My Book on the BBC Website!!

The new wave of romance writing in South Africa, of which I am proudly a part of, is getting all sorts of press lately. Here is an article on the BBC website. My publisher is Sapphire Press (an imprint of Kwela).

If you look carefully at the photo at the top ... that's my book Can He Be The One? !!!! On the BBC website!!!

That's a very nice Monday morning present.

Ghanaian Blogger Geoffrey Gyasi Interviews Me

Geoffrey Gyasi a Ghanaian blogger who blogs at Geosi Reads interviewed me at his book-loving blog.

GR: Have you always wanted to become a writer? At what point in your life did you decide that you wanted to be a writer?

LK: I am not one of those writers who “has to write”, I do it because I enjoy it. When I look back I see that writing is a thread that runs through my life but I never thought one day I’d be a writer. At various points in my life books have saved me, they gave me a refuge I didn’t have in my real world. I guess I wanted to find a way to be more a part of books, writing seemed to be a natural progression. I’ve only been writing for 7 years.

See the rest of the interview HERE.

Could you be a Resident Writer?

My Australian writing friend, Elsa Neal, interviewed me about last year's writing residency in Egypt for Blood Red Pencil. The article is "Do You Have What It Takes to Be A Resident Writer?

Here's an excerpt:

Elsa asked me what a writer should do to prepare for a residency. I told her you should know what you plan to work on.
"I had a project I wanted to work on while I was there, a new novel. Before I went I made sure all of my pre-work was done: character bibles, a plot map, chapter outlines. I also got about halfway through the rough draft before leaving. My plan was to complete the rough draft of the novel while in Egypt and I did manage to do that.

....despite the beach outside my window!

Read the rest of the interview HERE.

Buy Can He Be The One- Available Online!!!

My second romance novella, Can He Be The One?, is now available online. My first book ever that could be bought online. Very excited!!!

If you want to buy it click HERE.

How To Make Morula Jam (and by accident morula sweets)

We have two morula trees in our back yard, a male one and the female one above, just next to my office. As I sit here writing every once in a while I'll get a big fright when one of the morula fruit fall on the roof with a much bigger sound than its size would predict. The tree is prolific and for years I've been wondering what to do with all of the fruit. I searched for a recipe for morula jam but never found one. This year I decided to try my luck and I was so pleased with the result. I thought I'd record my results here for other people.

1. Collect the morula fruit from the ground.

2. Wash them a few times.

3. Put them in a pot with water and boil. Boil them for a long time. I boiled mine for about two hours. Until the skins break open.

4. Let them cool down. Then mash them up with a potato masher.

5. Now strain the mixture. You want the liquid not the seeds and skins. If the mixture is too thick you can add water. It makes no difference how much water you add.

6. Add water to the mixture. For the amount I used I added 4 cups of golden brown sugar. The best way to know if the sugar is enough is to taste it. You can also experiment and add cinnamon and ginger which is very nice, even some lemon juice.

7. Boil the liquid again. By trial and error I discovered if you boil the mixture until it is jam consistency, when it cools you will have made morula sweets, which is a problem if you have now poured it into a jar. (for morula sweets pour it out on a cookie tray and when hard cut into cubes, can be rolled in sugar). To get jam, stop boiling when it is apple sauce consistency. I have to admit though that this part is the tricky part. But it is reversible. If you cook too long, pour in the jar and then it cools and you find it has become solid like sweets you can heat the jar and pour the whole lot back in a pot. Add water and heat again.

8. When cool pour into sterilised (boiled) jars and VOILA!!! It tastes a bit like apricot jam but wilder and with more flavour. And who doesn't want to be wilder???

What's New in Lauri's Life?

I've been busy busy and not keeping things up-to-date, so here goes.

1. I've signed and sent off to Tafelberg (South Africa) the contract for Aunt Lulu. It will hopefully be out mid this year. It is about a girl who is asked to run the agony aunt column in her school newspaper. She agrees reluctantly since she sees it as a step down from her lofty aims of being a serious journalist. It all goes wrong and then sort of right before the book is over.

2. I finished last edits to The Vanishings, my first book in a new detective series with police officer, Dambuza Chakalisa and safari owner, Delly Woods. It's a full length novel about the sudden strange disappearances of people in Maun. I've sent it off to a publisher- cross fingers!

