The Cheeky Natives

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Lerato never wanted to join her sister's stupid social club. All those pretentious people spending hours showing off their wealth. To what end? What was the point of it all? She'd been disappointed that her husband had fallen for Solomzi's charms and finally acceded to the invitation to join the group."In her latest novel chronicling the lives of four couples, Makholwa reveals the price of ‘perfect’. In a social media world obsessed with love lives here and Black love, Makholwa challenges readers to look beyond the veneer.These very successful women who form the backbone of this story are each battling their own demons in their marriages and even work life.The discovery of the body of unidentified woman in the beginning of the book is the source of much mystery and tension.Exploring the themes of financial crisis, toxic relationships, religion and sexual frustration, critical but. stable is a feat.Makholwa calls on us to rethink what capitalism means for Black love and existence.

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‘Everybody lives in a cage. Whether they know it or not is the question. I think that knowing that you in live in a cage is what ultimately sets you free, But even if you don’t know that you live in a cage, you know that there must be more to life than this.’ – Terry-Ann Adams Women are often not the protagonists of their own stories. Terry- Ann Adams in her debut novel reputes this, Those Who Live in Cages captures the interior lives of five women in Eldorado Park, a Coloured township in the South of Johannesburg. It is through Bertha, Kaylynn Laverne, Janice and Raquel that we experience the everyday life of Eldos and surviving in ‘the Park’. Their lives enables us go think through living as a Black women in this country. The book does not shy away from difficult issues that plague these women, such as alcoholism, domestic violence, gender-based violence, teen pregnancy. Through all this, these women try to exercise some agency. The book also has soft moments in the familial context, in the friendship and in many ways how these women find themselves in the world that was not created to benefit them. We sat with Terry-Adams to reflect on the inspiration between the novel and to reflect more deeply on the issues that are excavated in the story. This debut is a poignantly beautiful offering that adds to the canon about an often forgotten community.

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‘My book was inspired by my multicultural background - Zambian, Nigerian, Jamaican and British. I wrote it at a time when I was processing the loss of both sets of grandparents, whom I had visited in Nigeria and in my Zambian village, Chinsali.’ Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda In a search for identity, love and acceptance two ordinary girls travel from London to Lusaka to Lagos in order to save their family and discover their identity. Maggie Ayomide and Bupe Kombe are cousins on either side of the world who couldn't be more different. Zambian-Nigerian and Zambian-Jamaican, both yearn for their disbanded family to reunite.The Cheeky Natives sat in conversation with Natasha to mediate on No Bia from Hia. We spoke about Migration, mother and daughter relationship, the sisterhood, men who harm and hurt and a meditation on loss and grief.

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“The only difference between lying and acting was whether your audience was in on it, but it was all a performance just the same.”Born and raised in Southern California, Brit Bennett graduated from Stanford University and later earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan, where she won a Hopwood Award in Graduate Short Fiction. In 2014, she received the Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers. She is a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, and her debut novel The Mothers was a New York Times bestseller. Her second novel The Vanishing Half was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. Her essays have been featured in The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel. The Mother’s was a best selling debut and her sophomore release was named one of the best books of 2020. The Cheeky Natives sat down to discuss The Vanishing Half with her. A book exploring the lives of two identical sisters, Desiree and Stella Vignes. This book is a multi generational exploration of the wide ranging impacts of the choices people make in difficult circumstances. In a beautifully written page turner, Bennett asks the reader to imagine what difficulties lie at the intersection of grief, family and race. Bennett is a tour de force.

