Last Saturday Thorsten and I went to a launch of Eve Fairbanks’ new book, The Inheritors, at the Soweto Book Café. I was excited because: 1) Eve and I have been friends for years and I was keen to hear some discussion about her award-winning book, which tells the story of modern South Africa in a very unique way; and 2) I had never been to, or even heard of, the Soweto Book Café (SBC), but I had a feeling it was something special. And it was.
Getting to SBC is an iconic Soweto experience: We wound through the city (Soweto is technically part of Joburg but it’s really a city unto itself) to Zondi, a township smack in the middle of Soweto, and had a few inevitable GPS hiccups along the way. SBC is right beside a main artery but not accessible to that road by car, so we looped around on narrow side streets to get there. Like many Soweto small businesses, SBC is in a residential neighborhood with no sign on the outside.
We parked at the end of a haphazard cul-de-sac; walked past a pile of rubble through the open garage door, into the house; climbed a hidden staircase; and entered a roughly hexagonal, magical book universe.
SBC is a first-floor (second-floor, if you’re American) addition to a formerly single-story family home, surrounded by a brick balcony with big, round windows that act as portholes into the surrounding township. I was enchanted.
Soweto resident Thami Mazibuko founded SBC in 2018, a couple of years after he moved back to Zondi from downtown Joburg and realized he and his neighbors desperately needed a place to access books. Books are expensive and hard to come by in South Africa, as are libraries and locally owned bookstores (or any bookstores) – especially in townships.
Thami started out with his own small collection of books, then gradually grew his stock through donations and relationships with local publishers. Thami and his assistant, Xolani Mahlangu, now stock thousands of books of all kinds: pop fiction, Western classics, African literature, reference books, text books, travel books, books in multiple South African languages. SBC became not just a bookshop but a library, book distributor, book club venue, study hall, and event space for the surrounding community.
SBC was perfect for the launch The Inheritors, a large portion of which takes place in Meadowlands (a Soweto township close to Zondi). The launch was well attended by a diverse, engaged crowd and Thorsten and I were so glad we went.
I can’t recommend the Soweto Book Café enough – keep an eye on their social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for announcements about future events.
The Soweto Book Café is at 1023 Mafumbu Street, Zondi, Soweto.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.