3. I've begun writing short science articles on new discoveries for Mmegi again. Here's one about male pattern baldness. I really enjoy researching and writing these.

4. And my weekly column in The Voice Newspaper is going along. I still get phone calls most weeks, so I think people are readings it. Here is last week's column on showing and not telling and the one before that on the nasty habit of exploiting artists in Botswana.

So that's about my life lately, except I recently celebrated a birthday, I'm now 47. Though people bad mouth Facebook as a huge time waster, I must say I certainly enjoyed all of the lovely birthday messages I found there last Saturday.

So that's my life, like I said a bit busy.

Is a Bestseller Really a Best Seller??

This is an interesting article about how books are made into bestsellers and it appears to have little to do with how many books have been sold. From this article it appears even an average book that a publisher decides is going to be a bestseller becomes one because of the pre-publicity for the book.

The publisher may decide they like you. You may have a good list of contacts. You might have a weird lifestyle that could be milked. And what about this about one of my favourite books-

On a smaller scale even our own Arundati Roy's 'God of Small Things' had a roller coaster ride helped by her publisher. Arundati's personal life was as interesting as her book was uninteresting! She had fought with her mother and left house in Kerala to stay in a slum in Mumbai. She joined NID and made a film with an extraordinary and inscrutable title, 'In which Annie gives it those things,' See ? Then she was the daughter of the redoubtable Mary Roy who took on the might of the Church in Kerala to get her share of the family property. There were other more salacious bits some of which were splashed in the tabloids. The publishers then got the 'Big Mouths' to talk about the book. Incidentally, one of the Big Mouths was Shobha De! There were favourable reviews in select dailies followed by interviews. Arundati's own 'in your face' attitude helped sell her book. The rest is history and dear Arundati never wrote another book!

Imagine 2000 books printed just to send out for pre-publications marketing. That's our entire print run around here. So what do you think about this?

Help!! What to talk about in London?

See the problem is I know what I know and don't really know what I know which is different from what other people know. You get me??

SO- I'm supposed to speak in London about how it is to be a writer in Botswana. I know some things are different, for example we make little to no money from the trades, we don't use agents, etc.

But my question to you dear readers who are so helpful and lovely- if you were walking into a talk by a writer from Botswana, what would you want to know from that person? What would you expect them to speak about?

I am sending you all sorts of kisses and hugs in advance for the use of your brilliant minds.
THANK YOU!!

Our Trip to the Rhino Sanctuary

During the Christmas holidays, Mr K and I took a camping trip to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary not so far from where we live. I'm not the best photographer because I much prefer to experience what I'm doing as opposed to taking photos of what I'm doing, so I missed all of the best photos, like the Bateleur eagle and the kudus fighting and the family of eight warthogs. But I did get a few photos I thought I'd share.

This fellow above is a leopard tortoise. Mr K and I had a schedule we followed each day. We'd wake up early and pack tea and peanut butter sandwiches, then we'd head to the bird hide for breakfast. After that we'd spend the morning cruising around the park. About noon we'd be back at the camp site for a late brunch and reading in the shade. While reading, I heard crunching in the bush near our tent. I only saw the grass moving and this fellow's shell and at first I thought it was a massive python. Closer inspection revealed this very friendly fellow who in the end spent the entire afternoon munching away while we napped and read next to him. I'm a huge fan of turtles and tortoises and this one was a lovely specimen.


There are plenty of impala in the sanctuary. This is a lonely male. The park is looking very green in this photo.

We also saw lots of giraffe. Though I tried my best, I have no photo of them grazing. I suppose they are trying to keep it a closely guarded secret but the giraffe at KRST graze! They spread out their legs and get to work on the grass, all of them even the juveniles.

One thing I did notice this time, the white rhino are becoming very tolerant of people. It used to be you'd only see them far across the pan. This one was right next to the car. What you don't see in this photo is me completely spazzing out. I'm not a fan of dying like a shish kebab on the horn of one of these fellows. The problem was we were in a queue of cars, one in front, one behind and this guy decided to come right up to our car and we could not get out of his way. Eish!!

We've been going to KRST for years, sometimes more often, sometimes less. It's large enough to still feel wild but small enough that you always see something. It was a lovely trip this time as usual.

