Mphuthumi Ntabeni

Books by Mphuthumi Ntabeni

Mphuthumi Ntabeni is a South African novelist and book critic, author of The Broken River Tent (2018) and The Wanderers (2021).

“The Wanderers is a distinctly Pan-African novel, set in South Africa and Tanzania, with nods to Zimbabwe and Rwanda. Phakamile ‘Phaks’ Maseti and his daughter, Ruru, are driven by the destiny of the Mfecane-dispersed amaMfengu—literally ‘the Wanderers’—to traverse the African continent.”

The Wanderers, reviewed in the Johannesburg Review of Books, October 2021

“Phila, one of the two central characters of Mputhumi Ntabeni’s exceptional novel The Broken River Tent, is a 40-year-old, disaffected South African…Early in the story Phila is travelling on a bus in Port Elizabeth when there appears on the seat beside him the second central character in the story…This is Maqoma (1798-1873) the most eminent of the 19th century Xhosa leaders.”

Word Fest South Africa review, July, 2019

Interviews with Mphuthumi Ntabeni

The Best African Contemporary Writing, recommended by Mphuthumi Ntabeni

The emphasis in new African writing is away from politics towards how the individual responds to events, says South African novelist Mphuthumi Ntabeni, author of The Broken River Tent and The Wanderers. He picks out five outstanding books of African writing, including novels that paved the way for new genres, a book of short stories from across Africa, and a work of nonfiction that he recommends to “anybody who wants to know what is happening in South Africa.”

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