PROFILE FEATURE Falling through the cracks... he rich, multi faceted and diverse combined persona of the South African people has always been a reliable source of experiences and stories that will take you on a rollercoaster ride. Our textured past and ability to believe in a better tomorrow birthed a wealth of creatively skilled individuals, Imraan Coovadia being one of them. Winner of "Best single authored" Fiction Book at the Inaugural National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) Book, Creative and Digital Collections Awards 2016 for Tales of the Metric System, Imraan is indeed an accomplished author, academic and social activist whom through his published works presents us with an opportunity to explore a textured cast of characters and their unforgettable individual stories. A child of the seventies, Imraan currently resides in Cape Town where he lectures and is the director of the creative writing program at the University of Cape Town. Born in Durban, he spent his early years in South Africa before moving to the United States to study at Harvard College where he majored in Philosophy. Later, he attained his doctorate at Yale University. As an academic at UCT, his research interests include: Eighteenth- and nineteenth century English and American literature, philosophy and literature and political and social thought of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Arguably the most underrepresented genre in our literary landscape, the NIHSS awards were well-timed seeking to address this by providing a platform of recognition. As a component of their overall mandate, the awards acknowledge and celebrate those undertaking the necessary labour of creating post-apartheid forms of scholarship. Sunday Independent spent some time in conversation with the winning author getting to know the man; his thoughts on perception, inspiration and a bit on topical and not so topical issues. Here is what he had to say; Q: You are considered and referred to as a "Social Scientist". What, by your definition and based on your life experience is a "Social Scientist"? A: I'm not actually a social scientist. But at a certain level of abstraction everybody in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) is interested in the past. I guess, the human past. And that separates us from sciences which allow us to control objects or predict outcomes. Having said that, I'm a writer and I'm interested in social change over significant periods of time, and across different strata of society. Wonder and amazement at those processes is probably where any kind of social science begins. Q: If you were to envision an alternative life, which would Imraan be? A: Writers especially, probably all social scientists, spend their lives thinking about counterfactuals. I'm not totally convinced in an alternative life I would be much better off. I wish I'd know a little more about the future. And thought about the kinds of imagination and creativity that you see expressed in certain careers in science, technology, economics, where you really have the chance to help millions of people and change things on a real scale. I mean, I very much like the kinds of individual connections with students and other academics that working at a university allows. But I also feel intensely the sensation of being confined in an institution which doesn't work very well and with some people whose interest isn't in shaping the future in a realistic and interesting way. We're letting narrow-mindedness and bloody-mindedness take over our productive lives. Can we imagine Elon Musk working in South Africa? Q: You boast a list of accolades from first publication to the most recent being the NIHSS award. All of them are equally important but if you had highlight one in relation to a milestone, which is closest and most meaningful to you? A: Hard to say. I think my PhD degree is the one which marks me the most (though as much of a curse as a blessing). This is probably true of most doctorate holders. It's when you leave humanity and join the observers forever. Q: Your debut novel - The Wedding, was translated into Italian and Hebrew. If it were to be translated into one more language and you could make the choice, what language would you choose and why? A: Latin. It's concise. And, as a language, lacking in interesting comedy if you don't like Plautus and Terence much. Q: Predictability and an innate addiction to habit would have me ask what or who inspired you to take up the pen. In an attempt to buck the trend I would like to know what else you explored that added clarity through it being what you did not want. A: I wanted to (and should have been) a physicist. I also had a ZX Spectrum computer when I was 15 or so and I should clearly have continued playing around with it. Just didn't seem like there was much of a future in IT. Q: As a participant and winner, aside from the hard earned recognition by your peers, what would you say is the relevance of the institution and more specifically the awards in reshaping the literary landscape going forward? A: The arts and social sciences can't make humanity progress-that's really the job of science, technology, and above all business-but they can help create a wiser middle class. Q: You have set the benchmark and like Simon & Garfunkel it's a tough act to follow. A word of encouragement to the 2017 entrants... A: I'm sure they'll do just great with the support from the NIHSS and their commitment to fostering and developing the excellence within Humanities and Social Sciences. When asked what inspired Tales of the Metric System, Imraan expressed his passion for telling the stories of the lives and people who fall through the cracks that exist as a result of our efficient Pigeon holing and segmentation of society. It should come as no surprise that when asked about what he values most in his current role as the director of the creative writing program at the University of Cape Town, he responded “Being a part of mentoring and positively contributing to the success of the next generation of creative writers.” It is because of his concern for students and academia at large, that when Sunday Independent solicited an answer to the question on his thoughts and feelings on the current #FEESMUSTFALL movement and it’s impact on the country, we were met with a distinct