An evening with Abdulrazak Gurnah: finding our shared humanity

Pages from the original manuscript of Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country. Artworks by Walter Battiss, Pierneef and Cecil Skotnes. An incunabulum, published in the 15th century, documenting the first printed reference to Portugal's maritime activities down the West African coast. Bouquets of flourishing flora. Soft jazz and artisanal gin. The scene is set for a conversation between Prof Bongani Ngqulunga and Nobel Prize winner in Literature Dr Abdulrazak Gurnah.

Held on Wednesday at the Brenthurst Library, a private repository of Africana built by Harry Oppenheimer in 1984, Ngqulunga and Gurnah's discussion, hosted by the Sunday Times Literary Awards and Exclusive Books, drew on the theme of our shared humanity, the topic Gurnah will address at the 22nd Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture at Wits University's Linder Auditorium on Saturday.

Born in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, now part of Tanzania, in 1948, Gurnah is the acclaimed author of 10 novels — including 1994's Booker and Whitbread shortlisted Paradise, 2001's Booker Prize longlisted By the Sea and 2005's Desertion — and arrived in England as a refugee in the late 1960s. 

Covering the narrative motifs of Gurnah's body of work, including colonialism, immigration, displacement and Othering, the duo's colloquy incorporated questions surrounding an imperialistic approach to publishing.

"There were very few publishers who published books by 'non-European' writers," Gurnah said of his nascent days of writing and the lengthy wait to be published; the effect colonialism had on shaping Africa in relation to the multiple African languages featured in Gurnah's novels; and acknowledging the reality that independence from colonial reign doesn't equate progress. "What's the point of writing if you can't write truthfully? Gurnah pronounced of this oft-neglected reality, and, ultimately, recognising the humanity of that which is Other. "Even if you are an agent of something which is cruel or brutal you might find ways to ameliorate that cruelty," Gurnah proclaimed. 

RSVP today for the singular, in-person opportunity to experience Gurnah's in-depth dissection of our shared humanity.