Still Beating the Drum

Book excerpt: Lewis Nkosi is one of South Africa’s foremost writers and critics, and one of the few survivors of the exile generation dating from the Drum era. Up until now, however, no full length study has been done on his work. This is a gap in South African literary history and criticism that this book is intended to fill. Besides his well known earlier works, Nkosi is still very much an active writer as the publication in 2002 of his novel, Underground People, shows, with his latest novel due out in 2005. The timing of Still Beating the Drum, a book which intends to highlight and evaluate his extensive and varied oeuvre, is thus appropriate. Given Lewis Nkosi’s life trajectory, this volume will appeal to readers interested in South African and African literature, both in South Africa and abroad. Intended as a important critical resource on Lewis Nkosi, the book is divided into three parts: Part One collects papers from scholars around the world currently working on Nkosi’s work in various genres; Part Two reprints key articles from different moments in Nkosi’s critical writing, together with hitherto unpublished recent interviews with Nkosi; and Part Three provides the reader with a timeline and extensive bibliography for Lewis Nkosi, both invaluable resources for scholars working on Nkosi given the scattered nature of much of his more ephemeral writings in the past. Lewis Nkosi is an important figure in South African literature whose voice has been heard far and wide – this book aims to collect for critical consideration some of the echoes and reverberations his voice has generated.