Joanne Hichens
Joanne Hichens, author and editor, is based in Cape Town. She believes in the multiplicity of South African writing talent and has edited numerous anthologies of short stories showcasing the diversity of the South African voice. She is best known for curating the Short.Sharp.Stories Awards series, including anthologies Bloody satisfied, Incredible journey, Adults only (winner of the NIHSS Award for Best Edited Collection, 2017) and the most recent Fluid: The freedom to be, co-edited by Karina M Szczurek (winner of the NIHSS Award for Best Edited Collection, 2024). She has written crime fiction, YA and most recently an acclaimed memoir, Death and the after parties. She holds a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Cape Town and is currently contemplating a PhD.
Short.Sharp.Stories anthology Fluid: interview with Anna Hug, author of "Fynbos"
2023-05-17"... I think the gold in running a competition like this is seeing just how differently people come at it, how rich and wide the inspiration."
Short.Sharp.Stories anthology Fluid: interview with Nedine Moonsamy, author of "The jump"
2023-05-17"South Africa is a nation that experiences constant crises and undergoes vast amounts of emotional stress, so I’m looking at how we turn to fiction to write reparative and cathartic narratives for and about ourselves."
Time to reflect on our lives: Our ghosts were once people edited by Bongani Kona, a review
2022-03-21"This is not merely a book about death and dying. All manner of reflection is included: the blunt, the prosaic, the truthful, the tragic, but through it all comes connection – even celebration – as the writers share memories and experiences that lend the stories universal appeal."
Interview with Cathy Park Kelly, author of Boiling a frog slowly
2022-02-02"My heartfelt hope is that this book reaches those who are in toxic situations (whether at home or at work), where their boundaries are being transgressed, and that reading it helps them to see their situation with clearer eyes and take steps to protect themselves."
Satisfying, like a spicy curry roti: The Tearoom by Gretchen Haley
2021-12-07"This is a simple tale of a love-struck man, wanting out from what has become a tedious and unfulfilling life. In essence, it is a tragicomedy, a fated love story, a fable of our times, in which Tubby Reddy is himself complicit."
Unbecoming by Joanne Fedler, an unflinching look at midlife
2021-11-10"I recommend it – engrossing and tender – to all who face the challenges of letting go, to readers heading for a time of life without children, perhaps without partners, and considering, with hope, what fruitful – also intense and challenging – years may lie ahead."
A coat of many colours by Fred Khumalo: an inter-review
2021-08-05Fred Khumalo: "The riskier the choice I make, the more rewarding it is for me as a writer."
Searching for Sarah, Joanne Hichens interviews Dominique Malherbe
2021-06-01"I was acutely aware of the sensitivities of this story, and my approach with the extended Langenhoven family was cautious."
Death and the after-parties by Joanne Hichens: an inter-review
2021-05-12"I didn’t set out to be so honest, particularly about my childhood. I was going to write a short grief memoir, but the more I wrote, the more I understood that one’s childhood plays a role in how we grieve, that how we deal with loss as adults is connected to how we face loss as children, and so I went down that road, open to exploring my childhood."
An island by Karen Jennings: an interview
2021-02-19"Violence begets violence. Samuel has been exposed to it from a young age through the different stages that his country has gone through politically, and through the effects of those changes on him and those around him."
