OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

I cooked a lamb knuckle stew today. It wasn’t the greatest achievement of the day but, apart from the bubbly and the pasteis de nata from The Hoghouse that we had for dinner, definitely the most delicious.

I slept, and I managed to get out of bed. Simple miracles.

It wasn’t planned like this (Covid-19 had other plans), but together with Rachel Zadok and Jason Mykl Snyman, I am co-editing the next SSDA anthology: Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa. This week the stories are going for typesetting. The cover, designed by Megan Ross, is ready. I have been working with seven authors from across the continent and I can’t wait for people to read their stories. Disruption is going to be another great book. And being part of this project for several years now has been one of the most enriching experiences of my literary life.

Officially, over fifty thousand people have died in SA because of Covid-19-related causes. Excess deaths are probably close to three times as much by now. I understand that it is not always easy to keep safe. What I don’t understand is that in situations when it is easy, people choose not to.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD