Stewart's Quotable African Women

Sharon Meyering and Julia Stewart

Julia Stewart holds a master's degree in African Studies from Ohio University. She has lived in Africa for many years - in Kenya, Eritrea, Rwanda, Angola - and now resides in South Africa, where she lives in Victorian-era novelist Olive Schreiner's house. Her Stewart's Quotable Africa was published by Penguin South Africa in 2004. Stewart's Quotable African Women is her ninth book.

Click on book cover to buy from kalahari.net
Stewart's Quotable African Women
Julia Stewart
Price: R100.00
ISBN: 0-143-02486-8
Penguin
Non-fiction
Published: July 2005
Format: Hard cover
200 pages

1. I read in the foreword of your new book, Stewart's Quotable African Women, that this book is an offshoot of your previous collection of quotes, also published by Penguin, Stewart's Quotable Africa. When your publishers asked you to compile a book of quotes from African women, what were your first thoughts?

   My first thoughts were, "Easy job. Quick buck." The publisher asked for 700 quotes from African women. I figured since there are over 5 000 quotes in Quotable Africa, it was just a matter of editing out the African women's statements. I was dead wrong.

2. You tell how you were shocked to realise there were so few quotes by African women in Quotable Africa. This was actually fortunate, as you were then able to create a comprehensive collection. How did you prepare yourself for the task?

   Well, considering the short deadline, I panicked. Then I did what I always do - began scouring available resources for pithy statements - my own bookshelves, used book stores, newspapers, magazines; and for this book, since I am living very far from any sizeable towns, I relied heavily on the internet.

3. Stewart's Quotable African Women is bursting with wonderful quotes. It must have been a challenge picking just the right ones.
   
            a. How did you go about researching and choosing your quotes?
   

   Good quotes have a life of their own. They are able to exist independently of the work in which they are found. They are emotive or informative, even in their succinctness.

   As I mentioned, researching for Quotable African Women was a combination of scouring bookshelves and used bookstores for titles by female African authors, and using the internet. From the bookstore search I learned something about South Africa. It appears that people here are not reading the rest of Africa much. I found very few books by non-South African African authors, and even fewer by African women. One bookstore owner said to me, "The titles in a bookstore reflect the interests of the reading public."

            b. Why did you choose the section headings you did - for example "Ability", "Hope" and "Identity"? Did you know what kind of quotes you were looking for beforehand or did the quotes inspire the headings?

   I didn't head into this book thinking I want so many quotes on Love and so many on Hate, and on Hope. Because one never knows exactly what quotes will be found. So, to answer your question, the quotes inspired the headings. But the categories are mostly human universals, and as I already had categories in the last book - Quotable Africa - I had a good idea where a quote might fall when it jumped out at me.

4. What was the most challenging part about compiling these quotes?

   Recently a radio show host mentioned how she imagined that the idea for many books must germinate from a small morsel of information found. Quotable Africa and Quotable African Women came about because over years of writing other books on African topics, and wanting to use quotes to highlight parts of these books, I realised that quotes related to African topics were desperately hard to find - in other words, my books came about because pieces of information were not found.

   The hardest part is actually to find the quotes, because by nature of this being a seminal work, the information is nowhere laid out for you. It was not a case of repackaging, it was a job of discovering. So the challenge was also the fun part.

5. How did this project compare with Stewart's Quotable Africa? Did this project give you any sleepless nights?

   Quotable Africa, having taken 12 years to compile, had already eaten up all the sleepless nights. And mainly that was just related to trying to get that bigger volume published. With Quotable African Women, on the other hand, the publisher came first - Penguin South Africa asked me to write this book - so the anxiety was absent, and since Quotable Africa had been received well, my confidence in being able to do the task was already high.

6. You use several quotes from Olive Schreiner and you have dedicated this book to her. For you, what impact did she have on South African / African literature? And what does she represent, as a woman?

   Schreiner, as you know, lived in the Victorian era. Unusual for her day, she held radical views that can be termed feminist, pacifist, anti-imperialist and anti-racist. She spoke her mind, often at a heavy cost to herself. She was not only the first internationally renowned South African novelist, she was a pioneer of the women's movement. Her writings, and in particular her efforts to establish a women's enfranchisement league in Cape Town, were a major influence on the women's movement in South Africa - however, how far that influence reached into the rest of Africa I do not know, but I doubt far, considering the lines of communication in the colonial age.

