Christopher Poindexter

If you have not yet been introduced to the poetry of Christopher Poindexter, allow me...

I've never been the biggest fan of poetry and most of the time I think it's self-indulgent and grandiose. I do, however, like this and his ability to capture the most true things in such simple ways.

English, we are through!

I wrote my last ever exam for English this past Friday >insert happy dance and some butt wiggling<

I love reading but writing essays on what I read in a cold gloomy hall isn't as appealing as just lying in the sun and devouring good stories for pleasure. The studying attempts didn't go so well, as you can see studying on a bed is not the best thing to do. It's just messy and makes me look productive when all I did was fall asleep beneath the piles of notes (and my rather tacky leopard print blanket).

I woke up on the day of the exam with a cold and no voice. At lunch before my exam, I fell rather spectacularly while walking to the table and sent my burger and chips flying out my plate. I don't know what was worse, not having lunch before the exam or having people laugh at me falling. I get embarrassed easily so this was mortifying. I imagine I looked a bit like this but you know, more entertaining.

Despite my gripes about studying English, I'm grateful for the exposure to books that I wouldn't normally have picked up in a book store. Here are six of my favourites over the past three years - the kind of books I'd recommend to just about anyone that don't require any knowledge of literature, just a mind that is open to good writing and a good story. Interestingly, every one of them is set in South Africa, other parts of Africa or India, all places related to my own heritage in some way.

Desertion - Abdulrazak Gurnah     The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy

White Noise - Don DeLillo                 Coldsleep Lullaby - Andrew Brown         

Disgrace - JM Coetzee                    The Story of an African Farm - Olive Schreiner                      

The Anti-Bucket List

While procrastinating, I like to write lists; shopping lists, to do lists, hot guys at uni lists, DIY idea lists, bucket lists... See, even this sentence turned into a list!

I think that a bucket list is the biggest deal though. It’s like saying ‘I cannot possibly die without doing this first’ and so it can range from the extremely batshit crazy like swimming with sharks to the more heartfelt  like helping starving kids in Africa. Ok that last bit was a joke, who actually says that?

Don’t say Americans.  

My problem with writing a bucket list is that I make it so unrealistic that I never do anything. Run a marathon? Ha! I can’t even walk across the road without being out of breath. I’m also impatient.  If I want to do something, I want to have a plan and I want to do it now. I studied French for six years and would like to be able to go to France and put it to good use, but writing that down and not being able to do that any time soon is discouraging.

So my solution to my bucket list dilemma? Don’t have one! Instead, I’m going to list things I’d like to do/achieve specifically in the next six months or so. It’s purposeful, immediate and more of a reality than an idea. And then after that time has passed, I’ll make a new list for more things I want to do. I also won’t call it a bucket list because if I’m going to kick the bucket it better not be in the next six months.

So here it is, my anti-bucket list of things I’d like to do (so far). I’ve already started planning for some and as for the others, I'll get there.

1. Read Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting 

2. Register myself as an organ donor. Not that I think anyone wants my liver but I’m sure the rest is useable.

3. Go bungee jumping.

4. Wear a bikini to the beach (and in doing so, get over my body issues)

5. Travel out of South Africa

6. Go on a road trip: I’ve done this many times before but one cannot go on too many road trips. If you watch a lot of movies you will know that the solution to everything is to go on a road trip where romance will occur, unforgettable experiences will be had, and eternal bonds of friendship will be formed.

7. Do something good for someone in the Grahamstown community outside Rhodes.

8. Go to a music festival

9. Cook an entire meal for someone special: This someone will obviously be my mother and I’ll make her curry and prove I'm a good Indian daughter. Also, here's what I would look like as a good Indian daughter.

10. Learn how to make decent coffee: A beginner’s barista course is offered by The Factory Cafe in Durban, but comes at a price of R4500. So I’ll start hinting to my mother after I cook that curry.

11. Have my writing published

12. Get fit: note, I did not say lose loads of weight and look like a stick.

13. Learn how to drive

14. Watch the sunrise at the Monument in Grahamstown

15. Camp outdoors

Any other ideas of doable things to do? 

Thrifty book finds: childhood revisited

Pay day just arrived - the one time where I don't feel like a student and can buy things that I convince myself I really really need. This time I told myself that there would be no unnecessary spending but I just couldn't resist getting some books as they were being sold at a second-hand book sale at my church for the ridiculous price of R2 each.

I was drawn to the children's section where I found some of my childhood favourites that I haven't read in years. They all had that distinct old book smell and I just couldn't say no (as always).

