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“He stared back at her, unconcerned. She had always marvelled at his calm assurance that everything good in his life would either remain the same or get better. He took good fortune for granted. As though it were impossible that it would abide only for a spell. She had never been able to shake the sense that life was war, a series of battles with the occasional spell of good things.” - Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀A dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession and political corruption.We sat down with Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ discuss her latest book A Spell of Good Things, which has been longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize.

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Set over the course of one weekend, Christopher introduces us to Vuyo, one of a long lineage of headstrong January women. Vuyo, pregnant with twins is mourning the death of her Scottish-born husband and has come home to her family home in the rural Eastern Cape.Paying homage to matrilineal lineage, the January women take centre stage in this book. Written from each of their perspectives, Christopher offers a look at the interior lives of these Black women, their tragedies, relationships, and histories. Tenderly and with a clarity that can only be described as masterful, Siyotula explores what it means to be each of these women.Healing and reconciliation, and the transformative power of nature are explored in this novel. Aided by the vivid, visual representations of the lush Eastern Cape, water is central theme in this book. The power of water and by extension, nature is a prominent feature of Siyotula’s writing.Interestingly, Siyotula’s characters are complex and deeply layered. Representative of the deeply labyrinthine nature of family, each of these characters are a reminder that home is indeed the first site of the political.With unconventional male characters, Siyotula reimagines what equality in relationships may look like, particularly for women whose lives and experiences have always been devalued.The Cheeky Natives sat down with Nozuku Siyotula to discuss this beautiful novel.

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"With her first full-length poetry collection, Warsan Shire introduces us to a young girl, who, in the absence of a nurturing guide, makes her own way toward womanhood. Drawing from her own life, as well as pop culture and news headlines, Shire finds vivid, unique details in the experiences of refugees and immigrants, mothers and daughters, Black women and teenage girls. In Shire’s hands, lives spring into fullness." The Cheeky Natives sat down with Warsan Shire following the release of her much anticipated poetry collection.In a far ranging conversation spanning the both themes of the book and the context in which they exist, this complex and layered life was laid out. These poems are a record of black womanhood, a journey often characterised by a prevailing state of precarity and difficulty.Despite this, Warsan also captures the joy and magic in the essence of our journey into becoming. Warsan’s writing is masterful, each poem so vividly and tenderly written that it unfurls as you read it. For fans of Warsan, (s/o to Tumblr), this collections feels like a meeting of old friends, an encounter where one sees just how much they have changed and grown. In many ways, this book is effulgent. A writing against the abyss of trauma, harm and erasure.

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According to the NYT, The Prophets’ is an exploration of Black Love and Memory in a Time of Trauma. What an apt description of this powerful debut by Robert Jones Jr. In a novel moving across time and space, we are introduced to Samuel and Isaiah, who are two enslaved young men on a plantation named Empty. Despite a betrayal by another one of the enslaved men, their love burns brightly. Moving back in time, we are introduced to the Kosongo people and meet Kosii and Elewa who are spiritual predecessors to Samuel and Isaiah. There are a multitude of other characters who we meet in this traversing of time and place, Amos, Ruth, Paul and Tim. The Cheeky Natives sat down with Robert Jones Jr to discuss this radical book of queer love that moves in courage and history.

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Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng aka Dr T, is a globally renowned doctor and human rights defender and a bestselling author of “Dr T: A Guide to Sexual Health and Pleasure”. Born in Qwaqwa in the Free State, she credits her success to the guidance and nurturing that her mother continues to give her. Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng is an advocate for sexual and reproductive health rights (including adolescent health, transgender affirming health, abortions) with experience in legislative reform, policy, healthcare provision, and health communication. Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng was recently named one of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Goalkeepers Advisory group. The Cheeky Natives sat in conversation with Dr T to talk about her book, its genesis, her work as a medical doctor and her role as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health. The conversation touched on the way Dr T approaches her advocacy and activism. It was a delightful conversation with an important figure in our global imagination

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“See, if you act like your uniqueness is a great thing and you couldn’t care less about their opinion, they eventually give up. And that feels so good that you do it again and again until you truly believe it.”An Ordinary Wonder is a coming of age story about Oto — the main protagonist. Oto is a twin, who is born intersex and socialised as a boy and who experiences hardship in the family home because of her desire to live as a girlThe book is filled with rich imagery, art, proverbs and folk tales. The writing is stunning, often lyrically.Oto leaves for boarding school with one plan: excel and escape his cruel home. Falling in love with his roommate was certainly not on the agenda, but fear and shame force him to hide his love and true self.Back home, weighed down by the expectations of their wealthy and powerful family, the love of Oto's twin sister wavers and, as their world begins to crumble around them, Oto must make drastic choices that will alter the family's lives for ever.The Cheeky Natives sat down with Buki Papillion to speak about this debut. The conversation is heart-rending. We speak about a debut that will steal your heart

