As we’re reading Lauren Beukes’ Broken Monsters, we decided to ask the acclaimed local author a little about what it is that’s got her turning pages as eagerly as we are.
GLAMOUR: Which authors are you reading at the moment, locally and internationally?
Lauren Beukes: The Three by Sarah Lotz, London – Cape Town – Joburg by Zukiswa Wanner, the Monsters of Men trilogy by Patrick Ness, The Fever by Megan Abbott, Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda, and I’ve just got Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld. I get ten books in the post every week – so I don’t have a reading pile, I have a reading wall. I can fortify my home with it in the zombie invasion.
Who is a new, local author we should all be reading?
Right now, Thando Mgqolozana is a talent of note and he’s doing some really interesting things in South African fiction.
Do you read more hard copy books, or on your Kindle?
I end up reading hard copy books more: I read my Kindle on the plane or if I’m getting manuscripts to read, but I like having a book and there is something about the physicality of a book.
Broken Monsters (Random House Struik, R200) is out now, and GLAMOUR will be reviewing the novel in our September 2014 issue. Lauren Beukes is also the author of Moxyland , Zoo City and The Shining Girls.
