Encounters: An Anthology of South African Short Stories by David Medalie

ISBN: 9781868143252

Witwatersrand University Press, January 1998

236 pages, Paperback

In this lively and quintessentially South African anthology compiled by David Medalie, the short stories explore enforcing and resisting change, transformation and how happenstances between individuals are not predictable but are rather complex and unique encounters.

Compiled and introduced by David Medalie, this lively and quintessentially South African anthology ranges across time, culture and style. The encounters in these short stories showcase how the happenstances between individuals are not predictable or simple but rather are complex and unique within the South African experience, and leave a mark on the individuals who experience them. Among Medalie are twenty contributors that includes Nobel Laureate, Nadine Gordimer, Herman Charles Bosman, award-winning authors Ivan Vladislavic and Ahmed Essop, Mandla Langa, Dan Jacobson, Miriam Tlali, Christopher Hope, Mbulelo Mzamane and Chris van Wyk, as well as the legendary icon of Drum magazine, Can Themba. 

Its appeal is as much to teachers of literature and their students as to non-academics who simply rejoice in the pleasure of good stories well told. There is a place for it in the hearts and bookshelves of all South Africans who cherish their literary heritage.