A few years ago, the Abantu Book Festival was established by one of the most brilliant writers of our time, Thando Mgqolozana. His debut novel, A Man Who is Not a Man, is unarguably one of the most important books to have ever been written in SA.

It details the unimaginable trauma of a young initiate whose circumcision, a critical rite of passage in many African communities, goes awry. The book challenges our ideas about what it means to be a man and of the toxicity we hide in the name of culture. I was in high school when the book came out in 2009 and it changed my life...