SOUTH AFRICAN LITERATURE31 JUL 2026Dreaming of justice in Philisiwe Twijnstra’s magical worldsPhilisiwe Twijnstra’s collection, ‘Flying Cows and Other Traumas’, draws half its 15 short stories from dream…Rolland Simpi Motaung7 min read

For centuries, artists have been inspired by the dream world to craft mesmerising work from what might seem like nonsensical and supernatural realms. About half of the 15 short stories in Flying Cows and Other Traumas were drawn from the dream state to bring to life a collection traversing magical realism, speculative fiction and fantasy. “I would not have been able to imagine the collection this way if it were not a dream state,” Philisiwe Twijnstra explains during our virtual interview.

The South African-born author and playwright admits that, initially, the stories in her dreams made no sense. But she loved the bravery and obscurity in them, despite their weirdness. “I listened and I spent some time on them.

I believe that I am able to emulate those stories with a wakeful mind. But I will never write these stories like this again. No wine or coffee would help me do that … only dreams.” From the first story, the collection takes the reader on a celestial, yet ominous ride, with bone-hungry fathers, warrior grannies and gifted children ostracised by their communities.

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It is a collection layered with metaphysical eeriness that had my heart racing with excitement as I peeled through the pages. The protagonists, mostly black women, at the centre of each story fight injustice and oppression, amid spellbinding worlds, to emerge triumphant. The collection is nostalgic but futuristic, surreal and unsettling, a pulling of the mind from slumber to consciousness in attempting to explain our reality.

For years, Twijnstra has preferred to write at night and in the mornings, a routine she has stuck to since moving to Rotterdam, Netherlands, where she lives with her husband and 12-year-old daughter, in 2023. After taking their dog Benjo for a walk at around 5:30 a.m., the author retreats to her writing room, armed with a pot of coffee. This happens to be her favourite space in the house.

She has filled it with books, candles, sunflowers “and all the little things that make me want to write”. Some homegrown sounds, such as singer Thando Zide playing in the background, charmingly add to the writing ritual. When not writing, Twijnstra spends her days as a writing coach and development producer.

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