Mirage and Other Stories Trade Title
| Publisher | Namibia Publishing House |
|---|---|
| Print Price | N$ 130.00 |
| Print ISBN | 9789991604329 |
When my late husband Lauw suggested that I write short stories instead of the "Great Namibian Novel" because I never had sufficient blocks of uninterrupted time, my response was, "Why on earth would I want to write short stories when l don't even read them that much?" Unfazed, as always, he replied, “Because they're short. You'd need smaller blocks of time to do them and it could be fun." Soon after that my friend Pauline Mart, prompted by one of my periodic denials of ever having wanted to write a novel, made the same suggestion. I am immensely grateful to these two people for pointing me in the right direction.
Once I started writing the stories, it was difficult to stop, and I was soon also reading short stories by other writers with far greater interest and focus than before. I am especially grateful to Pauline, herself an award winning short story writer, who read and commented on my early at tempts, and taught me a great deal about the genre, and about English. Thank you also to Fanie Lategan, with whom, in those early days, Pauline and l had regular get-togethers to read and comment on each other's stories, and to eels Dreyer who inspired the story Vergenoeg.
Over the years I gave drafts of my stories to a great many people to read, and I appreciate their willingness to do so. For constructive, thoughtful and meaningful feedback I would like to thank Rosemary Walden, Dorian Casburn Hannes Home, Robert Rotberg, Eli Braun, Anna van Esch, Hein Schaaf, Rianne Selle, Ia van Zyl, Heidemarie Rapmund,Joyce van der Merwe, LeoneBadenhorst,Jinnie Ehlers, aasSteenkamp, Mel Futter,Marian Damerell, Danie Botha, Elke Casburn and Bryanie van Harmelen. Thank you especially to my editor, Avril.l du Plessis, for her input, and for the care she took in preparing this book for publication.
Photography being another of my passions, Herman van Wyk's sug gestion to include a photograph as a visual focus for each story made per feet sense. The photographs are all my own, except the one for the galloping virgin, which was taken by Nic de Jager, and British racing green, taken by an unknown photographer.