Heart of Redness

A superb new novel by an award-winning author. The background is the Eastern Cape, where in the 1850s, a 16-year-old prophetess, Nongqawuse, instructed the Xhosa nation to kill all their cattle and destroy their crops. She foretold that on an appointed day, the dead would arise, the kraals would be full of cattle, the silos full of fresh grain, and the white colonists and others who did not believe in her would be swept into the sea. Mda weaves a captivating story about a family caught up in the events of the 1850s, and their descendants' continuing feud in the 1990s.

Zakes Mda is a full-time writer, painter and film-maker. His numerous awards include the Olive Schreiner prize, the M-Net Book award, and the Noma Honourable Mention for Ways of Dying (OUPSA); the Thomas Pringle award for journalism; the Olive Schreiner prize for his drama, The Nun's Romanitc Story; the Sanlam award for his novel, She Plays with Darkness; and the Christina Crawford award (of the American Theater Association) for The Road. His academic achievements include a Fullbright-Hayes Fellowship, an MA from Ohio University and a PhD from the Universtiy of Cape Town. He has worked as a professor of drama and literature at universities in South Africa, Lesotho and the USA, and played a leading role in running numerous community drama projects. He is on the board of trustees of the President's Ars and Culture Trust.