Home Away

Home Away is an interesting collection of stories because some are fiction and some are true. They are written by South Africans travelling elsewhere. The book is arranged to cover 24 hours on the clock, over 24 cities around the world. It's about their reflections on their problematic home when they are not there.

I resisted mentioning this book on my blog because I personally know many of these writers. As I've written before sometimes it can be seen as a conflict of interest for a writer to review books especially books written by friends. I think I've settled on the position- if I like it, I like it. I liked Home Away.

Like most collections of this type, written by different writers, there are stories I don't like as much as others. My favourite in the whole collection in the end is written by a person I don't know and have never heard of before, "Hair Shirt" written by Ivan Vladislavic is set in Oklahoma City. It's creepy and stuck to me like a bit of tar. You're not sure what has just happened when you're finished reading but you have a feeling it wasn't very nice.

I've raved elsewhere about Sarah Lotz's "Maun of the Dead", a story about our very own Maun being invaded by zombies. I also loved Sarah's writing partner, Louis Greenberg's story which takes place in Ushuaia Argentina on his honeymoon, called "Last Chance at the End of the World". It's so tender and loving and laugh out loud funny.

The royalties from the sale of this book go to charity, another reason, besides the fact that it is a very good read, to buy it.

I'm Going to London!!!!

I saved this for Friday on purpose- Friday should come carrying gifts. My gift is good news. I've already mentioned this on Facebook but not here on my blog. (For Facebook friends who are also Blogging friends- please excuse the repeat)

So what's my good news?? I'm going to London from the 16-19th February as a speaker at the London School of Economics and Political Science Space for Thought Literary Festival 2011.
I will be giving a talk titled,"Writing Across Borders A Botswana Perspective".

I'm really excited about it. I'm a bit scared of the UK coldness, which I'm not quite sure I'll be able to handle. Cross fingers a spell of spring hovers over London for those few days.

And please, if any of my fabulous readers happen to live in London or will be there at that time, I'd love to meet up with you. One of my favourite things is to turn internet friends into flesh and blood ones, it's like some kind of magic.

So that's my Friday good news- what's yours??

Homing by Henrietta Rose-Innes

Many people say, "I don't like short stories, they're so unfulfilling." There is a fad in short story writing at the moment of leaving the reader hanging high up there with their legs swinging in the air and you the writer walk away waving "bye-bye". I always feel a bit undermined by such stories. As if I haven't been let in on a private joke. It's not fair and I completely get readers' frustrations since I feel it myself when a writer treats me so.

There is something very comforting about reading a short story written by Henrietta Rose-Innes. From the second you begin you feel safe, you know she will not leave you up there hanging as she walks away with a knowing smirk on her face. You will, instead, leave the story satisfied, like you were allowed dessert after a big plate of lasagne. You will want absolutely nothing else.

I'm a bit of a manic short story writer. I don't plan, unlike my books which I plan incessantly. With short stories, I get a tiny bit of an idea and then sit down at the computer and hope the story will have legs. Sometimes it doesn't and I put it away. Sometimes it has ugly, useless legs that carry me to a place I don't like very much. Other times the story walks calmly and with certitude to its conclusion and I am pleased. But it is all about chance.

With Henrietta Rose-Innes you feel as if it is never about chance. You feel she is always firmly in control of things and you need not worry at all, you will enjoy the ride and arrive at your destination safely.

In her first collection of short stories, Homing, I cannot pick out a single story that is lacking. I finished the collection some weeks ago and still certain stories are sitting stubbornly at the front of my brain demanding I take spare moments to give them a thought.

One in particular is "Promenade" about a middle aged man who takes his evening exercise walking along the edge of the ocean in Cape Town. Each day he passes a certain man, he later decides is a boxer, and they develop an odd connection for the few seconds each time they meet. It is a haunting story about our connections to our species-mates and how our actions impact on everything around us.

"Homing" the first story in the collection is another that will not leave me alone. It is about an elderly couple and how a new fancy hotel built next to their modest home upsets their lives. Rose-Innes builds the tension by showing us the couple's vulnerability created by this intrusion into their settled, safe life.

Besides her confident and competent way of approaching short stories, Rose-Innes does not try to dazzle the reader with bells and whistles which is highly appreciated by this reader. She tells her story plain and simple and then pops the reader with the human truth laid bare. This is an excellent collection I read in nearly one sitting, and will definitely be pulling down off my shelf to read again.

