The Cheeky Natives
The Cheeky Natives is a literary podcast primarily focused on the review, curatorship and archiving of Black literature.
The show is hosted by the cheeky duo, Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele and Advocate Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane.
The show is hosted by the cheeky duo, Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele and Advocate Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane.
Episodes
87 episodes since 2024
Tessa Dooms and Lynsey Ebony Chutel: Coloured: How Classification Became Culture
Coloured as an ethnicity and racial demographic is intertwined with the creation of today’s South Africa. Yet often coloured communities are disdained as people with no clear heritage or culture – as not "black enough" or "white enough". <...
September 13, 2024
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1:13:10
Shubnum Khan: The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil
In a once majestic but now decaying mansion, itself a potent metaphor for the current state of Durban where it’s set, we meet the characters of Shubnum Khan’s latest novel. Originally developed as an ode to beauty, culture and heri...
August 23, 2024
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51:35
Busisekile Khumalo: Sunshine & Shadows
In this novel, Busisekile asks what it means to be a young woman asked to make difficult decisions in impossible situations.Centred around Vimbai, a young Zimbabwean woman navigating young adulthood amid an economic crisis. She faces si...
August 01, 2024
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1:11:24
Bolu Babalola: Honey and Spice
Honey& Spice is a sweet, evocative and humorous coming of age debut novel from Bolu Babalola. We first encountered Bolu in the short story collection “Love in Colour.”In her debut novel set in a PWI in the UK, we are introduced to a...
July 12, 2024
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47:25
Okechukwu Nzelu: Here Again Now
In this immaculate study of father-son relationships and the black masculinity, Okechukwu introduces to two Black, gay British-Nigerian men. Achike and Ekene find themselves wading through the existential phenomena of being alive, Black and...
June 28, 2024
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1:09:03
Arinze Ifeakandu: God's Children Are Little Broken Things
In this enthralling debut collection of short stories by Arinze Ifeakandu God’s Children Are Little Broken Things is a collection of 9 short stories set in Nigeria that examine queer identity, relationships, family and societal isolation...
June 14, 2024
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48:24
Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ: Dazzling
In this intriguing debut by Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ, we are introduced to two young girls Ozoemena and Treasure, whose coming of age takes place in a boarding school in Nigeria. Their meeting is set against the backdrop of familial loss a...
May 31, 2024
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1:06:46
Nokuthula Mazibuko Msimang: The Daughters of Nandi
This book begins with a curse put on the house of Zulu and her family, the Mhlongos, by Nandi Mhlongo, mother of Shaka ka Senzangakhona for the disrespect she endured from them.Weaving through the lives of three women living in different histor...
May 14, 2024
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54:32
Safiya Sinclair: How To Say Babylon
In this beautiful memoir, Safiya Sinclair writes about her childhood and adolescence in Jamaica with parents in the Rastafari faith. In an act of personal excavation, she brings forth the hidden histories of a people pushed to the margins b...
April 19, 2024
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1:02:45
Diana Anyakwo: My Life As A Chameleon
In My Life as a Chameleon, Diana Anyakwo explores the themes of identity, family and memory with a tender hand. Centred around the experiences of Lily, a teenager of mixed race background growing up in Nigeria and England. Lily...
March 21, 2024
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59:39
Nadia Owusu: Aftershocks
"1. Unwelcome Reunion Unwelcome ReunionWhen I was twenty-eight, my stepmother Anabel came to New York on vacation. She was living, at the time, in Pakistan, where she worked for a UN agency. At a restaurant a few blocks from my China...
March 05, 2024
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50:52
Angela Makholwa: The Reed Dance Stalker
"And in breaking news, convicted serial killer and rapist, Napoleon Dingiswayo, escaped from Pretoria’s C-Max Prison at twelve-fifteen this afternoon, along with serial rapist and armed robber Andries Mathe, and heist kingpin Sifiso Khumalo.’ The ...
February 22, 2024
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58:07
Zibu Sithole: The Thing with Zola
In this refreshing tale about Black love and the self-discovery, we are introduced to Zola, a young woman in her 20’s thrashing out what it means to reckon with disappointment. We meet her as a new arrival in South Africa, following an extended st...
February 02, 2024
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1:12:11
Wisani Mushwana: A Soft Landing
“In Violet’s bedroom, most of the furniture had been moved, except for the bed whose mattress lay on the floor and carried the weight of an unconscious Violet. The wardrobe had been moved to the corner of the room and the table that had been ne...
January 12, 2024
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50:41
A Spell Of Good Things A Conversation With Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
“He stared back at her, unconcerned. She had always marvelled at his calm assurance that everything good in his life would either remain the same or get better. He took good fortune for granted. As though it were impossible that it would abide onl...
September 15, 2023
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1:17:06
Nozuko Siyotula: Christopher
Set over the course of one weekend, Christopher introduces us to Vuyo, one of a long lineage of headstrong January women. Vuyo, pregnant with twins is mourning the death of her Scottish-born husband and has come home to her family home in the rura...
July 07, 2023
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1:00:44
Warsan Shire: Bless the Daughter Raised by A Voice in Her Head
"With her first full-length poetry collection, Warsan Shire introduces us to a young girl, who, in the absence of a nurturing guide, makes her own way toward womanhood. Drawing from her own life, as well as pop culture and news headlines, Shire fi...
February 03, 2023
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48:52
Robert Jones Jr: The Prophets
According to the NYT, The Prophets’ is an exploration of Black Love and Memory in a Time of Trauma. What an apt description of this powerful debut by Robert Jones Jr. In a novel moving across time and space, we are introduced to Samuel and Isaiah...
October 27, 2022
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1:16:20
Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng: A Guide to Sexual Health and Pleasure
Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng aka Dr T, is a globally renowned doctor and human rights defender and a bestselling author of “Dr T: A Guide to Sexual Health and Pleasure”. Born in Qwaqwa in the Free State, she credits her success to the guidance and nurturi...
August 01, 2022
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1:11:34
Buki Papillon: An Ordinary Wonder
“See, if you act like your uniqueness is a great thing and you couldn’t care less about their opinion, they eventually give up. And that feels so good that you do it again and again until you truly believe it.”An Ordinary Wonder is a coming of age...
June 14, 2022
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1:20:45
Carice Anderson: Intelligence isn't Enough
Carice Anderson author of Intelligence isn’t enough is a professional development manager and coach with over 17 years’ experience at top companies. Having noticed that Black professionals are often the ones who struggle the most with the transiti...
April 27, 2022
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1:01:00
Peace Adzo Medie: His Only Wife
“Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding."is how Peace Adzo Medie introduces us to Afi and Elikem in her acclaimed debut His Only Wife. A Reese Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick. This book os also a New York Notab...
February 13, 2022
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1:14:51
Sue Nyathi: A Family Affair
Meet the Mafus, a close-knit, traditional family with three daughters. As leaders of their church, The Kingdom of God, Pastor Abraham and his wife Phumla are guiding the community of Bulawayo in faith, while trying to keep the different branches o...
January 24, 2022
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1:09:46
Jamil F. Khan: Khamr: The Makings of a Waterslams
“This is not a story for the romanticisation of pain and perseverance, although it tells of overcoming many difficulties. It is a critique of secret violence in faith communities and families, and the hypocrisy that has damaged so many people stil...
September 29, 2021
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1:03:50
Angela Makholwa: Critical But, Stable
Lerato never wanted to join her sister's stupid social club. All those pretentious people spending hours showing off their wealth. To what end? What was the point of it all? She'd been disappointed that her husband had fallen for Solomzi's charms ...
August 06, 2021
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1:10:10