   While Schreiner's works of fiction were vehicles for getting across her progressive feminist and social views, her book Woman and Labour was a straightforward call for greater participation of women in every aspect of economic life in order for all of society to move forward. That book was a key tract for the women's movement in Europe and America in the first half of the 20th century.

   What Schreiner represents to me, firstly, is proof of genius in all peoples, regardless of where they are born, under what conditions, of which sex, and in what skin. Being self-educated largely through books, she represents the value and benefits of reading. She reminds us that as long as there is oppression and inequality, it is our duty to speak up. Schreiner herself tells us, "It does not pay the man who speaks the truth, but it pays humanity that it is spoken."

7. I believe you also live in Olive Schreiner's house in the Karoo. I'm sure everyone asks, but what is that like?

   Schreiner said Hanover - the town where the house is situated - was the prettiest place in the world, after Alassio in Italy. The beauty is indeed rare, and breathtaking. Especially the sunsets - the colours are unreal. The Karoo is a lot about colour, and how the setting and rising sun brings alive what during the heat of day looks brown and drab.

   I feel honoured, and lucky, to be living in a place of such great historical value to the country of South Africa and more specifically of such importance to Hanover. I am trying to do my part to preserve the property - well, more accurately, to bring it back to life. The house itself is beautiful, but that's after a year of rehabilitation. I still haven't tamed the stubborn Karoo earth and devils' thorns into a real garden. I painted the exterior of the house a shocking pink, and several Hanoverians thought that was madness. I told them they must look at it during sunset because the house is exactly the same striking pink colour as the sky.

8. Which is your favourite quote in the book?

   That's like being asked to pick which is your favourite pet, or child. Alright then, here is my favourite quote according to the mood I'm in today: "I am the immigrant, the exiled star, and I go forward with my head turned back" form Calixthe Beyala, Cameroonian novelist, The Little Prince of Belleville.

9. Who would you say this book is for?

   Absolutely everyone. There is no one who won't be surprised and delighted by something they read in this book. Of course, women and girls of all nationalities should find it particularly inspirational.

10. You say your publisher came to you and asked you to compile a book of "quotable African women". Why do you think there's such a strong drive to acknowledge women today?
    
             a. In South Africa over the past few years events have been launched like the Cell C "Bring a girl child to work day". What do you think of initiatives such as these? And do you think they are necessary?

    Because it is the 21st century and it's shameful we still have to make "special efforts" to recognise women - we are half the world's population, for goodness sake. How many female African presidents (out of 50 countries) have there been? One, for a year. How many female American presidents have there been? None.

    Women and girls are very far from being truly equal to men in this world - and in some cultures this is more so than others. Sexism may be less obvious, more insipid, in many countries these days, but it remains everywhere, and women are aware of it at all times, whether they are always able to pinpoint and express it or not.

    It stretches from the psychological: Why do women have to justify, for example, if they decide not to bear children, or not to take their husband's last name? Why are single women considered desperate and dangerous and single men enviable and players? Why do women instinctively clean up after men, and praise a man if he makes dinner one night, even when both are working? To the extreme, but all too common: Why are women and girls raped and beaten? Why are there British magazine articles about women who are abused by their male partners because they are "too" successful? Why is a woman who gets pregnant without a husband stoned to death and the man goes unpunished?

    So yes, such initiatives such as the one you mentioned remain necessary. As Nigerian poet Lola Shoneyin says, "The day I feel that men are getting the short end of the stick … I'll try to start writing poems that are sympathetic to the men folk."

            b. Do you think boy children are being marginalised by this new emphasis?

    Being a relief and development worker, I have often thought about whether emphasis on females marginalises males in a society. And in specific cases and in particular ways, I believe that is certainly a risk. I feel that practitioners must be careful that the positive aspects of male roles - for example their role as protector of the weak and vulnerable members of their family and communities - not be undermined in order to bring up women. That is not always an easy thing to do.

    However, removing barriers to women's development and offering wider opportunities for women and girls shouldn't be seen as a competition with men, it needs to be understood as improving the family's standing as well as that of the whole community.

    Men and boys need to understand that if they do not allow these things to occur, they will be among the ones to lose, in the end.

11. Suddenly women's voices are becoming resoundingly strong. Is that a result of projects like the ones mentioned above, or is there another reason?

