SOAS Research Online

Abstract

On the crest of the last hill, the new Griqua trekkers saw before them the land of Beeswater rolling down from low hills in the west, hemmed in by the Soutrivier in the east, and in the distant south the gleam of Varsrivier's white rocks. Beeswater is, in fact, the village where Zoe Wicomb was born and raised, but her birth certificate says Vanrhynsdorp, since it was the nearest town. Wicomb's first book of short stories, You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town, was originally published in London by Virago in 1987; though it has since been published by the Feminist Press of New York (2000); and, for its first appearance in South Africa, she offered a revised edition for the Cape Town imprint Umuzi. The photo essay by Sophia Klaase consists of several images. Klaase's real images, of family, friends, community, helped give life to Wicomb's cast of characters, developed the plot and fleshed out the character of Sylvie.