Place: South African Literary Journeys by Justin Fox

Place: South African Literary Journeys by acclaimed South African travel writer Justin Fox is an engaging exploration of the powerful relationship between literature, landscape and identity. Published in 2023, this substantial travelogue takes readers across South Africa by following not conventional maps or tourist routes, but the landscapes made memorable by some of the country’s most important writers.

Fox travels through the mountainous eastern Karoo associated with Olive Schreiner, the Lowveld of Sir Percy FitzPatrick, the wide-open interior encountered in the writing of Deneys Reitz, and the Waterberg of Eugène Marais. His literary journey continues through Herman Charles Bosman’s Marico, the stark Karoo landscapes of J. M. Coetzee, Dalene Matthee’s Garden Route, the Wild Coast associated with Zakes Mda, and the dramatic Cederberg landscapes evoked by Stephen Watson.

Part travel writing, part literary exploration and part meditation on South African identity, Place: South African Literary Journeys examines how geography influences writers and how literature, in turn, changes the way readers understand a landscape. Fox combines first-hand travel observations with literary history and personal reflection, creating an accessible book for readers interested in South African literature, cultural history and travel.

Place: South African Literary Journeys was subsequently shortlisted for the 2024 Sunday Times Alan Paton Non-Fiction Prize, adding further interest for collectors of contemporary South African writing.

Place: South African Literary Journeys is an excellent addition to a collection of South African literature, Africana, travel writing, literary criticism or cultural history.

Condition – Very Good 

Covers show light general handling and shelf wear. Binding appears sound and the book presents well overall. Some light foxing/spotting is visible on the edges of the text block.