My Reading List from 2010

Emmanuel Sigauke, writer and owner of the blog Wealth of Ideas interviewed me over the holidays. He asked me to make a list of the books I read during 2010. It was a huge task to try and remember and I'm not sure my list is correct, almost positive it is not, but I tried my best.

At the end he interviews me. Here was one of the questions:

You have written more than thirteen books? Are you a satisfied writer?

Is anyone ever a satisfied writer? No, I am not. I’m learning as I go along. My only hope is that I’m getting better, and even this I’m not always sure about. I have a story I wrote very early on that I try not to read. It’s a short story, a flash, and I think it may be one of the best things I’ve ever written. I don’t read it because it makes me wonder if what I believe, that I’m learning and getting better, is really true. Anyway, I suppose that’s the typical insecurities of a writer.

Satisfied writer- do those words EVER go together??

See the list and read the rest of the interview HERE.

Resolutions for Superheroes

Here is my last column for 2010 (quite a fabulous year, acutally) from The Voice.
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I love a new year, just like I love a new day, and a blank piece of paper. Each is 100% potential. Every possible thing could happen. Hesitations and back tracking have yet to make an appearance. No does not exist. Perhaps I’m an eternal optimist but a new year always puts me in the right frame of mind- my superhero frame of mind- I can do absolutely anything and everything.

The world is wide open waiting only for me. Any experiences in the previous year that might be evidence used against my super hero-ness are rubbed clean. They are not allowed to cross that magical line we all step over at 11:59 pm on the 31st of December. Anti-superhero evidence, in its entirety, we drop at the threshold as we walk though the door into 2011.

So this year when you cross the door, in your imaginary blue tights and red cape, where will you be heading? It’s all fine and good to be equipped with x-ray vision and the ability to fly but if your talents are not used positively things can go decidedly pear shaped quite quickly. Even superheroes need goals and it’s best to make them when your mind is still untainted by the faltering steps and cracked pavement waiting to catch you out beyond the magic door. When the slate is clean, you can decide what will go where. Once you let Life get involved, it will start filling up all of the good spots, leaving you only leftovers- and no one likes leftovers.

As writers, despite rumours to the contrary, we design our course. Do I want to write a book about ghosts? How about win a short story contest? Do I want to get an agent? Will I self publish? All of these questions help us to define the path we take. Other jobs you have a boss handing out the goals and even laying down the bricks on your path. Not as a writer. It’s all up to you.

So make some new year’s resolutions- serious, specific ones. Make them now before it gets too late. You’re the boss, lay down those bricks.

From my point of view, as writers we have some main areas where specific goals should be made. We must write. We must learn. We must read. We must be published. We must publicise.

We Must Write
You call yourself a writer- but do you write? Make a resolution. Come the end of December 2011 what writing do you want finished? Do you want to end 2011 with an 80,000 word novel in your hands or five solid poems? How will you accomplish that? Will you write only on weekends? After work? Everyday? How many words must you write at each writing session to accomplish your goal? Commit to that word count. Give yourself quantifiable goals.

We Must Learn
Writing is an endless journey of learning. Tomorrow’s writing will be better than today’s if we make sure we progress in learning our craft. Attend workshops. Read writing books. Go to author talks. Learn online. But don’t only learn the craft, make sure you learn the business too. Know how the publishing business works. Pay attention to up and coming technologies. What learning resolutions do you have for 2011? Write them down; commit to them.

We Must Read
I know you’re getting tired of me singing this song BUT we must read to be good writers. Again make a new year’s resolution. How many books will you read each month?

We Must Be Published
Are you going to start a blog for your writing? How often will you post? Do you want to get your poetry or short stories published? Which literary magazines will you submit to? Do you have a novel that needs a publisher? Which agents or publishers do you intend to send it to in 2011? Write your goals down. On the 31st of December 2011, how many poems will you have published? Where will your novel be?

We Must Publicise
Though most writers would like to stay hidden in their writing room, the game decides that is no longer viable. In 2011 how are you going to get your work out there? Will you set up a website? Will you read at public events? Will you attend book fairs? Make a personal marketing plan for your superhero self.

