents and has become a practiced letter writer. She teaches history and internet studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her scholarship is concerned with gender and culture in South Africa, and the way they have informed citizenship and debates about modernity and national identity. She has previously published Workers and Warriors: Masculinity and the Struggle for Nation in South Africa. Urbana and Chicago, University of Illinois, 2004. Republished by HSRC Press in 2006.
Book Information
ISBN 9781770097537
Author Goolam Vahed
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Jacana Media
Publisher Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd
Weight(grams) 500g
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 148mm * 15mm
