If you enjoy the thrill of a book that will have you follow a queer protagonist whose life is turned upside down after meeting a new, and dangerous, love interest, then Kabelo Makeke wa Ncube’s book, Taverning After 9, is the perfect book for you.
This is the writer’s first published book and though it was a nerve-racking experience to put it out, his nerves quickly turned to gratitude following people’s response to it. It saw its launch at Melville-based bookstore, Book Circle Capital, and is now on its second print run.
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Writing this book, Makeke wa Ncube struggled to find a publisher who believed this story was one worth telling. One response he received was that it was too ‘niche’. “I guess they still don’t take us [queer authors] seriously enough, even though my book is now on its second print run.” After reading the book, the writer hopes its reader sees their resilience. “Seeing themselves the way I see them; good, bad, crazy…but beautiful and strong. We go through the most, but stay resilient. I wanted to celebrate that.”
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Putting this body of work together was based on him wanting to write a book that centred around a person like me. As he found it was more common to find black gay men being the funny sidekick – just there for comic relief and sass. So he instead wanted his book to be a love story between black men in the township and everything it entails.
For Makeke wa Ncube, it is important for queer voices like his to be heard in society because as he put it, if they aren’t heard, and they are believed not to exist, how will society make choices that will protect them?
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