Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Small stories, big writers: Best of Short Story Day Africa 2013 Interviews


I got tagged to take part in the awesome Short Story Day Africa 2013 Interviews series (yay) but I kind of felt like I'm not really the target market what with my not being a published author and all (boo). But the two-man team at SSDA (Rachel and Tiah) is doing great work with virtually no resources besides their passion, experience and network of Southern Africa writers and I've really been enjoying other people's interviews, posted on their individual blogs. So, here are my favorite answers:

Lauri Kubuitsile

What’s the most blatant lie you’ve ever told?
I’m fine. I haven’t been fine since 16 January 1964.

If someone reviews you badly, do you write them into your next book/story and kill them?
No, but that’s an idea. It’s been noted.

Rachel Zadok

If you could be any author other than yourself, who would you be?
Neil Gaiman. He’s like the rock star of writers.

Moira Richards

Have you ever killed off a character and regretted it?
No, but they sometimes crash a car into a tree to illustrate the depreciation of fixed assets.

Ernest Hemingway said: write drunk, edit sober. For or against?
Oy, so many more fun things to do when drunk…

Louis Greenberg

What’s the most frustrating thing about being a writer in Africa?
What’s *wonderful* about being a writer in Africa is that you can submit directly to publishers and most of them act in warm good faith and genuinely like their writers. There are various supportive communities and very little back-biting from other writers. The frustration is that writers who restrict themselves to Africa can only ever be hobbyists.

If you could go back in time and erase one thing you had written from your writing history, what would it be and why?
Only embarrassing love poems and letters from long ago. Related note to self: burn journals.

Judy Croome

Do you actually enjoy writing, or do you write because you like the finished product?

There are moments I adore writing; there is a sense of connecting to a world greater than this reality and it fills me with wonder. Unfortunately, those moments are rarer than hen's teeth and mostly I hate writing. I write anyway, in constant search of That One Fleeting Moment. I invariably hate my finished product, because it's always less than the ideal I had in my head.
Siphiwo Mahala

What’s the most blatant lie you’ve ever told?

Lies fill my fiction. I can’t think of any better one than others.

And my best:

Joanne Macgregor

Who would play you in the film of your life?
Ryan Gosling. I know, I know, he’s younger than me. Also, there’s that thing of him being male. But the boy can act!

Ryan Gosling? Really? Really? The LOLs. Google "Short Story Day Africa 2013 Interview" to see more.

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