Summary

Painstakingly handwritten over a three year period, Spring Will Come is the life story of William Zulu, highly acclaimed for his evocative art-works. Having contracted spinal TB as a baby, William underwent misplaced corrective surgery to his spine which left him paralyzed and permanently wheelchair bound. It recounts with zest and humor the events of his life, his unfolding artistic development and the world of deep rural Africa in which he is rooted. His artist's eye paints in the details of his world with vivid observation. Weaving through the personal narrative is a strong political consciousness that sketches the fortunes of a country in violent transition, wracked by the ethnic rivalries that overshadowed every aspect of black life in the 1980s. Zulu conveys the unrelenting hardship of rural life and offers a fascinating window to the world of traditional Africa-with all its superstition, patriarchal rigidity and prejudices on the one hand, and its humor, shrewd observance and innovative survival strategies on the other.