ESSAYS ON FREE STATE BLACK LITERATURE. By Pule Lechesa

Pule Lechesa, a South African writer, has made his name as a literary critic, a man of letters who has published extensively on books, authors, their work and literature generally. His major works over the years attest to this - Four Free State Authors, Essays on Free State Black Literature, A Penny for Lechesa's Thoughts; and two full-length literary study books on writers Omoseye Bolaji and KPD Maphalla. Lechesa has a reputation for being a "tough/ruthless critic", which brings to mind famous African literary critics like Taban Lo Liyong, Lewis Nkosi, and Chinweizu. In this book, Lechesa puts together many essays on the writings of Free State writers (The Free State is a "province" or "state" in South Africa). Lechesa discusses poetry, prose, fiction, etc in this book; and of course he comes across as controversial every now and then. But despite his often robust comments, it is clear from this work that the author cares a lot for good writing, and world literature in general.

 - Leke Giwa