PHOTOGRAPHY (MOROCCO)
Morocco: Kingdom of Light by Oliver Pilcher, Ariel Wizman, 2023
R2550 from Pezula Interiors
Assouline is synonymous with gift books, specialising as it does in lavish photography and beautiful book covers. (Its founder Prosper Assouline is quoted as saying, “Ninety-nine percent of the time, a book is closed in your apartment. So if it’s ugly, it’s a problem”.) Morocco: Kingdom of Light, with its lustrous silky cover featuring a lion in a red sash, is glossy and gorgeous. There’s an opening essay by Casablanca-born French musician, DJ, journalist and actor Ariel Wizman. And the photographs by Oliver Pilcher give us a sense of the richness of al-Maghrib (the Land of Sunset), from the lively streets of Marrakech to the serene Atlas Mountains. Georgia Black
CONTEMPORARY FICTION (KENYA)
Rinsing Mũkami’s Soul by Njambi McGrath, 2024
R450 from Exclusive Books
Rinsing Mũkami’s Soul is a powerful tale about finding your voice amid hopelessness and despair. The novel follows Mũkami, a young Kenyan girl whose life is turned upside down after a fateful encounter with a charming new boy at school. Left with the broken pieces of a once-promising future and no hope in sight, Mũkami is forced to leave behind her youthfulness and instead embrace an armour of strength to face her harsh new reality. This is a painful yet compelling story about the loss of innocence and the quest for peace and justice in a world that seeks to disempower and suppress women. Nokwanda Mngxitama