Part 1

Scene from the movie Gladiator

I collect whispers and anchor memories in the sand after I have cleaned the hour glass. I am a connoisseur of moments and words, a seed whose genealogy is of scribes who did not just alter lines to hammer phrases, but scribes who permitted meaning to mean something.

For the passing two years, it’s been in my heart to publish literary mixtapes – collections of ordered or random writings that I can load online and release to the public to consume. I’ve sought for a way to enlist myself to consistent writing and even blogging hasn’t helped. Yeah, I’ve been ill-disciplined. The coin flips – on the other hand of this ill-discipline, I have been reading, quite a lot actually, but not as much as I know I can. I have ravaged all sorts of books, a few research materials, social network links, body language, random prophet what-what pamphlets, Facebook status updates, tweets, chain messages and shorthand massacres aka “hy,:hud,wud;”, sic. I have prayed against the latter and have asserted that “it is well with my soul”, as long you don’t text me in that regard.

With two books published (THE RIGHT TO MOURN and HOME BEFORE FEBRUARY) and still relatively unknown, some reading I did back then caught my attention and inspired this literary mixtape I am introducing to you. The reading seemed to suggest that the South African book industry tends to favour authors with reference – this might easily mean being well-known, having had written for known magazines, blogs and newspapers, and the likes. In order for people to buy your books, you need to be heard of, so the article seemed to suggest.

The idea of a literary mixtape started to appeal more to me, but now I wanted to extend it to include other writers. Through Lefoko La Kgosi Publishing, I saw us giving unpublished writers a reference and also facilitating a meeting place for dynamic writers with the reading public. The great thing about this is that I also see LLK publishing follow-up books from the very same writers. That’s how good their writing is. You can even ask the paper that allows them to write on. This literary mixtape is simply titled Epigraph – My Heart Is My Alibi.

Wikipedia defines #Epigraph as “a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional context.” For the purposes of this initiative, Epigraph will be an ebook containing short writings from different writers. Every writer is required to submit their heart’s alibi – the proof of a pen that riddles the walls of their hearts. They can write on any topic and in any style. The writers are restricted by wordcount, since an epigraph is normally short. The ebook will be made available for free download to the public. Though free, I guarantee you that what you will read is costly.

For Volume 1 of #Epigraph, I have been privileged to interact with a number of great thinkers whose writings have come to impact me in ways unimaginable. I have come to love them and their thoughts and their writing styles. I have come to revere them. I have also come to see the need for their thoughts to be heard, or read rather, thus they will be the first writers to be featured in this literary mixtape. I am already having a hard time choosing a favourite #Epigraph because all of them are that good. I call this literary mixtape a collection of whispers.

Let us meet here over the coming weeks and come meet the writers whose contributions to #Epigraph will soon be in the hands of all with tablets, ereaders, pcs and phones, and a penchant for new writers and good writing.

More information will unfold with coming dawns.

Love,

MMM

#Epigraph