To Stir the Heart: Four African Stories

Présentation de l'éditeur These powerful stories by two of Africa's most renowned twentieth-century authors explore African cultures at the intersection of tradition and modernity, colonialism, and independence. Botswana's preeminent writer Bessie Head and Ngugi wa Thiong'o, "the most significant East African writer" (the New York Times), each use the politics and history of Africa in the midst of change as background for compelling stories of characters who, like their countries, are in search of their identity. In different ways, Head and Ngugi also chart the uneasy coexistence of men and women when their individual natures and desires conflict with societal expectations and customs. Biographie de l'auteur Bessie Head (1937-1986) is considered Botswana's most important writer. She was born in South Africa but immigrated to Botswana. She is best known for her short story collection The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales, and her novels A Question of Power, Maru, and When Rain Clouds Gather. Ngugi wa Thiong'o (1938- )is a major Kenyan writer now living in the United States. He has taught at Yale and New York University. He is a Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature as well as the Director of the International Center for Writing and Translation at the University of California, Irvine.