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Carice Anderson author of Intelligence isn’t enough is a professional development manager and coach with over 17 years’ experience at top companies. Having noticed that Black professionals are often the ones who struggle the most with the transition to corporate life and as a result become frustrated and demotivated very early on in their professional lives.Anderson looks both forward and to the past as she addresses cultural differences and legacies that often burden first generation black professionals.Anderson set out to write a guide looking at the domains which one needs to flourish in any corporate setting. These are IQ, Mental Attitude, People Matters, Cultural Intelligence, Personal Branding and Communication. The book masterfully sets to uncover why each of these are so pivotal for professional success in the corporate world.Anderson addresses the questions of excelling in challenging job assignments and experiences which shape your learning in the work environment. She looks at maximising relationships and experiences in the working environment. She presents the case for developing yourself not only as a career professional in your chosen field but also for working on yourself as a brand.She presents the case for developing yourself not only as a career professional in your chosen field but also for working on yourself as a brand.She asks readers to examine how they spend their time and the time spent is setting them up for greatness.Cognisant on the many factors that are out of our control in the workplace, Anderson implores the reader to focus on what is in their control as an empowering way to shape your experience.In this conversation Anderson sat down with the Cheeky Natives to look at just why Intelligence isn’t enough and what you can do about it.

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“Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding."is how Peace Adzo Medie introduces us to Afi and Elikem in her acclaimed debut His Only Wife. A Reese Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick. This book os also a New York Notable Book of the year. EBased in Ghana, the story is centred on the life of Afi Tekple, a young seamstress. We meet her having been convinced by her family to marry a man she does not know. She knows of him since he is a wealthy businessman whose mother has chosen her as a way to end his ill relationship with a woman his family deems unsuitable. Afi is an intelligent and tenacious young woman and despite all of these qualities still feels that she has to endure a difficult and unhappy marriage in order to ‘secure the bag’In this deceptively simple novel, Medie challenges us to explore the difficulties of modern life for a young woman traversing social and financial inequalities, patriarchal norms and the innate desire for companionship. Peace Adzo Medie sat with us in this delightful conversation exploring Ati’s world and all those who live in it.

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Meet the Mafus, a close-knit, traditional family with three daughters. As leaders of their church, The Kingdom of God, Pastor Abraham and his wife Phumla are guiding the community of Bulawayo in faith, while trying to keep the different branches of their family intact.’Although, the podcast was recorded a year ago, we are cheekily release it now because the paperback edition of A Family Affair is out. In this conversation, Sue Nyathi explores the journeys of family. What does is it mean to be family in a time of tumultuous changes, challenges and complications. We explore the different personalities of the members of this family, Xoliswa in all her feistiness, Zandile and her marital bliss always complicated by Yandisa who considered is the ‘black sheep’ of the family. There are interesting, painful and heartbreaking moments as we explore what happens to women when life happens. So much of the conversation is centred around what it means to hold space for family when you don’t approve of each other’s choices. Sue challenges the reader as we navigate the difficult themes of grief, loss and Gender-Based Violence. We spoke to these themes and more. This was a powerful conversation between the Cheeky Natives and Sue Nyathi.

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“This is not a story for the romanticisation of pain and perseverance, although it tells of overcoming many difficulties. It is a critique of secret violence in faith communities and families, and the hypocrisy that has damaged so many people still looking for a place and way to voice their trauma. This is a critique of the value placed on ritual and culture at the expense of human life and well-being, and the far-reaching consequences of systems of oppression dressed up as tradition.”Jamil F. Khan is a critical diversity scholar, columnist and author. They are currently enrolled for a PhD in Critical Diversity Studies at the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies. Their work explores multiple axes of difference including race, gender, sexuality and class. As a columnist, their analysis of socio-political events shaping the South African landscape pulls no punches in speaking truth to power. Their published work includes a socio-political memoir, Khamr: The Makings of a Waterslams – winner of best biography at the 2021 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards, book chapters in Intersections of ageing, gender and sexualities (Polity Press, 2019), They Called Me Queer (Kwela, 2019) and Touch (Kwela, 2021) and scholarly articles on the subject of queer ageing in academic journals Sexualities and Agenda.In their memoir which details their experiences from childhood to early adulthood, Khan writes with tenderness and vulnerability, the complicated realities of living in a so-called middle-class Coloured home in the Northern suburbs of Cape Town. The detail of these memories is both jarring and reassuring as we watch Khan and examine the intersections of race, Islam and homophobia while they works through self discovery. There is a deep examination of generational trauma and what pain is left as an inheritance in an environment of abuse and trauma. Extending grace while holding their loved ones accountable is a theme which runs throughout the book and both challenges and comforts the reader in their own confrontation of the traumas of racism and homophobia. In this episode, The Cheeky Natives sat with the talented Jamil F Khan to discuss what it means to memorialise your self and journey in memoir.

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