boswestblog.com

by Tony Eprile

reviewed by Ben Oswest.

From the United States, an unexpected literary challenge has landed on South Africa’s doorstep, in the form of Tony Eprile’s novel, The Persistence of Memory. It was published in 2003 by WW Norton, and here by Double Storey in 2004. Eprile is an expatriate South African who now lives in the US state of Vermont, and it might be said that, as a future writer, he had one of the most auspicious upbringings South Africa could have bestowed: his father was an editor of Drum; he grew up in the company of the roisterous Matshikizas, Thembas and Nakasas; he can tell authentic stories about seeing Nelson Mandela during the furtive “Black Pimpernel” days. His novel’s title is thus something of a double entendre, referring not only to the “poisoned gift” of photographic memory which torments its main character, but also to the feelings of its author for the land of his birth.

• Purchase a copy of The Persistence of Memory.

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Cat: The Review

Tags: Angola, Ben Oswest, Double Storey, Fiction, Koret Jewish Book Award, Literature, MPLA, Namibia, Percy Yutar, SADF, South Africa, South African Literature, The Persistence of Memory, The Review, Tony Eprile, TRC, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Vietnam War, WW Norton

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Gasping Fish

Single exposure (Nikon 990), “raw” jpeg - no editing, cropping, “developing”, etc.

Cat: N.R. Studios

Tags: Ben Oswest, Cape Town, N.R. Studios, Nieu Riktus, South Africa

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“Jonah”, the first chapter of my first novel, has now been posted: The New Suffolk Hymnbook.

Feel free to use this entry for comments. (Click here.)

-b.

Cat: The Margin

Tags: Ben Oswest, JM Coetzee, Sheila Roberts, South Africa, South African Literature, The Margin, The New Suffolk Hymnbook, Tony Morphet

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The New Suffolk Hymnbook will be launched at the Cape Town International Book Fair, CTICC, on Monday, 19 June, 5h30 for 6pm.

Maggie Davey (Jacana), Gus Ferguson (Snail Press) and Ingrid de Kok will be speaking at the launch.

All welcome - please rsvp to caroline@jacana.co.za if you’d like to attend.

Any schedule changes will be noted in this post - check back from time to time.

- b.

Cat: The Margin

Tags: Ben Oswest, Cape Town Book Fair, Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town International Book Fair, CTICC, Gus Ferguson, Ingrid de Kok, Jacana, Maggie Davey, Snail Press, The Margin, The New Suffolk Hymnbook

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Goldblatt Windows

Single exposure (Nikon 990), “raw�? jpeg - no editing, cropping, “developing�?, etc.

Cat: N.R. Studios

Tags: Ben Oswest, David Goldblatt, N.R. Studios, Nieu Riktus, South Africa

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This story has now been posted: The Laddy Jones Story Part One.

Feel free to use this entry for any comments.

- b.

Cat: The Margin

Tags: Arsenal, Ben Oswest, Football, Laddy Jones, Short Stories, Short Story, The Laddy Jones Story Part One, The Margin

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St. Francis of Assisi Church

Single exposure (Nikon 990), “raw�? jpeg - no editing, cropping, “developing�?, etc.

Cat: N.R. Studios

Tags: Ben Oswest, N.R. Studios, New Mexico, Nieu Riktus, St. Francis of Assisi, Taos

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Bent Nails

Single exposure (Nikon 990), “raw�? jpeg - no editing, cropping, “developing�?, etc.

Cat: N.R. Studios

Tags: Ben Oswest, Cape Town, N.R. Studios, Nieu Riktus, South Africa

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A few links for the Cape Town Book Fair, where The New Suffolk Hymnbook will be launched:

• Homepage: Cape Town Book Fair
• Programme: Cape Town Book Fair
• Venue: Cape Town Convention Centre
• Find your way to the Convention Centre: Directions
• Convention Centre’s contextual street map: Coen Steytler Rd. (between Long St. & Heerengracht Rd., Foreshore, Cape Town)

Cat: The Margin

Tags: Ben Oswest, Cape Town, Cape Town Book Fair, Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town International Book Fair, CTICC, South Africa, South African Literature, The Margin, The New Suffolk Hymnbook

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