The Early Writings of Alex La Guma

As a leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation and a communist, Alex La Guma was charged with treason, banned, lived under house arrest, and ultimately forced into exile. This collection of his early work as a journalist and short story writer, well before he became a published novelist, provides unique cameos of South African life and politics during the late 1950s and early 1960s, invaluable for the recovery of important aspects of the history of South Africa's liberation movement. The collection also offers important insight into La Guma's development as a serious writer; many of the themes in his fiction are first encountered in these early articles and stories, providing seminal material for scholars seeking to understand the progression of his work. CONTENTS: Foreword--Hein Willemse. Cape Town's Urban Griot: A Tribute--Michael Weeder. Photo Gallery. THEATRE OF LIFE. Identical Books. A Day in Court. The Dead-End Kids of Hanover Street. In the Shadow of the Kwela-Kwela. Ten Days in Roeland Street Jail. Law of the Jungle. Out of the Darkness (short story). A Matter of Honour (short story). TREASON TRIAL. 156 Families to Feed. Court Cameos. Ncincilili! In Praise of Wilton Mkwayi. Time to Think. JO'BURG. The City of Gold. Doing the Town. Fietas. Muddy Pools Which Could Be Tears. Little Libby: The Adventures of Liberation Chabalala (cartoon strip). CAPE TOWN. Back Up My Alley. Me and "Cultcha." Why Must We Move? Christian National Education. Elections for the "Coloured Representatives." "Ah, Dis die Economic Boycott." "Coloured Affairs""and Uncle Toms. Langa 1960. State of Emergency. No to the White Republic. COLD WARS. The Picture in the Parlor. Uncle Sam. Sputnik. RULING-CLASS POLITICS. The Ordinary or Garden Nat. Immorality: Says Who? Fishy Business. Pampoen-onder-die-Bos. EPILOGUE.