TWALA'S JOURNEY: A LIFE
Regina Gelana Twala, a Black South African woman who died in 1968 in Swaziland (now Eswatini), was an extraordinarily prolific writer of books, columns, articles, and letters and one of the first Black African women anthropologists. Twala’s colorful but difficult life journey has recently come to light--featured in the biography Written Out: The Silencing of Regina Gelana Twala (Ohio University Press, and Wits University Press), by Joel Cabrita (2023)--but her many scholarly and literary achievements are still largely forgotten, obscured or inaccessible.
TWALA'S WORK: AN ARCHIVE
Twala was highly productive, authoring research articles in academic journals and over 100 newspaper articles for several publications, including a Times of Swaziland column about daily life in that country under the sly pseudonym "Intombazana." She also authored several book manuscripts, only one of which survives today. This original book draws in part from her columns and depicts matters of gender, style, spirituality, and modernity for women and men in the African kingdom on the eve of Independence in the swinging sixties. It remains unpublished: until now.
OUR PROJECT: A VISION
COLLABORATION, CREATIVE RESEARCH, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
With permission and encouragement from Twala's Estate, Project Co-Directors, Prs. Nosipho Mngomezulu (Wits University), Casey Golomski (University of New Hampshire), and Joel Cabrita (Stanford University) are collaboratively leading the effort to co-edit, publish, and widely promote a scholarly first edition of Twala's surviving book manuscript that reaches a global audience, and Southern African readers especially.
Twala's writing is personable and funny. It combines journalistic flair and a keen ethnographic eye. Our vision is that our first edition will include a critical introduction to the book, brief annotations to her original writing, fresh translations of isiZulu and siSwati terminology, and essay contributions reflecting on her work written by her intellectual successors--today's generation of Black Southern African women scholars. In also developing a documentary podcast series for digital and radio broadcast, the project embodies Twala's legacy of public-facing and community-engaged scholarship and writing.
CONTACT
Please reach out to Project Co-Directors using their institutional contact information.
Stay tuned for updates on project progress and funding!