A RENEGADE CALLED SIMPHIWE

157 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2013

A collection of eight essays in which Pumla Dineo Gqola explores the public lives of South African singer Simphiwe Dana.

"Near every sentence in this book is a piece of soul music. I was left impressed, envious, and excited. While it claims to be about thinking of Simphiwe Dana out loud, the book is really a beat for millions of gifted, young, uncontainable Simphiwes who dare reimagine our society. I know of very few scholars who can make feminism sound so clear, enjoyable, hip, right and black, all at once." Kopano Ratele

"Pumla Gqola's mind exhilarates. The tone of this book is as conversational as it is probing and insightful. Doors of insight open up page after page with daring freshness. Here is a literary presence that makes thinking a pleasure." Njabulo Ndebele

Pumla Dineo Gqola is Associate Professor of African Literary and Gender Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is also the author of "What is Slavery to Me? Postcolonial/slave memory in post-apartheid South Africa" (2010).