Guest Post: Behind the Shadows: Birth of an African-Asian Anthology – Zukiswa Wanner
We are delighted to welcome Zukiswa Wanner, one of the editors of Behind the Shadows. Zukiswa takes us through the painstaking process of selecting the best stories for their anthology.
Behind the Shadows: Birth of an African-Asian Anthology – Zukiswa Wanner
And so it was that after a call out in March and a deadline of August 1st, my co-editor Rohini Chowdhury and I, found ourselves reading through hundreds of manuscripts to select our favourites. As we read through we each had four categories: Yes; Maybe; No; and…Hell No.
In the Yes category were the stories that kept to the word length (3000-5000 words), kept to our theme for the anthology – Outcast, and were well-written. There were some obvious winners. The title story, Behind the Shadows by Tasneem Basha, had both Rohini and I calling each other crying then laughing on the phone. Jill Morsbach’s The Hunted showed a society grappling with newfound democracy. Granny’s Parasychological Services by Himanjali Sankar was another obvious choice because of its playful tone and yet the ability to stick to the brief. So too was Jackee Batanda’s Thing That Ate Your Brain.
Our Maybes consisted of stories that resonated somewhat but failed to meet the word count or needed some clarification on a point in the plot. This may be where we separated the good writers from writers who take their craft seriously. The writers who take their work seriously – some of them established, took a look at the suggestions and reworked what needed to be done and returned it on time. The good writers – many of them quite known in literary circles on both continents –did a ‘don’t- you- know- who- I- am? Google me,’ move -offended that we dared give feedback that was not a hundred percent in love with their work. From the experience, I learnt that Felix Cheong from Singapore is a great writer. And that what’s-her-name from Nigeria has an over inflated sense of self as a writer.
The Nos failed to adhere to both word count and plot. The Hell Nos not only had bad plot, failure to adhere to word count, but atrocious grammar. It was painful to read them and I am still looking at emails that Rohini and I sent each other.
To: Rohini Chowdhury
From: Zukiswa Wanner
Subject: ‘Story__________ from alleged writer________
Email Content: Errr Ms. Well-read co-editor, maybe you can help. What is the point of this story? Is there something in Indian mythology that my African brain cannot understand? I rate it a ‘oh hell hell no.’ I think I need a tea break to undo the sour taste in my mouth.
Zooks
The amusing thing about the Nos and the Hells Nos is that there were some persistent people in this group. I remember Rohini and I in a back and forth with some writers who initially enquired why we did not select their stories. We explained AGAIN (we had already done so in the ‘we regret’ emails). And then they emailed back again suggesting that they edit the scripts, and getting progressively obnoxious with each email. It was like those rejected ‘singers’ one sees on the first day of rehearsals on Pop Idols. You know those ones who always say they have been studying music since three, are in the church choir or something and then when they starts singing it’s like a nail running along a chalkboard.
Interviewer: ‘So what happened in there, are you okay?’
‘Singer’(with false bravado): ‘Those judges don’t know what they are talking about. My mom says I am the best singer in my family. I am going to the studio on my own and sell more records than the stupid idol who wins. Watch me!’
After the feedbacks, we had a total of 30 stories. Some writers had published elsewhere so we had to remove them. Others fell through the cracks because they failed to submit their edits on time. The final work is these twenty one stories.
An anthology of African and Asian short stories, born out of a meeting between Indian and South African writers, Rohini Chowdhury and Zukiswa Wanner.
In March 2011, Chowdhury and Wanner, with the objective of bringing together the two continents of Africa and Asia, sent out a call for short stories with the theme outcast, to be interpreted by the writers as they pleased. The writers could be from Africa or Asia, or in the Diaspora, but it was necessary that their stories deal with the theme as experienced by Africans and/or Asians. Chowdhury and Wanner, who worked on this project as co-editors, went through hundreds of short stories to select the twenty-one that make up this anthology. The title, Behind the Shadows, is from one of the short stories in the collection by writer Tasneem Basha. The collection also includes Penguin-shortlisted author Isabella Morris; Caine Prize-shortlisted writer Lauri Kubuitsile; renowned Singaporean Young Artist Award recipient, author and poet, Felix Cheong; and emerging Indian writers Rumjhum Biswas, Monideepa Sahu, and Sucharita Dutta-Asane.
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Zukiswa Wanner is the author of three critically-acclaimed novels and her latest novel, Men of the South was shortlisted for Commonwealth Prize for Best Book Africa region. In addition to the novels, she has written three children’s books and has contributed short stories to numerous anthologies. Wanner is the co-author of the Mandela house biography 8115: A Prisoner’s House with the late award-winning photographer Alf Kumalo. She has also written widely for international and African newspapers, journals, and magazines.
Rohini Chowdhury writes for both children and adults, and has more than twenty books and several short stories to her credit.She is published in both Hindi and English, and her writing covers a wide spectrum of literary genres including translations, novels, short fiction, comics, and non-fiction. Her most recent publication for children is Gautam Buddha: The Lord of Wisdom, a biography of the Buddha, published by Puffin India. Her most recent translation is that of the widely-acclaimed Hindi novel Tyagpatra by Jainendra, into English, published by Penguin India earlier this year. Her literary interests include translation, mythology, folklore, mathematics and history.
About the Author:
I was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England and have always been a bookworm and enjoyed creative writing at school. In 1999 I created the Elencheran Chronicles and have been writing ever since. My first novel, Fezariu's Epiphany, was published in May 2011. When not writing I'm a lover of films, games, books and blogging. I now live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with my wife, Donna, and our six cats - Kain, Razz, Buggles, Charlie, Bilbo and Frodo.
David M. Brown – who has written 670 posts on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave.
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