South Africa is a country that can boast many a great writer — Nadine Gordimer, Alan Paton, JM Coetzee and Andre Brink to name a few. But try digging through your local bookshop for local young writing and all you’ll hit will be an invisible blackhole.

Perhaps a few weeks ago while quietly sipping your cappuccino in some downtown bohemian coffee shop you had a dog-eared Photostat novel some hippie was trying to flog rudely shoved under your nasal canal.

Or over the weekend maybe after paging through countless glossy women’s magazines you chanced upon some new writing competition the mag was running only to later realise they were just running it in a bid to up their tardy readership rate. That’s why the shining cover of 'Urban 2' is such a ray of hope.

Under the masterful captainship of editor Dave Chislett — something of a literary vagabond in local media circles — the book is like a glowing lighthouse to the leaking, floundering ship that is South Africa’s literary market.

Okay, it’s no 30 000 candle power beam, but the stories — comical, satirical and heart-felt narratives set in post-apartheid South Africa — present a serious challenge to publishing houses, which continue to cling stubbornly to their expensive yet brainless coffee books with their brightly-coloured double spread photographs.

But should 'Urban 2', which is sponsored by Nescafe and follows the blazing trail set by its predecessor 'Urban 1', prove to be successful it may become the hallmark for all future homebred fiction.

All its 15 stories — penned by young emerging writers, many of whom are in their 20s — take root in everything from rough township streets to the hallways of Johannesburg’s Tara mental home, or idle along Cape river adventures and wander inebriated through festival booze-ups.

A deeper look inside reveals a wide range of winding yet simple narratives. In 'Cityshit' 23-year-old illustrator Desné Maisie explores existential despair and nihilism in Johannesburg while stand-up comedian Tshepo Mogale muses comically about his and a friend’s quest to buy a stolen ghetto blaster at a township police station in 'A Hi-fi in Soweto'.

Then there’s the satirical 'Waiting for their turn' by Limpopo English academic Marcus Ramogale, who explores the impassioned desire the new black political elite have for material power and love for fast and pricey BMWs, while others like poet and singer Hagen Engler, with his 'The monolithic presence of the gentle Seda Mntu', are more philosophical in their outlook.

But it is Patrick Cairn’s charming 'Tjippie' which is possibly the most enlivening of them all. The story, told merely in monologue, begins when the writer bumps into a homeless street beggar who proceeds to unravel a charming yet mystifying yarn that captures the spirit and character of many a Cape Town “bergie”.

Amazing however is that despite its wide-ranging and diverse South African narratives, 'Urban 2' still manages to steer clear of the country’s apartheid past. Instead of stories of ongoing race battles and stereotyping, many of the authors choose instead to opt for a depoliticised account of their experiences as they attempt to carve out new meanings from the dark void left by the old racist regime.

'Urban 2' may be a renegade publication, a high risk capital investment that few publishing houses would favour backing, but never can it be said that South Africa is not full of burgeoning young talent waiting to launch themselves on willing and adventurous readers.