author - The African Mirror

Jan

2024

She’s tapping traditional food culture to grow business for herself and her country

"MY memories of food are very powerful. My earliest memory dates back to when I was about eight years old. I absolutely adored going to the farm with my grandmother, we used to get up really early in the morning on weekends to harvest vegetables, sorghum and maize,” said Ompelege Moreosele, who is better known both in Botswana and South Africa as a food entrepreneur and author, Chef Cathy. So powerful were those memories that finding herself working as a receptionist after studying advertising, she chose to quit and start again, this time following her passion. Today, gathering ingredients from…

Jul

2023

By ROBERT MULLER and JAN LOPATKA

Milan Kundera, author of ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’, dies at 94

WORLD

CZECH-BORN writer Milan Kundera, the author of the novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" who lived nearly five decades in Paris after emigrating in disillusionment from his Communist-ruled homeland, has died at the age of 94. The Moravian Library (MZK) in the Czech city of Brno, which houses Kundera's personal collection, said he died in his Paris apartment on Tuesday after a long illness. Kundera won global accolades for the way he depicted themes and characters that floated between the mundane reality of everyday life and the lofty world of ideas. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said his works "reached…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Ama Ata Aidoo: the pioneering writer from Ghana left behind a string of feminist classics

LITERATURE

PROLIFIC author and former Ghanaian education minister Ama Ata Aidoo passed away on 31 May 2023 at the age of 81. News of her death reverberated around the world, proof of her towering influence in literary, feminist and political spaces. Aidoo was Ghana’s foremost woman writer and her distinguished career spanned several decades. Her literary contribution places her among the first generation of African women writers of the post-independence era. After independence in Ghana in 1957 she became a leading feminist voice within postcolonial writing. Author ROSE A. SACKEYFIO, Associate Professor of English and Liberal Studies, Winston-Salem State University For…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

For the love of books: This South African author, publisher is on a mission to get everyone reading

LITERATURE

BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY LORRAINE Sithole credits her passion for books to a family tradition instilled in her by her grandmother decades ago. This meant that early childhood literary success was celebrated and reinforced. "One of the most profound moments for me when I was in primary school was when I was awarded an English book written by a local author," she said. Being recognised and awarded at a time when most of her peers were communicating exclusively in their mother tongue sparked a sense of ownership of her second language. Since then, she's been unstoppable. Years of networking,…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

Salman Rushdie lost sight in one eye following attack, agent says

WORLD

SALMAN Rushdie lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand following an attack on stage at a literary event in western New York in August, his agent said. Andrew Wylie, who represents literary giants such as Saul Bellow and Roberto Bolano, described the extent of the injuries Rushdie suffered in the "brutal" attack in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais. A view of who appears to be author Salman Rushdie treated by emergency personnel after being stabbed on stage before his scheduled speech at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, U.S., August 12, 2022, in…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

John le Carre, author of ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’, dies aged 89

WORLD

GUY FAULCONBRIDGE “TINKER Tailor Soldier Spy" author John le Carre, who cast flawed spies on to the bleak chessboard of Cold War rivalry, has died aged 89. David Cornwell, known to the world as John le Carre, died after a short illness in Cornwall, southwestern England, on Saturday evening. He is survived by his wife, Jane, and four sons. The family said in a brief statement he died of pneumonia. "Very sad to hear the news about John le Carre," said Richard Moore, the chief of Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence agency. "A giant of literature who left his mark on…