Under African Skies
Page 37
Literatures, Kalamazoo College
PERMISSIONS
“Telephone Conversation” by Wole Soyinka. First published in Ibadan. Copyright © 1960 by Wole Soyinka. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Complete Gentleman” by Amos Tutuola. From The Palm-Wine Drinkard. First published in 1952 by Faber & Faber Ltd. and in 1993 by George Braziller. Copyright © 1952 by Faber & Faber and 1953 by George Braziller. Reprinted by permission of Grove Press and Faber & Faber Ltd.
“The Eyes of the Statue” by Camara Laye. First published in Black Orpheus. Copyright © 1959 by Camara Laye. Reprinted by permission of The Roslyn Targ Literary Agency.
“Sarzan” by Birago Diop. From Les Contes d’Amadou Koumba. Copyright © 1947 by Birago Diop. English translation Copyright © 1970 by Ellen Conroy Kennedy. Reprinted by permission of Ellen Conroy Kennedy and Presence Africaine.
“Black Girl” by Sembene Ousmane. First published in Presence Africaine. Copyright © 1965 by Sembene Ousmane. English translation Copyright ® 1970 by Ellen Conroy Kennedy. Reprinted by permission of Ellen Conroy Kennedy and Présence Africaine.
“Papa, Snake & I” by Luis Bernardo Honwana. First published in We Killed Mangy Dogs and Other Mozambique Stories. Copyright © 1969 by Luis Bernardo Honwana. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“A Meeting in the Dark” by Ngugi wa Thiong’o. First published in Secret Lives. Copyright © 1975 by Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Reprinted by permission of Heinemann Educational Books.
“A Handful of Dates” by Tayeb Salih. Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies. First published in The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories. Copyright © 1968 by Tayeb Salih. Reprinted by permission of Heinemann Educational Books.
“Mrs. Plum” by Es’kia Mphahlele. Copyright © 1967 by Es’kia Mphahlele. Reprinted by permission of Readers International.
“Tekayo” by Grace Ogot. From Land Without Thunder. Copyright © 1968 by Grace Ogot. Reprinted by permission of East African Educational Publishers.
“Two Sisters” by Ama Ata Aidoo. From No Sweetness Here. Copyright © 1970 by Ama Ata Aidoo. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Girls at War” by Chinua Achebe. First published in Girls at War and Other Stories. Copyright © 1972 by Chinua Achebe. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses” by Bessie Head. From Tales of Tenderness and Power. Copyright © 1990 by The Estate of Bessie Head. Reprinted by permission of John Johnson Limited.
“In the Hospital” by Similih M. Cordor. First published in More Modern African Stories. Copyright © 1975, 1997 by Similih Cordor. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The True Martyr Is Me” by René Philombe. Translated by Richard Bjornson. Copyright © 1984 René Philombe. From Tales from Cameroon. Reprinted by permission of Three Continents Press.
“Innocent Terror” by Tijan M. Sallah. First published in Before the New Earth. Copyright © 1988, 1997 by Tijan Sallah. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Africa Kills Her Sun” by Ken Saro-Wiwa. From Adaku and Other Stories. Copyright © 1989 by Ken Saro-Wiwa. Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate, c/o the Maggie Noach Literary Agency, London.
“Afrika Road” by Don Mattera. From The Storyteller. Copyright © 1991 by Don Mattera. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Why Don’t You Carve Other Animals” by Yvonne Vera. From Why Don’t You Carve Other Animals. Copyright © 1992 by Yvonne Vera. Reprinted by permission of TSAR Publications.
“The Magician and the Girl” by Véronique Tadjo. Translated by the author from the French. From Au Vol d’Oiseau. Copyright © 1992, 1997 by Véronique Tadjo. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“A Prayer from the Living” by Ben Okri. First published in The New York Times. Copyright © 1993 by Ben Okri. Reprinted by permission of David Godwin Associates.
“Effortless Tears” by Alexander Kanengoni. From Effortless Tears. Copyright © 1993 by Alexander Kanengoni. Reprinted by permission of Academic Books (Pvt) Ltd., Baobab Books.
“Give Me a Chance” by Mzamane Nhlapo. First published in The Kalahari Review. Copyright © 1994 by Mzamane Nhlapo. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Taken” by Steve Chimombo. First published in WASI. Copyright © 1996 by Steve Chimombo. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“I’m Not Talking About That, Now” by Sindiwe Magona. From Push-Push and Other Stories. Copyright © 1996 by Sindiwe Magona. Reprinted by permission of David Philip Publishers (Pty) Ltd.
“My Father, the Englishman, and I” by Nuruddin Farah. Copyright © 1996 by Nuruddin Farah. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“A Gathering of Bald Men” by Mandla Langa. First published in Word Literature Today. Copyright © 1996 by Mandla Langa. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Notes
1 A Senegalese pronunciation of sergent, the French for sergeant—Trans.
2 Female circumcision—Ed.
3 A snake.
4 Stang for 700$00, about £8.
5 Father, we put our trust in Thee, Lord of Heaven and earth.
6
A compound in French African missions where engaged women received spiritual instruction
before marriage.
7 Pidgin corruption of the English “Father.”
8 Wolof exclamation used in storytelling to express pity.
9 In Wolof, Bul Falleh means “Don’t Care,” a pun, in the context of the story.
10 In Wolof, Borom Hallis means “A Person with Money,” a pun also.
11 Street drumming (and dancing).
Introduction copyright © 1997 by Charles R. Larson
All rights reserved
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
18 West 18th Street, New York 10011
Published in 1997 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
www.fsgbooks.com
Designed by Jonathan D. Lippincott
eISBN 9781429952545
First eBook Edition : June 2011
First paperback edition, 1998
Owing to limitations of space, all acknowledgments for permission to reprint previously published material can be found on pages 313-315.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcorver edition as follows:
Under African skies : modern African stories / edited and with an
introduction by Charles R. Larson.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-374-21178-3 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-374-21178-7 (alk. paper)
1. Short stories, African. 2. African fiction—20th century. 3. Short stories, African—Translations into English. I. Larson, Charles R.
PL8011.U7 1997
808.83’ 10896—dc21
96048601
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-374-52550-7
Paperback ISBN-10: 0-374-52550-1