Writing is a tough, tough business. By the 3rd of January 2011 evil forces will be tugging at your cape, your blue tights will start to fade under their hot gaze, but if you’ve marked out your path with stakes made of steel, at least you’ll know where you’re heading. They’ll bash you around with their rejections and losses. They’ll tell you your characters are flat, your plot predictable and your poem riddled with tired clichés- but it won’t matter. You are a writer with a plan and you expect next New Year’s Eve to be a time of celebration. So, get to work now, my Superheroes- your new day is just about to arrive.

Income Generating Activities for Underpaid Authors

I am a big fan of David Sedaris thanks to my friend Mark Pocan who arrived at my house in Botswana (travelling all the way from Madison Wisconsin, USA) bearing gifts among them books written by Mr Sedaris. I think he is Fabulous (yes with a capital F) and I think this idea is one of his best. Put a tip jar at your book signing table. Wow!! I could do with an extra $4000 I don't know about you.

Writers are notoriously underpaid and I think it might be time to climb out of the box as Mr Sedaris has and come up with some ways to expand that income base. (I wouldn't advocate the selling of drugs as one commenter on the Guardian article suggested)

So what ideas do you have? I'm keen to hear- and of course promptly steal.

Menage a Trois- Part 2

A few months ago I was involved in a three-way email discussion/interview with two writers I admire Tania Hershman (author of the short story collection The White Road and Other Stories) and Sue Guiney (whose most recent book is A Clash of Innocents). Today we are posting the interview on our respective blogs in three parts.

Read Menage a Trois- Part 1 at Tania's blog here.

Menage a Trois- Part 2

Tania:
This is fun! And very interesting. Is there anything you'd like to ask each other while I am formulating my thoughts?

Sue:
Ooh yes. Lauri, my dear: you once mentioned on a blog comment that agents aren’t used or needed in the Botswana publishing industry. I’m ashamed to say I know almost nothing about how the business works where you are and I assume you might know something about the UK or US industry. Are there any other differences that you’ve noticed, and if so, do you find some differences better than others?

Thanks both...

Lauri:
Hello Girlies!
I thought what Sue said in this bit below about plays being visual and short stories and novels appearing more in a certain time frame to be very interesting. Maybe you can speak a bit more about this. Being a child of TV, almost everything I write is in scenes- especially genre stuff. I almost even break for commercials. I find it interesting that you compartmentalise in such a way.

What I meant about writing for money is that many people believe it compromises the work. I’d lie if I said it does not stop me from writing certain things- it does. If I can’t see the market, I don’t write it I just don’t have time for that and in that sense I suppose it does compromise the art of my writing a bit. But then too, I feel like I’m a bit more of a technician than an artisan.

Sue, you asked a bit about the difference between writing here and the writing climate in UK. Since most of my stuff is published here and in South Africa I can write about both of these places as they are similar, though Botswana on a much smaller scale. Publishers in Botswana (exclusively) and in SA (mostly) publish books for the school market. That is where they make their money and that is where writers will make their money if they intend to. There is a microscopic trade market in Botswana that is filled to the brim with international titles. Botswana titles do not stand a chance. I have two detective novellas, one published in 2005 which has earned P290 (USD 48) and one published in 2008 which has earned P799 (USD 133) from sales in bookstores. The publishers know nothing about marketing such books. That first book (2005) has now been taken as a prescribed book for junior secondary schools here. In April I will get a cheque for P130,000 (USD 21,600) and I will get about half to a third of that each year for the next five years. You can see the difference. In SA the trades are a bit better and occasionally you get a break out novel from SA- for example the Spud books, which exploded selling maybe 80,000 and now are going overseas and there will be movies etc.. A bestseller in SA is normally 2000-4000 books sold in bookstores, they have a population of about 47 million. We have 1.8 million. It is tough to make a living from those kinds of figures.
Of course there are writers here and in SA that don’t use local publishers and have agents etc and publish overseas. They of course do better in the trades.

I don’t really know about this one but I hear writers in USA and UK talking about editors and the big role they play in their success. Here we deal directly with publishers, even in SA, at least in my experience, except recently with the editor I was dealing with for my short story collection,. But we deal with publishers. They get editors, usually on a freelance basis, and then give you a report. I’ve never really known my editors or communicated with them and they are very ephemeral so I don’t think they’d play a very big role in my career. Then too, I’m not loyal to a single publisher. Currently for my published books I have five publishers, only my local Botswana one am I slightly loyal to.


