Siphiwo Mahala
Siphiwo Mahala
Siphiwo Mahala is launching his first novel, When a Man Cries, at the 2007 Wordfest.
About Siphiwo Mahala
Siphiwo Mahala was born in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape province of South Africa. He completed a BA honours degree at Fort Hare University, Alice, and a Master of Arts degree in African Literature at Wits University, Johannesburg. He also holds a Creative Writing certificate from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, and another one from Lancaster University, London. He is more accomplished as a short story writer. When a Man Cries is his first novel.
Siphiwo Mahala is better known as a short story writer even though he has worked as a freelance journalist and also published articles in national newspapers such as Sunday Times, City Press, and Sowetan. In 2002 he freelanced for WordStock, the newspaper for WordFest (the literary festival of the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. He has contributed short stories to several anthologies and two of his stories appeared in the Southern African Short Story Review: The Best Stories of 2002. He was the founding Assistant Editor of Pax Africa, an African Peace and Security Newsletter published under the auspices of the AU-NEPAD Programme, SaferAfrica. Most recently he edited Africa is Calling, a special publication for South Africa’s cultural manifestation programme during the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany. He is currently the Deputy Director: Books and Publishing, with the Department of Arts and Culture.
When a Man Cries
Siphiwo Mahala - When a Man Cries
Themba Limba is a family man who is caught between his flourishing career as a teacher and municipal councillor in the township of Sekunjalo, and his overriding sexual interests. Despite his attempts to maintain his status in the community, his actions eventually lead to his downfall. What follows is an account – sometimes tragic, occasionally humorous, and always compelling – of Themba’s efforts to regain his dignity and pride in the eyes of his family and community.
When a Man Cries is an uncompromising and engrossing novel about the challenges of manhood in contemporary South African society. It interrogates the dynamics of township life and the human and socio-economic realities of the most impoverished communities in post-apartheid South Africa.
