Metrodopulos

In an effort to link my work, please take a look at my new project that is a collaboration of South African Stories.

The idea is the following, from my about page – somewhat of a South African History through the words of strangers.

Sometimes things are just the way they appear.

And sometimes they aren’t.

When I first came up with the idea for this website, I was driving from George to Oudtshoorn a few weeks after being married – on my first trip back to South Africa after being in the U.S. for a year. It was one of the most beautiful roads I have ever been on, not because of the scenery or the car I was driving but because I was back home.

And what I had first planned was a very elaborate story of South Africa from two points of view, mine and an unknown second writer who I never found. It stuck in my mind, though, and whenever I mentioned it to people the idea itself was received well.

So on a Sunday evening while preparing for a busy work week I decided to just stick my head down, register a domain and take this whole thing to the web.

That was exactly one week ago and what has happened in the last seven days has been nothing short of amazing. I started by letting people know about my idea officially, through Facebook, forums and personal emails. (I even tweeted the concept)

By Friday I had 12 confirmed and committed writers (some who have had very successful blogs, some who even had contracts with very well known publications and some who haven’t written at all) – all to whom I am grateful to for being involved in something that has no structure or grounding yet.

What will follow will be one big experiment. I don’t have a business plan or an exit strategy, not do I have a topic past the first one. But what WE have is (with no doubt at all) a great collection of stories to share.

And shared they will be. The writers have been mandated with just one task – to write the truth.

There will be no pushing of agendas, personal or political. There is no aim to encourage or discourage people from being in and/or leaving South Africa at any point. And above all, there will be no fiction.

So that’s it, just some good old stories told by a great bunch of people, every day, every week until whatever happens next.