Absent

The English Teacher

John Eppel

 

Synopsis

When Mr George loses his job teaching English at a private secondary school in Bulawayo, ‘his pension payout, after forty years of full-time service, bought him two jam doughnuts and a soft tomato.’ When he backs his uninsured white Ford Escort into a brand new Mercedes Benz, the out-of-court settlement sees him giving up his house to the complainant, Beauticious Nyamayakanuna, and becoming her domestic servant. Through the prism of this engaging post-colonial role reversal, and spiced with George’s lessons on Shakespeare, John Eppel draws down the curtain on one particular white man in Africa.

Review

… a welcome contribution to the literatures of the region, and Zimbabwe in particular … a satirical attack on the values and practices that have led to the meltdown not only of the economy, but of morals and commonsense. - Robert Muponde, University of the Witwatersrand

Author

John Eppel was raised in Zimbabwe, where he still lives, teaching English at Christian Brothers College in Bulawayo.