PROFILE FEATURE

Falling through the cracks...he rich, multi faceted

and diverse

combined persona of

the South African

people has always been

a reliable source of experiences

and stories that will take you on

a rollercoaster ride.

Our textured past and ability to

believe in a better tomorrow

birthed a wealth of creatively

skilled individuals, Imraan

Coovadia being one of them.

Winner of "Best single

authored" Fiction Book at the

Inaugural National Institute for

the Humanities and Social

Sciences (NIHSS) Book,

Creative and Digital Collections

Awards 2016 for Tales of the

Metric System, Imraan is

indeed an accomplished author,

academic and social activist

whom through his published

works presents us with an

opportunity to explore a

textured cast of characters and

their unforgettable individual

stories.

A child of the seventies, Imraan

currently resides in Cape Town

where he lectures and is the

director of the creative writing

program at the University of

Cape Town.

Born in Durban, he spent his

early years in South Africa

before moving to the United

States to study at Harvard

College where he majored in

Philosophy. Later, he attained

his doctorate at Yale University.

As an academic at UCT, his

research interests include:

Eighteenth- and nineteenth

century English and American

literature, philosophy and

literature and political and

social thought of the eighteenth

and nineteenth centuries.

Arguably the most

underrepresented genre in our

literary landscape, the NIHSS

awards were well-timed seeking

to address this by providing a

platform of recognition. As a

component of their overall

mandate, the awards

acknowledge and celebrate

those undertaking the

necessary labour of creating

post-apartheid forms of

scholarship.

Sunday Independent spent some

time in conversation with the

winning author getting to know

the man; his thoughts on

perception, inspiration and a bit

on topical and not so topical

issues.

Here is what he had to say;

Q: You are considered and

referred to as a "Social

Scientist". What, by your

definition and based on your

life experience is a "Social

Scientist"?

A: I'm not actually a social

scientist. But at a certain level

of abstraction everybody in

the Humanities and Social

Sciences (HSS) is interested in

the past. I guess, the human

past. And that separates us

from sciences which allow us

to control objects or predict

outcomes.

Having said that, I'm a writer

and I'm interested in social

change over significant

periods of time, and across

different strata of society.

Wonder and amazement at

those processes is probably

where any kind of social

science begins.

Q: If you were to envision an

alternative life, which would

Imraan be?

A: Writers especially, probably

all social scientists, spend

their lives thinking about

counterfactuals. I'm not

totally convinced in an

alternative life I would be

much better off. I wish I'd

know a little more about the

future. And thought about the

kinds of imagination and

creativity that you see

expressed in certain careers

in science, technology,

economics, where you really

have the chance to help

millions of people and change

things on a real scale. I mean,

I very much like the kinds of

individual connections with

students and other academics

that working at a university

allows. But I also feel

intensely the sensation of

being confined in an

institution which doesn't work

very well and with some

people whose interest isn't in

shaping the future in a

realistic and interesting way.

We're letting

narrow-mindedness and

bloody-mindedness take over

our productive lives. Can we

imagine Elon Musk working

in South Africa?

Q: You boast a list of

accolades from first

publication to the most recent

being the NIHSS award. All of

them are equally important

but if you had highlight one in

relation to a milestone, which

is closest and most meaningful

to you?

A: Hard to say. I think my PhD

degree is the one which marks

me the most (though as much of

a curse as a blessing). This is

probably true of most doctorate

holders. It's when you leave

humanity and join the

observers forever.

Q: Your debut novel - The

Wedding, was translated into

Italian and Hebrew. If it were to

be translated into one more

language and you could make

the choice, what language would

you choose and why?

A: Latin. It's concise. And, as a

language, lacking in interesting

comedy if you don't like Plautus

and Terence much.

Q: Predictability and an innate

addiction to habit would have

me ask what or who inspired

you to take up the pen. In an

attempt to buck the trend I

would like to know what else

you explored that added clarity

through it being what you did

not want.

A: I wanted to (and should have

been) a physicist. I also had a

ZX Spectrum computer when I

was 15 or so and I should clearly

have continued playing around

with it. Just didn't seem like

there was much of a future in

IT.

Q: As a participant and winner,

aside from the hard earned

recognition by your peers, what

would you say is the relevance

of the institution and more

specifically the awards in

reshaping the literary

landscape going forward?

A: The arts and social sciences

can't make humanity

progress-that's really the job of

science, technology, and above

all business-but they can help

create a wiser middle class.

Q: You have set the benchmark

and like Simon & Garfunkel it's

a tough act to follow. A word of

encouragement to the 2017

entrants...

A: I'm sure they'll do just great

with the support from the

NIHSS and their commitment to

fostering and developing the

excellence within Humanities

and Social Sciences.

When asked what inspired Tales

of the Metric System, Imraan

expressed his passion for telling

the stories of the lives and

people who fall through the

cracks that exist as a result of

our efficient

Pigeon holing and segmentation

of society.

It should come as no surprise

that when asked about what he

values most in his current role

as the director of the creative

writing program at the

University of Cape Town, he

responded “Being a part of

mentoring and positively

contributing to the success of

the next generation of creative

writers.”

It is because of his concern for

students and academia at large,

that when Sunday Independent

solicited an answer to the

question on his thoughts and

feelings on the current

#FEESMUSTFALL movement

and it’s impact on the country,

we were met with a distinct tone

of disappointment as he

proceeded to say “I think

funding for any critical service

is tight. We don't fund schools,

or housing, or health at the level

they require (and we can't).

