Newly published by altoviolet and Dye Hard Press: The Fall by Hans Pienaar

Dedalus decides to flee South Africa but his plane crashes somewhere else on the continent. He miraculously survives but is taken captive by a militia whom he believes wants to kill him. Making promises to use his skills to help them, he gets involved in the politics and religious complexities of the local community. They allow him to design a series of gods to meet the needs they appear to have.

Hans Pienaar’s first collection of poems in English tends towards a novel in verse, or a draft for a Netflix series in poems, if you will. Told in many styles and voices, it is an attempt to distill his experiences while travelling in the rest of Africa as foreign correspondent for a newspaper group. There is a lot of humour, but also deadly earnest in the meeting of Greek mythology and a people run down by colonialism and modernity, and of course, things do not go according to plan. Whether it ends on a pessimistic or optimistic note probably depends on the reader.

Pienaar is an award-winning writer of mainly Afrikaans novels, plays and poetry who lives in the Western Cape. His latest poetry collection, Seisoene op Parool (Seasons on Parole) was published by Protea Books in January 2021, and it will also release his latest novel, Kaap, in February 2022.

The Fall can be ordered from the author at mwhanspi@gmail.com for R350, postage included (by South African post office), or you can order an e-book version for free. If you want the book couriered to you, speak to the author.

140 pages.

ISBN: 978-0-9947231-1-6 print

ISBN: 978-0-9947231-2-3 e-book