Tania:
This is very interesting stuff, really enlightening about the book market in Botswana/SA. Sue, can you shed any light on any differences between UK and US from what you've heard from US writer friends?

This may be a ten-part series, this interview - with commercial breaks!

Sue:
Hi kids,
Monday morning after a somewhat sleepless night where I couldn’t turn off my brain. Of all the crazy, counterproductive stuff I was thinking about, this conversation of ours is one of the few things that isn’t driving me crazy right now, so I’m thrilled to start the week off with some responses to this latest instalment.

When I was a kid, I assumed that the way my world conducted itself in my little corner of suburbia was the way everything worked the world round, ie that we all had the same electricity, the same tv shows, the same brands of cereal. But then I met my first box of Weetabix. I feel the same now as I learn about the way the publishing industry runs around the world. What you have described, Lauri, is as different from what I have experienced in the UK and US as could be. Where I write and attempt to be published, writers are completely compartmentalized. Writing for schools is a very separate, specialized segment of the market. They have their own divisions of publishing houses, their own requirements and procedures. All that has nothing to do with the writing world I function in. My writing world is also very compartmentalized, but by genre with the most successful ones (financially) being in whichever genre is deemed to be the most popular at the time. Right now it seems to be memoir and celebrity bios, with some high profile detective/suspense novels thrown in. Agents are the gatekeepers to the large houses, and that means to the big distributors. You can’t break in without them. This is especially true in the US. Holding an academic position is also helpful — especially in the States, or so it seems to me. This has caused me to think quite seriously about trying to get a teaching position in a Uni somewhere, although to teach because I want to write instead of because I want to teach seems churlish to me, but that may change. I now find myself wondering if I would be approaching what and how I write very differently if I lived in a country whose markets and industries were run as yours are. It’s fascinating to me how our work is affected by such things. You say you are “a bit more of a technician than an artisan “. A very interesting and telling statement. Shouldn’t we need to be both? How do the vagaries of our individual markets force us into feeling one way more than another. I do want to say, though, that I think new technologies are forcing changes in the industry as it is run up here. I know you’ve heard me say this before and I don’t believe it’s only wishful thinking. The fact that books can be printed on demand or downloaded may well be the saviour of the small press. If small presses which are not only willing but eager to publish things like poetry, literary fiction, short stories can remain viable, then the reading public will have a greater choice of what to read and writers will have more freedom to write what they wish.

But if I can go back to my midnight brain override, one of the things I was worrying/wondering about does affect our discussion, namely how do we decide what we write. It has always been my experience, as I’ve said, that the genre dictates itself depending on the concept, image or character. I’ve also found that this often is directly related to the time frame the piece will develop in. But I now find that I am in a complete muddle about something I’m writing, and Tania, you know where I’m going with this. I have a character who’s been living in my head for years. I know everything there is to know about this man and I’ve tried to write his story in short story form twice. But I now am wondering if his story really would work better as a novel (God help me) and if so, why? But even more to the point, why do I want to insist on this being a short story? Because I haven’t written one in a while? Because I want to have something to enter into a competition? If I had an agent and a publisher presenting me with a 2-book deal, would I even be considering writing this as a story? Technician or artisan?
_______________________________________________

Ready for Menage a Trois Part 3?
Pop over to Sue Guiney's blog-Writing Life!

Botswana Music Camp

I've been gone for a week to Botswana Music Camp. I play trumpet, not so well, but each year I attend the camp I jump three or four steps ahead and this year was no different. The camp lasts for a week. You sign up for a major group; mine was instrumental band. For that group only you must be able to play your instrument before you come because once you are there it's all about getting the people who have shown up to learn songs as quickly as possible and to play together. There is no time to teach the instruments. For other groups you learn the instrument at the camp. Normally for band we have a lot of guitar players and keyboard players but nothing of anything else. This year I was lucky to be with quite a good saxophone player, a music teacher at Ledumang Senior Secondary School in Gaborone. Our leader for the band is Tshilo Baitsile, a very accomplished saxophone player. He appeared in the Mma Ramotswe movie playing his sax. He's an excellent teacher.

The sekgaba group performing at the Saturday final concert at Maitisong

There are many other groups for campers to choose from including: marimba, setinkane, sekgaba, African drums, pop singing, classical singing and dance.

