Sunday Times Combined Metros 45 - 12/06/2019 06:01:46 PM - Plate:

Review
ART
Sunday Times BOOKS
Page 45 June 16, 2019 MOTORING
TELEVISION

“Storytelling is the foundation of
every civilisation and is still the
strongest device used to pass
down knowledge from generation
to generation” — a conversation
between hip-hop artist, poet and storyteller
Quintin ‘Jitsvinger’ Goliath and Carla Lever.
Your career has always been about defying
who isn’t afraid to make poetry
or theatre. Is there a freedom in
holding so many forms of
storytelling?
It was important for me to learn many
performance disciplines when I started on this
journey because not every rapper is a great
performer. The best part in my career was
getting schooled in theatre early, where every
Unlike many artists, you
explicitly frame your work as a
cultural and political
commentary, particularly on
the tradition and power of South Africa’s
languages. How did this interest come about?
In primary school, a prescribed poem, Ek Is
Oek Important by Peter Snyders, sparked my
desire for mother-tongue Afrikaans. It made
television. Listening to rap groups like
Prophets of the City and Black Noise grounded
my awareness, which led to a more locally
conscious delivery in my raps. This urged me
to challenge the norms of my society and
spread the message. ● LS .

stereotypes. You’re an entertainer who is aspect was employed in the performance, not me aware of the little or no exposure so-called To read the full interview, go to
interested in rapping about history; a musician just your voice in the case of a rapper. black Afrikaans got on national radio and www.timeslive.co.za/Sunday-times/books/

Book Bites

The Last ★★★

Hanna Jameson, Penguin, R290

The Last grapples with

the question: Who are we
when the world goes out?
Told through the pen of an
unreliable narrator,
historian Jon Keller, it tells
the tale of 20 survivors in
a hotel in Switzerland who
witness the end of the
world unfold on their
smartphones. They’re pretty cosy until the
food starts to run out and the winter creeps
in. Then they find the body of a young girl on
the roof, which means there might be a
murderer among them. Tense, thought-
provoking and highly plausible, except that
the story gets lost in the narrator’s musings
at times. ●
LS . Anna Stroud @annawriter_

The Good Immigrant USA ★★★★

Edited by Nikesh Shukla & Chimene
Suleyman, Little Brown, R325

In social media activism

#WeNeedDiverseBooks
raises issues about
authors who are already
well known and
narratives that are
always from a white
perspective. What about
the stories of those living
in America as
immigrants? The Good Immigrant USA is a
wonderful mix of 26 writers who tell their
stories: love, identity, fear and
discrimination are themes that are familiar,
but it also focuses on intimate details that
are not in our daily algorithm. The
contributors have come together to create
something truly remarkable. Not only have
they proven that the pen is mightier than
the sword, they’ve laid the groundwork for
future immigrants and minorities to have
their voices heard. ● LS . Jessica Levitt @jesslevitt

A Thousand Ships ★★★★★

Natalie Haynes, Mantle, R320

“A woman who lost so

much so young
deserves something,
even if it’s just to have
her story told,” states
the Muse in A Thousand
Ships. This is the book
that tells the Trojan
War from the women’s
point of view, on both
sides of the battle. A
fascinating, horrifying and gripping read that
is saturated in vengeance and rage, giving
strength to voices that have too long been
obscured. ●LS . Tiah Beautement @ms_tiahmarie

45 LifeStyle 16•06•2019 Sunday Times