Sindiwe Magona is an award-winning author, poet, actor, storyteller and motivational speaker. Her most recent novel, Beauty’s Gift, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize.
Surprise – even to myself: I LOVE BIOGRAPHY!
Retired Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane asked me to write his biography, From Robben Island to Bishopscourt – Coming: June 2011 (David Philip). Hence the immersion:
Guy Butler: Karro Morning; Bursting World; A Local Habitation – I enjoyed all three because instead of the dry, academic tone I associate with biography, I was held spellbound by a consummate storyteller and I have come to better understand the life of “the other” so much more.
Bruce Fordyce: Comrade King, because of a personal connection.
My late son, Sandile Sayedwa, worked for him at The Sports Trust, but I also wanted to know what had made this “universally acknowledged world’s finest ever ultra-marathon runner”.
Below follow other (auto)/biographies, all read in pursuit of the same objective: enjoyment and a better understanding of the genre.
Therefore, each one was picked either for period/locale/subject: religion or politics:
What Manner of Man – Martin Luther King (Lerone Bennet Jr); Freedom for My People (ZK Matthews); Martin de Porres – A Saint for Our Time (Joan Monahan); Towards the Mountain (Alan Paton); No Barriers (Neal Petersen); A Life (Mampela Ramphele).
Besides biography, I also read history books for factual background to From Robben Island to Bishopscourt. I am reserving some of my favourite South African authors for last.