Literary podcast Cheeky Natives is set out to reclaim the narratives shared about black authors by two bibliophiles, Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele and Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane.
In the podcast, the two hosts interview African authors about their work and the literary industry. Some of their most recent hosts on the podcast include authors Jamil F Khan, Sue Nyathi and Peace Adzo Medie.
Starting in 2017, the podcast was born from a joint love for books by the hosts. Cele said all their conversations before the podcast always revolved around books.
“We would go to book events and ask so many questions. We realised that there was a need for black writing to be critically engaged with, without there being a particular gaze,” she said.
She added: “We had a desire to build a space that was safe for black authors, and where we could engage with their work.”
The name Cheeky Natives is derived in part from the historical resistance of black people against their white masters, who used the derogatory reference during apartheid.
“The Cheeky Natives is this idea of disrupting and resisting. We know cheeky is often used to describe black people, and we wanted to take ownership of that,” she said.
Mokgoroane said the duo wanted to start the podcast because most reviews were written by white people about black authors who highlight the race element.
“They don’t go into the interior lives of black people, and we wanted to create a space where black writers felt that their work was engaged in an art form as literature, rather than this political thing,” they said.
They added: “It is a space where we get to dissect what the interior lives of black people are.”
Mokgoroane said books have always inexplicably encapsulated him.
“As this young femme queer kid, the world couldn’t understand me, and I could get lost in books. It was a soft landing and a safe space. Books allow me to see myself in ways I would not have been able to in other forms,” he said.
Cele said there was something so powerful about being able to imagine a world that was different to the one she exists in.
“Books call us to be better versions of ourselves. I love that books tell stories of people who would otherwise be relegated to the margins of society,” she said.
Cheeky Natives owns an online book store called the Cheeky Merchant, where listeners can purchase signed copies of the books by authors who were guests featured on the podcast.
Afro Poetry Times