tone of disappointment as he proceeded to say “I think funding for any critical service is tight. We don't fund schools, or housing, or health at the level they require (and we can't). Economic growth has slowed to nothing and we can't make the choices required to put it back on track. It's hard to see why middle-class university students should have priority over rural mothers and children. It's even harder to see how the use of arson and violence against laboratories and libraries does anything but collapse the scientific and technological base of this country for generations to come. And speaking personally, hardest for me to see how some academics insist that nothing can be done to prevent assaults on unarmed working-class guards (up to and including trying to burn them to death or dropping rocks on their heads) because their view of Marxism or post colonialism forbids it. One of the correlations political scientists note is between the willingness to use or tolerate force in a democracy and the onset of authoritarianism. The fact that we're facing authoritarianism on campuses which comes under the banner of Biko and Fanon doesn't make it any more attractive, or any less likely, if unchecked by the law, to end in national disaster.” With a sullen smile and a glint of realisation in his eyes, Imraan chose to share a pearl of wisdom before parting ways – “As I have grown older, I now appreciate that sometimes being conservative is a good thing.” As one of the successful pioneers, Tales of the Metric System is testament to the vital role that a re-imagined, redefined and recognised contribution that the humanities and social sciences faculty plays in promoting social cohesion. With the 2017 process underway one can only speculate in anticipation of the talent that will be showcased in the next annual NIHSS Book, Creative and Digital Collections Awards. By: Zunaid Omar In conversation with Imraan Coovadia Imraan Coovadia: Winner of "Best single authored" Fiction Book at the Inaugural National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) Book, Creative and Digital Collections Awards 2016 for Tales of the Metric System Photo credit: Victor Dlamini “As I have grown older, I now appreciate that sometimes being conservative is a good thing.” From a Natal boarding school in the seventies and Soviet spies in London in the eighties to the 1995 Rugby World Cup and intrigue in the Union Buildings, Tales of the Metric System shows how 10 days spread across four decades send tidal waves through the lives of ordinary and extraordinary South Africans alike. An unforgettable cast of characters includes Ann, who is trying to protect her husband and son in 1970, and Victor, whose search for a missing document in 1973 will change his life forever. Rock guitarist Yash takes his boy to the beach on Boxing Day in 1979 to meet his revolutionary cousin, while Shanti, his granddaughter, loses her cellphone and falls in love twice on a lucky afternoon in 2010. Playwrights, politicians, philosophers, and thieves, all caught in their individual stories, burst from the pages of Coovadia’s Tales of the Metric System as it measures South Africa’s modern history in its own remarkable units of imagination. “Simple in concept, complex in construction, a novel which is so much more than the sum of its parts, one which purports to examine the randomness of life while delicately drawing the eye to the butterfly effect of individual acts and exposing the interconnected¬ness of people. In pristine prose and with a telling eye for detail, Tales of the Metric System leaves the reader with a sense of having undertaken a journey through the familiar only to arrive somewhere completely new.” – Aminatta Forna, author of The Memory of Love Background Imraan Coovadia was born in Durban, in 1970, South Africa to Jerry Coovadia and Zubie (Zubeida) Hamed. His father is a well-known AIDS activist, member of the UDF and doctor. His mother is a dermatologist. He is a regular contributor to various newspapers, journals and magazines such as N+1, Agni, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Times of India, and South Africa's The Mail and Guardian and Sunday Independent (South Africa). Life and Writing Imraan has travelled and lived widely, as extensively as, London, Melbourne, Boston, New York City, Durban and Cape Town. His writing reflects this in its diverse themes and influences. His early novels were focused more on South African Indian experiences. He was also influenced stylistically by V. S. Naipaul and others. His first novel, “The Wedding” was published in 2001. The novel was well received, garnering a variety of accolades such as runner-up in the Sunday Times Fiction Award (2002), long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin International Literary Award, a finalist for the first annual Connecticut Book Award, and short-listed for the Ama-Boeke Prize (2003). His early writing is considered an important addition to Indian-South African literature, in that it deals with the issues of migration, historical concerns, loss of culture and nationality. His style is comedic and thoughtful. His later writing, such as the Institute for Taxi Poetry, is set in Cape Town and explores both the taxi industry and the intricacies of life in Cape Town. Awards His debut novel, The Wedding, was shortlisted for the 2002 Sunday Times Fiction Award, Ama-Boeke Prize (2003), IMPAC Dublin International Literary Award (2005), and was chosen as book of the week by Exclusive Books (South Africa) and Asian Week.com. He has also won The Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the University of Johannesburg Prize for his 2010 novel, High Low In-between and the English category of the M-Net Literary Awards for his 2012 novel, The Institute of Taxi Poetry. Winner of "Best single authored" book at the inaugural National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) creative and digital awards 2016 for Tales of the Metric System Winner of "Best single authored" Fiction Book at the Inaugural National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) Book, Creative and Digital Collections Awards 2016 The Wedding (2001) Green-Eyed Thieves (2006) Authority and Authorship in V. S. Naipaul (2009) High low in-between (2009) The Institute of Taxi Poetry (2012) Transformations: Essays (2012)