Homage to a genius: talented Lewis Nkosi lived by his own rules

One morning at the beginning of 2008, sitting at my desk pondering the contents of a second edition – the inaugural edition had been a resounding success and the pressure was high – I hit upon an idea of getting veteran writer Lewis Nkosi to write for our “How I Write” section. We’d envisioned this feature as a look behind the scenes – a writer taking us to their room, to their desk, sharing with us how the writing process happens for them, how the images in their minds are transformed into stirring words. In the launch issue, two months previously, Mike Sager, our ever-reliable and supremely talented editor at large, had taken the first turn brilliantly, speaking of his daily battle with the writing demons in his home office overlooking the idyllic Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, California.

For the second edition, an equally distinguished writer was needed. I immediately thought of Nkosi, a writer from my own home town whom I had admired for so long, a journalist and author of thought-provoking books such as Home and Exile and Mating Birds. I contacted his local literary agent, Sandile Ngidi, who in turn passed along the request. I must admit, part of me never believed Nkosi would actually write for our little known, new literary journal. To my great surprise, a few weeks later an e-mail with the essay came in from Nkosi himself. I was overjoyed.

Every editor knows the feeling: As soon as I read the piece, my excitement gave way to despair. I found the essay too academic and esoteric; I feared it would fly above the heads of readers, too. Clearly, Nkosi had not stuck to the brief. Equally as clearly, I could not go back to Nkosi to ask him to re-write. Deadline was fast approaching. In panic, I chose another writer, opting for youth this time.

With his passing last September, I revisited the Nkosi essay. By now our journal was into its eight issue. I was struck by its sheer beauty and depth of literary knowledge. I was ashamed this gem had flown above my head the first time. As his contemporary Prof Willie Kgositsile says in these pages, Nkosi was an anarchist who knew no boundaries. A brief from an editor must have been stifling; he wanted to write from the heart about a subject he loved the most – writing and literature.

We are therefore pleased to publish in this issue Nkosi’s entire piece. And utterly humbled. Together with the main profile and the accompanying sidebar from his long-standing partner, Astrid Starck-Adler, Nkosi comes alive in this issue of Wordsetc as an estimable man of letters who spoke his mind without fear, a man who loved his drink and lived by his own rules. General consensus is that he is one of the most important novelists of the twenty-first century, South African and worldwide. Thankfully, we’ll always have his works – his essays, plays, short stories and novels. Reading his body of work, we can better understand ourselves and our nation.

The birds must be mating in heaven.

Ndlelanhle Lusibalukhulu!

Phakama Mbonambi

Publishing editor

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Previous editions:

• December 2007 – Sol Plaaitjie
• May 2008 – Esk’ia Mphahlele
• August 2008 – Women and Words
• December 2008 – Obama
• May 2009 – Nadine Gordimer
• September 2009 – Imraan Coovadia
• February 2010 – Margie Orford
• August 2010 – Soccer and Literature
• February 2011 – Lewis Nkosi