    Sure it's because of such projects, among other things. Change hasn't come without effort. But it is distressing to realise that many of the things Olive Schreiner was talking about a century ago still ring true today. For instance, equal pay for equal work - still an issue. The latest statistic is that on average women in the USA make 24 percent less than men. Women's right to vote - still not secured in Saudi Arabia. In some places women cannot leave the house or get a job without their husband's or a male relative's permission, and in others they remain greatly restricted in the types of work they can do. Too often, women are considered the chattels of men.

12. You have a master's degree in African Studies from Ohio University. What did you study specifically and how does it tie up with what you have actually experienced in Africa?

    My courses fell under the schools of Journalism, Education and Political Science, and I studied Kiswahili. These subjects have all proven useful in my work over the past two decades with the United Nations, NGOs, and as a foreign correspondent (I covered the first year of the Eritrea-Ethiopia border war). But perhaps the best education came from my fellow students - the composition of the African Studies programme was, I think, 90 percent African students.

13. My most recent information says you work for the UN World Food Programme. Tell us a little bit more about that? Has your work here changed the way you view the world?

    I consult regularly for the UN World Food Programme, and other UN and NGO agencies. I'm hired mostly to do Public Relations, and in that context my writing skills and (questionable) photographic skills are put to use. I don't think anyone can work for such organisations and not alter their world view. It's always in my mind that I am one of the fortunates of planet Earth - by virtue of where I was born. When things get hot in Africa, I still have a home and employment to go back to. There are too many people who don't have these things - the most simple, basic requirements for a decent life. It's not a fair world, that's for sure.

14. People often speak about the magic of Africa. In your experience, is there magic in Africa?

    Shazaam! This place has an intrigue all its own. I'm particularly fond of East Africa and the Horn. Over the past few centuries, people have tried to explain the African je ne sais quoi - some writing whole novels and non-fiction works to get their point across - and I'm not sure anyone has done it satisfactorily. English-born East African aviator Beryl Markham tried: "Africa is … less a barbaric land than an unfamiliar voice." South African President Thabo Mbeki said, "There is a profound sense of space here." Italian filmmaker and author Francesca Marciano called it less a continent and more "a state of mind".

15. If you were tasked with giving a foreigner to Africa, who wanted to know about Africa and the women of Africa, three books to read, which three books would you prescribe and why?

    How does one describe the settings and women from over 50 different countries with just three books? If I were to limit this question to learning more about African women through works of fiction only, I would select:
    
    Ghanaian novelist Ama Ata Aidoo, No Sweetness Here, 1970.
    Senegalese writer Mariama Ba, So Long A Letter, 1979.
    Nigerian novelist Buchi Emecheta, The Joys of Motherhood, 1979.
    Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions, 1988.
    South African writer Nadine Gordimer, Jump and Other Stories, 1991.
    
    That's five, I'm sorry. Mainly I chose these because they are all classics of African literature, and in a weak attempt to represent some geographical coverage.

16. How do we start to ensure that every woman has an audible voice?

    On the grand scale, I wish I knew the answer to that. I suppose we can start, as individuals, by consciously listening to women. To weed out the noises that drown out women. To listen to women and girls more often and be supportive of one another. Always to speak up when there is something important to say. Perhaps we need another Olive Schreiner in this century to help guide us.

And now on the lighter side ...

17. What do you do when you aren't filtering out the noise so that people can hear the voices of their country / continent?

    I'm multitasking. I do consultancies for the UN and NGOs both from home and abroad. This year I spent three months in the Sudan and last year two months in Kenya as a Public Information Officer for the World Food Programme. My partner and I are rehabilitating several houses in Hanover, as this town is quickly gaining a reputation as a traveller's oasis along the N1 between Johannesburg and the coast. We also run a bottle store and clothing store in the town. And I do book interviews.

18. What was the most spontaneous thing you've ever done?

    My life moves forward largely because of spontaneity. The latest outburst was to buy the Olive Schreiner house and move into the middle of Great Karoo. Two years ago I had never even driven south from Johannesburg on the N1 before, but signed for the Olive Schreiner house within hours of arriving in Hanover, with no hesitation, and have not looked back.

19. What is the best part about a rainy day?

    In the Karoo, it's the water.

20. What is your favourite African / South African dish?

    I could eat Ethiopian and Eritrean food every meal, every day. When it comes to food, for me, the spicier the better. Ethiopian food is heavy on an ingredient called berbere - a combination of a dozen or more exotic spices - and it is addictive. Also, the act of sharing food out of a communal plate feels like an expression of humanity at its highest level. I like biltong too.

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