"Tutaishi: The African Tale" is a story of shame, hope and triumph. It is a novel about a young girl, Theo, who manages to escape abuse from the Congo, where she has been in the hands of rebel soldiers. After many difficulties she travels to South Africa where she befriends and later falls in love with a young man, Qhama. They both go through a number of hardships, including xenophobia, drugs, and HIV/AIDS, but at the end they triumph. —-

Khaya Gqibitole is an English lecturer at the University of Zululand, South Africa. He has written for the radio and has published short stories (Fresh Scars, Kwela Books, 2004; My blood is Red Too, Short Story Review of South Africa, 2005).