I was particularly pleased with the Louisa May Alcott books that I found, although I have a suspicion that they won't be mine for much longer once my little sister finds them. Her constant re-reading of Little Women is the reason my old copy fell apart.

I also found a copy of Lewis Carrolls's Through the Looking Glass, and while the prettiness of the front and back covers was what initially caught my eye, the images on the inside were even better.

I'm hoping that with more searching, I can find some old copies of The Magic Faraway Tree series. Remember Mr Saucepan Man and Moon-Face and Silky and Dame Wash-A-Lot?

You're never too old for a little magic in your life, and if that means believing in trees that whisper in the wind and grow a variety of fruit all at once, or wishing that the Land of Birthdays would come around just in time for your own, then I don't mind revisiting some of my favourites.

Alas, I have a third year English Literature exam coming up and so for now, more grown up novels await.

On book shopping and dating an illiterate girl

So I went book shopping, one of the many things that make me extremely happy. Hopefully there'll be time to get through them within the next month, but if not, it's always comforting to know there's a book waiting to be read. 

Oh and if you haven't already read You Should Date An Illiterate Girl by Charles Warnke, go on and do so. It really is something worth thinking about.

Books for the month of May

Time of the Writer: on winning and losing

Due to not actually living in Durban anymore, I could only attend one night of the Time of the Writer Festival in Durban this year. Nevertheless, that one night quite possibly may have been the best! Usually the night time events are discussions between two authors, facilitated by another prominent figure in the writing world. On the night that I went, the usual discussion was preceded by the announcement of the winners of a short story competition for school learners. The competition invites learners to submit short stories in English and Zulu, and the best are recognised on the penultimate night of the festival.

The second prize of the English category was won by a student at my old high school, Durban Girls High School, so I clapped rather loudly (very much like an embarrassing parent). I also saw my high school History teacher at the event. Durban might be a big city but there always seems to be a familiar face around whenever I’m home.

There was also entertainment from local music group, Nje (which is a Zulu expression meaning ‘just’). I think they’re really cool, but I haven’t been able to find much info on them (bad journalism skills I know).

The actual discussion wasn’t a discussion after all as one of the authors could not attend at the last minute. The show must go on, and so the remaining author, BD Khawula, spoke about his writing experience and gave a reading from his debut novel about a young boy who gets involved in a world of drugs and crime. I was extremely humbled, as Khawula is not a writer by profession, but instead works at the Huletts sugar factory and only writes in his spare time. His first novel, Yihlathi Leli, was not only accepted by publishers, but also won a silver prize in the Sanlam Youth Literature Awards in 2012.

Speaking with some difficulty to the audience, as English is not his first language; Khawula explained “It is not easy to be a winner. It is very easy to be a loser.” While Khawula was referring to his prize, one gets the feeling that this statement echoes his sentiments over the battle to win in life, as exemplified by his first novel; one which he hopes will soon be a set book in schools across the country.

Time of the Writer 2013

Living in Grahamstown and studying at Rhodes is great, I won't lie but it does mean missing the Time of the Writer festival in Durban. For the past two years that I have been at Rhodes, the festival has taken place during my term time. This year, it only finishes two days after I arrive in Durban for the vac, meaning I can squeeze in the last few book launches and discussions. I am ridiculously excited! I will post more once I've been and hopefully I will see some interesting faces.

Just some ink and paper...

Ah the things that make a Journalism student excited! This time it was a deviation from our usual lecture in favour of a trip to the Eastern Star museum in Grahamstown, home to some of the original machinery used for printing newspapers back in the day. It was "so hipster" as one person remarked. 

I'm embarrassed to say that until yesterday. I had no idea the museum existed. What a delightful discovery though. The inside of the building smelt like ink and paper, and everything seemed to be in wonderful shades of black and brown and grey. Add to that the sound of a roaring printing machine and the scene was set for us to learn to manually print our own words.

This rather scary looking contraption was used for printing onto the larger newspaper pages. Originally it ran on steam and 130 years later, it stills works but this time with electricity. 

To make sentences, individual letter blocks were used to create words and those were placed together manually on frames to create sentences. This had to then be redone for every single combination of letters and words (clearly requiring loads of patience!)

This was not just time-consuming, but also difficult because all the letters are facing the opposite way. The saying, "mind your p's and q's" comes from the fact that people had to be careful not to use the letters p and q interchangeably as they look quite similar when they face a different way. 

As a journalism student, a lot of my life is spent in front of my computer screen, typing away until the words become fuzzy. After experiencing the arduous process of good old fashioned newspaper printing, I don’t think I’ll complain again about simply typing and clicking 'print'!