Title: The Alphabet of Birds
Author: S. J. Naudé
Genre: Novel
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Imprint: Umuzi
Cape Town, South Africa 2014
ISBN 9781415207130 / ISBN 978-1-41-520713-0
Hardcover, 14 x 22 cm, 237 pages
If death comes to a loved one, can we grieve alone? When all around is in ruins, can we connect our lives to one beautiful room constructed out of art, or love, or family ties? What is behind emotions and words? Is it something in the language that birds use? A mother dying of cancer neglects her family and herself on a desperate mission to help AIDS sufferers; a musician travels to America, England and Dubai to see her stranded siblings before returning to her plundered home in Johannesburg; a man trails his gay lover through Berlin’s party scene looking for an antidote. Almost crushed by loss, everyone in these stories is searching for answers. Astonishing and diverse, the stories comprising S. J. Naudé’s The Alphabet of Birds are startling in their originality, lyricism and revelatory power.
SJ Naudé grew up in South Africa, where he studied law. After practising law in New York and London for many years, he returned to South Africa for a master&;s degree in creative writing. The Afrikaans edition of The Alphabet of Birds has won several prizes including the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize and a South African Literary Award. He was awarded the 2014 Jan Rabie & Marjorie Wallace Writing Scholarship, the largest award for creative writing in South Africa. Naudé currently lives in Cape Town.