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“It was a cool evening in late summer when Wallace, his father dead for several weeks, decided that he would meet his friends at the pier after all.” – Brandon Taylor“Jesse’s alarm went off at seven, but he’d barely slept. He was excited, if nervous; he’d been scared of London all his life but he was a man now and after a few months saving up, he was ready to do it. He’d found a hostel on the Internet, in Earl’s Court, for twelve pounds a night. He had three hundred pounds in his bank account and no responsibilities to anyone; he packed only what he absolutely needed – his best clothes, some under- wear, ten or so CDs, his Discman, the James Baldwin novel Another Country. He left his key and bible on his pillow” - Paul MendezShortlisted for 2020 Booker Prize, Real Life is Brandon Taylor’s debut. It explores the life of Wallace, a Black queer PhD student in a white institution. The novel takes place over a weekend. Hauntingly intimate, it puts a spotlight on violence - physically, emotional and structurally. In doing so, it enables us to question (toxic) masculinity.Rainbow Milk is an intersectional coming-of-age story, following nineteen-year-old Jesse McCarthy as he grapples with his racial and sexual identities against the backdrop of a Jehovah's Witness upbringing and the legacies of the Windrush generation. It allows us to imagine what freedom may look like for Black queer people.This episode is in search of tenderness for Black queer people. In this conversation, the writers speak about the place of location in their novels, how location is used as a literary device – a break from a past. It touches on the shame that is often experienced by Black queer people and how it influences the way that they date. The writers also touches on the pervasiveness of religion and how it adds to the self-loathing.In many ways, this episode is a gathering of Black queer people around the world holding space for each other to live more fuller. It is a conversation that pulls at the heart strings.

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"The Fatuous State of Severity - a mouthful for most - was a state of mind I had learned to occupy while recuperating from a depressive episode at a psychiatric clinic.” - Phumlani Pikoli The Fatuous State of Severity is a debut collection of short stories written by Pikoli while he was recovering from depression in a psychiatric clinic. The book has stories about mental health and its effect on our lives, both directly and indirectly. The stories also explore themes surrounding the experiences of a generation of young, urban South Africans coping with the tensions of social media, language insecurities and relationships of various kinds.Intense and provocative, this new edition of the book, which was first self-published in 2016, features six additional stories as well as an introductory essay on Phumlani Pikoli’s publishing journey.This episode happened at the beginning of the year where Phumlani had his first exhibition at the Tomorrow Gallery. In the episode, we speak about mental health, social media, male intimacy in a familial context, relationship and suicide ideations. We also spoke about the exhibition and how it came to life and what conversations it will generate. We also touch on writers that inspire Pikoli.

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Even as a young child, Angela Makholwa wanted to be a storyteller. Her first story was published at 13 and from then on a lifetime relationship with words was established. After graduating with a journalism degree, Angela worked as a journalist prior to establishing her own PR and events management company.She has written several novels including Red Ink, 30th Candle and Black Widow Society.Her most recent novel “The Blessed Girl “ published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury, was shortlisted for the Comedy Women in Print (CWIP) prize.She spoke to The Cheeky Natives about her literary journey and influences and what it’s meant to write about the interior lives of Black womxn.Angela is working on her fifth title “Critical but stable” and shared a few exciting tidbits from this story.

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Even as a young child, Angela Makholwa wanted to be a storyteller. Her first story was published at 13 and from then on a lifetime relationship with words was established. After graduating with a journalism degree, Angela worked as a journalist prior to establishing her own PR and events management company.She has written several novels including Red Ink, 30th Candle and Black Widow Society.Her most recent novel “The Blessed Girl “ published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury, was shortlisted for the Comedy Women in Print (CWIP) prize.She spoke to The Cheeky Natives about her literary journey and influences and what it’s meant to write about the interior lives of Black womxn.Angela is working on her fifth title “Critical but stable” and shared a few exciting tidbits from this story.

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Abi Daré grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and has lived in the UK for eighteen years. She studied law at the University of Wolverhampton and has an M.Sc. in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University as well as an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck University of London. The Girl with the Louding Voice won The Bath Novel Award for unpublished manuscripts in 2018 and was also selected as a finalist in 2018 The Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition. Abi lives in Essex with her husband and two daughters, who inspired her to write her debut novel.In this special episode that took place on Instagram Live, Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele spoke to Abi about her debut novel thinking about patriarchy, class politics, child marriage and the hardship of Black womxnhood.

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Abi Daré grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and has lived in the UK for eighteen years. She studied law at the University of Wolverhampton and has an M.Sc. in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University as well as an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck University of London. The Girl with the Louding Voice won The Bath Novel Award for unpublished manuscripts in 2018 and was also selected as a finalist in 2018 The Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition. Abi lives in Essex with her husband and two daughters, who inspired her to write her debut novel. In this special episode that took place on Instagram Live, Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele spoke to Abi about her debut novel thinking about patriarchy, class politics, child marriage and the hardship of Black womxnhood.

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follow us on social media @cheekynatives