Chatsworth: A Book Review by Karabo Kgoleng

"Set in the highly populated township of Chatsworth in KwaZulu-Natal, this collection of 11 short stories highlights working class life in a residential area that was allocated for South Africans of Indian descent during apartheid."

Eleven Short Trips To Chatsworth by Darryl Accone

"Readers of Pravasan Pillay’s Chatsworth who know the place and its people say: “That’s the way they talk” or “I recognise that”. Having read the 11 short stories in this Dye Hard Press collection, I feel tempted to claim that now I know it too. Of course, I don’t really; rather, what I do is recognise it."

Austere Beauty Of Chatsworth by Niren Tolsi

"Pravasan Pillay is a literary ascetic. Chatsworth (Dye Hard Press, 2018), his collection of short stories, is largely unencumbered by adjectives and adverbs."

Shafinaaz Hassim On Chatsworth

Chatsworth On World Cat

Find a copy in the library.

Indian Aunties And Ice Cream Containers

"If you have grown up in a South African Indian home you will know about the habit Indian aunties have of storing leftover or prepped food in old margarine and ice cream containers." 

Chatsworth In Sweden

BOOK REVIEW: Opening Up Soweto And Chatsworth With Stories

Niq Mhlongo’s fetching awkwardness contrasts with Pravasan Pillay’s dexterous appropriation of English, writes Hans Pienaar.

Francine Simon Reviews Chatsworth

Pravasan Pillay’s new collection of short stories, Chatsworth, is a literary necessity, writes Francine Simon.

Sunday Times Review of Chatsworth

A List of South African Indian Tomato Chutneys

1. Sausage chutney
2. Tin-fish chutney
3. Boiled egg chutney
4. Egg chutney
5. Prawn chutney
6. Shrimp chutney
7. Dried fish chutney
8. Chops chutney
9. Soya sausage chutney
10. Mince kebab chutney
11. Chutney

Colleen on Goodreads

saaleha i bamjee on Twitter

#amreading Chatsworth by Pravasan Pillay. Such artfully crafted characters, wonderfully nuanced tellings. Published by @GaryCummiskey pic.twitter.com/o1DibN2bfL

— saaleha i bamjee (@saaleha) June 30, 2018

Chatsworth Available At The Following Bookstores

DURBAN & PIETERMARITZBURG
*Exclusive Books, Pietermaritzburg.
*Exclusive Books at King Shaka International Airport
*Exclusive Books at Gateway Mall
* The Nelson Mandela Chatsworth Youth Centre

JO'BURG
*David Krut Bookstore
*Exclusive Books at OR Tambo International Airport

CAPE TOWN
*The Book Lounge

More bookstores will be added to this list in the coming weeks.

Chats ‘Home Swede Home’ For Author

"Durban - Inspired by his love for his hometown, a former Chatsworth resident now living in Sweden, released a book on the Durban township and the experiences encountered in the close-knit community of Montford. Pravasan Pillay, 40, who lives in Stockholm, completed the book titled Chatsworth in 2014 but only had it published recently."

Chatsworth In Bookstores

My short story collection Chatsworth will soon be available in good bookstores countrywide. It is already available at David Krut Bookstore in Rosebank, Johannesburg, and The Book Lounge in Cape Town. Copies are also available for sale at the Nelson Mandela Youth Centre in Chatsworth, Durban, plus it can be ordered directly from the publisher at dyehardpress@iafrica.com.

Chatsworth on Good Reads

"Chatsworth is Pravasan Pillay’s debut short fiction collection and consists of eleven stories set in the sprawling township of Chatsworth, Durban."

Former Chatsworth Man Stays True To His Roots

"The book is entitled ‘Chatsworth’ and I believe that the township and its vibrant residents were my primary inspiraton. I grew up in Chatsworth so I am very familiar with the area. I don’t live in Chatsworth anymore however, having some distance, helped me write about it better."

On Fireball Jawbreakers

"I was probably about 10 years old when Fireball Jawbreakers where introduced into the South African market – or at least that was the age when I first become aware of them."

Review of Chatsworth by René Bohnen

A nice mini-review of Chatsworth by the poet and photographer René Bohnen: "Such clean writing! Sober, unsentimental windows open onto the lives of characters who negotiate life and leave us wondering if they have slipped through the cracks or not. Bleak, but not depressing - a fascinating depiction of very ordinary days in a Chatsworth that seems timeless. Quiet portraits with lively and true dialogue, so familiar the vernacular. Well done, Pravasan and Dye Hard Press."

Chatsworth is available directly from the publisher for R160, including postage. For overseas orders, the cost is R220 including postage.

Email dyehardpress@iafrica.com to order.