A LIFE IN FULL

Collection offers snapshots of life on the African continent in all its diversity. (Review by Janet Whelan)

A Life in Full and other stories is a collection of five short stories short listed for the 2010 Caine Prize and includes a further 12 stories produced in the CDC Caine Prize African Writers' Workshop 2010.

This collection offers snapshots of life on the African continent in all its diversity and although all the stories depict some aspect of African life and culture, many are unique and relevant in society in general today. Security paranoia, childlessness, human gullibility, obsession with television and greed – they are all there and more.

There is some beautiful writing such as with the description of a very old man “When youth and blood were warmer, before age had written its ruthless signature on his face”, and describing unwashed plates as “providing an excellent playground for house-flies.” Again, friendship is described as “Two half full cups, each complimenting the emptiness of the other.”

Writers from South Africa, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi and Zimbabwe are represented. In all, these 17 stories show the richness and range of current writing on the continent. They underline the primacy of the short story, with its oral antecedents, at the very heart of African literature.

A Life in Full is published by Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd, 2010, Auckland Park, South Africa. - Janet Whelan