Economic growth has slowed to

nothing and we can't make the

choices required to put it back

on track. It's hard to see why

middle-class university students

should have priority over rural

mothers and children.

It's even harder to see how the

use of arson and violence

against laboratories and

libraries does anything but

collapse the scientific and

technological base of this

country for generations to

come. And speaking personally,

hardest for me to see how some

academics insist that nothing

can be done to prevent assaults

on unarmed working-class

guards (up to and including

trying to burn them to death or

dropping rocks on their heads)

because their view of Marxism

or post colonialism forbids it.

One of the correlations political

scientists note is between the

willingness to use or tolerate

force in a democracy and the

onset of authoritarianism. The

fact that we're facing

authoritarianism on campuses

which comes under the banner

of Biko and Fanon doesn't make

it any more attractive, or any

less likely, if unchecked by the

law, to end in national disaster.”

With a sullen smile and a glint

of realisation in his eyes,

Imraan chose to share a pearl of

wisdom before parting ways –

“As I have grown older, I now

appreciate that sometimes being

conservative is a good thing.”

As one of the successful

pioneers, Tales of the Metric

System is testament to the vital

role that a re-imagined,

redefined and recognised

contribution that the

humanities and social sciences

faculty plays in promoting

social cohesion.

With the 2017 process underway

one can only speculate in

anticipation of the talent that

will be showcased in the next

annual NIHSS Book, Creative

and Digital Collections Awards.

By: Zunaid Omar

In conversation with Imraan Coovadia

Imraan Coovadia: Winner of "Best single authored" Fiction Book at the Inaugural National Institute for the Humanities

and Social Sciences (NIHSS) Book, Creative and Digital Collections Awards 2016 for Tales of the Metric SystemPhoto credit: Victor Dlamini

“As I have grown older, I now

appreciate that sometimes being

conservative is a good thing.”

From a Natal boarding school in the seventies and Soviet spies in London in the eighties to the 1995 Rugby World Cup and intrigue in the Union Buildings, Tales of the Metric System shows how 10 days spread across four decades send tidal waves through the lives of ordinary and extraordinary South Africans alike.

An unforgettable cast of characters includes Ann, who is trying to protect her husband and son in 1970, and Victor, whose search for a missing document in 1973 will change his life forever. Rock guitarist Yash takes his boy to the beach on Boxing Day in 1979 to meet his revolutionary cousin, while Shanti, his granddaughter, loses her cellphone and falls in love twice on a lucky afternoon in 2010.

Playwrights, politicians, philosophers, and thieves, all caught in their individual stories, burst from the pages of Coovadia’s Tales of the Metric System as it measures South Africa’s modern history in its own remarkable units of imagination.“Simple in concept, complex in construction, a novel which is so much more than the sum of its parts, one which purports to examine the randomness of life while delicately drawing the eye to the butterfly effect of individual acts and exposing the interconnected¬ness of people. In pristine prose and with a telling eye for detail, Tales of the Metric System leaves the reader with a sense of having undertaken a journey through the familiar only to arrive somewhere completely new.”– Aminatta Forna, author of The Memory of Love

BackgroundImraan Coovadia was born in Durban, in 1970, South Africa to Jerry Coovadia and Zubie (Zubeida) Hamed.

His father is a well-known AIDS activist, member of the UDF and doctor. His mother is a dermatologist. He is a regular contributor to various newspapers, journals and magazines such as N+1, Agni, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Times of India, and South Africa's The Mail and Guardian and Sunday Independent (South Africa).

Life and WritingImraan has travelled and lived widely, as extensively as, London, Melbourne, Boston, New York City, Durban and Cape Town. His writing reflects this in its diverse themes and influences.

His early novels were focused more on South African Indian experiences. He was also influenced stylistically by V. S. Naipaul and others. His first novel, “The Wedding” was published in 2001.

The novel was well received, garnering a variety of accolades such as runner-up in the Sunday Times Fiction Award (2002), long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin International Literary Award, a finalist for the first annual Connecticut Book Award, and short-listed for the

Ama-Boeke Prize (2003). His early writing is considered an important addition to Indian-South African literature, in that it deals with the issues of migration, historical concerns, loss of culture and nationality.

His style is comedic and thoughtful. His later writing, such as the Institute for Taxi Poetry, is set in Cape Town and explores both the taxi industry and the intricacies of life in Cape Town.

AwardsHis debut novel, The Wedding, was shortlisted for the 2002 Sunday Times Fiction Award, Ama-Boeke Prize (2003),

IMPAC Dublin International Literary Award (2005), and was chosen as book of the week by Exclusive Books (South Africa) and Asian Week.com.

He has also won The Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the University of Johannesburg Prize for his 2010 novel, High Low In-between and the English category of the M-Net Literary Awards for his 2012 novel, The Institute of Taxi Poetry.

Winner of "Best single authored" book at the inaugural National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) creative and digital awards 2016 for Tales of the Metric System

Winner of "Best single authored" Fiction Book at

the Inaugural National Institute for the Humanities

and Social Sciences (NIHSS) Book, Creative and Digital Collections Awards

2016

The Wedding (2001) Green-Eyed Thieves (2006)

Authority and Authorship in V. S. Naipaul (2009)

High low in-between (2009)

The Institute of Taxi Poetry (2012)

Transformations: Essays (2012)