African drums group performing at the Saturday concert

From the minute the camp starts on Sunday you are immersed in music. Each day starts with camp choir which everyone must be in. Then you have your main class for most of the day except for about an hour when you go to one of the other classes for appreciation, to learn what they do there. Each night we had entertainment, always something musical. One night we had a fantastic traditional dance group from Old Naledi in Gaborone. Friday night we attended the President's Concert at Maitisong which was also pretty fabulous. On Saturday we had our end of camp concert.

The Old Naledi traditional dance group that came for evening entertainment

It really is a fantastic thing. This year was the 25th anniversary of the camp. It was started by Batswana and exiled South Africans including Hugh Masekela in 1985. We pay only P900 per person and that includes accommodation and food (both basic but we're not there for that in any case). The real cost for each participant is just over P2000 but the fee is subsidised by donors like Standard Chartered Bank.

Many accomplished musicians in Botswana got their start at Botswana Music Camp since currently we do not have a school of music in the country.

This year, there was a big group of campers from Walter Sizulu University in South Africa. There was a talented young guitarist from Germany and a beautiful young singer from Finland- all participants in the camp. I thought when I was there what a fantastic thing Music Camp would be for a visiting tourist. They would have to pay the full price P2000 ( about 350 US dollars) for a whole week of instruction, accommodation and food. They could learn about the beautiful traditional instruments we have such as setinkane and sekgaba and go home with something so much bigger than photos of giraffes and lions.

I always leave Music Camp a better player but also a better person, with a new list of friends. It really is a wonderful experience. Now I must wait another year to go back.

Acacia Flowers

Acacia trees can be so stubborn and stingy with their tiny leaves and wicked thorns but I'm always amazed come spring when they are so extravagant with their flowers. It's so unlike most trees with their brown, green non-showy flowers. Acacia trees in full flower look like a tree decorated for Christmas. I took a couple photos so you can get the idea.

Writers Reviewing Books

This morning I read a very insightful article written by author Fiona Snyckers about reviewing books as a writer. I often get asked to review books, publishers even send them to me nowadays and there are many issues that come to the fore. If I know the writer how do I approach the review? If it's a good book- no problem, but what if it's not. What then? I've often taken the cowardly approach and wrote nothing.

Though Fiona speaks about the small South African publishing world, with internet the publishing world all over has become very small. Getting a black mark against your name for bashing some one's book is not a good career move and may come back to get you. And too, is it even correct for writers to judge other books? Isn't it a bit like the bosses at Ford critiquing the new Toyota Hilux?

Here on this blog I don't consider my posts reviews. They're my opinion just like my opinion on my performance in the recent bird count (BTW- the woman called me and was full of praise for my work. I told her the truth about what went on but she would not be subdued). As writers we read, and there are books we love and books we don't. On this blog I speak only about the books I love. Perhaps I'm rationalising it and trying to get away from the label 'book review' but somehow I feel it's different.

What do you think? Is it right for writers to review books? Do you? And how to approach these ethical issues?

Difficult to Explain- a Poetry Guidebook

Difficult to Explain, edited by South African poet Finuala Dowling, is a great way to enter the murky water of poetry gently and without fear. The book is published by Hands-on Books an imprint of Modjaji Books. (It can be bought HERE)

The book starts with Ms Dowling explaining her initial reluctance to teach poetry. She finally decides to prolong a summer writing course by holding sessions in her home that teeters on a hill with a window looking out to the ocean where passing whales often mean breaktime for the students and their teacher.

The book starts with Ms Dowling explaining how the classes are run and her approach to teaching poetry. The remainder of the book is poems written by her students. At the beginning of a section she explains what the assignment was and then gives examples of how her students interpreted the assignment.

I don't write poetry though I have an interest in doing so, not for publication, more for exercises to get my creative juices flowing when I'm feeling stale. This book is lovely for me as I intend to try and do some of the assignment too. So the book is an introduction to poetry and poetry writing, with exercises that are safe to do at home without supervision and yet it is also full of fabulous, funny, touching poems. How can you NOT love an assignment that asks you to write a poem with a title that is significantly longer than the poem itself?

I can't deny I'm dead jealous of each and every one of Ms Dowling's students. I would love to sit in that room at the end of Africa looking at whales while writing poetry, but I'm very happy the group put this book together. They've laid out some sturdy step-stones to start me out on my poetic way. Thank you- you lucky devils!!