Very hard times written about by a North African (6)

I believe the answer is:

xhosan

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'very hard times written' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'by a north african' is the wordplay.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'a north' becomes 'N' (abbreviation).
'african' becomes 'Xhosa' (the Xhosa are an African ethnic group).
'n' put after 'xhosa' is 'XHOSAN'.

'about' is the link.

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I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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