Jonathan Amid
Jonathan Amid was in 1986 in Israel gebore. Hy is van kleins af lief vir kuns, musiek, films, stories en boeke en bly die afgelope drie dekades in Stellenbosch, waar hy op skool was en by die Universiteit Stellenbosch geswot het. Hy verwerf ‘n BA in Geesteswetenskappe, en daarna ‘n BA Hons en ‘n Meestersgraad in Engelse Letterkunde (beide cum laude). Hy ruil ongeveer die afgelope dekade die lesingsaal vir die volgehoue uitdaging van voltydse tekspraktisyn (manuskripontwikkeling-, keuring en redigering in Afrikaans en Engels), private skryfkonsultant en vryskutresensent wees. Honderde resensies oor meestal plaaslike fiksie en nie-fiksie verskyn uit sy pen in die dagblaaie en op Netwerk24, op LitNet, Skrop.co.za, en in die nuwe gedaante van die Vrye Weekblad.
Tugging towards discovery
2014-03-10 Mark Winkler's An Exceptionally Simple Theory (of Absolutely Everything) is “an intensely absorbing and unapologetically apolitical tale”.
Bloody Satisfied – edited by Joanne Hichens
2014-01-24 “Five years later, in 2013, Hichens has once again edited and collected various storytelling voices under the title Bloody Satisfied: short.sharp.stories. The collection is the inaugural anthology produced in conjunction with the National Arts Festival. Will you be bloody satisfied after reading these stories?”
What Hidden Lies: Crime from up close
2014-01-10 "In Greek mythology, Persephone is the queen of the underworld. In the brilliant debut novel by celebrated scriptwriter and script editor Michelle Rowe, detective Persephone (Persy) Jonas ... is the plucky young woman tasked with navigating the underworld of a community where little is as it appears."
The Spiral House by Claire Robertson
2014-01-03 “Claire Robertson’s extensively researched debut novel, The Spiral House, comes after thirty years spent working as a journalist. The novel has garnered praise from various quarters, unsurprisingly, since it seems to engage every nerve and fibre of one’s body and mind, so absorbing is its arc.”
Reader's review: Black Widow Society
2014-01-03 "If anyone dared to say that the burgeoning South African crime fiction scene was light on inventiveness, over-politicised, almost exclusively cornered by Cape writers and lacking in contributions from black female writers, then Angela Makholwa offers a decidedly tart response with her latest novel, Black Widow Society."
Wenkbrou deur Deborah Steinmair
2014-01-03 “Hierdie is ‘n veelvlakkige roman wat behoorlik die wenkbroue laat lig.”
Kobra ’n riller soos min
2013-12-19 Het Meyer na amper twintig jaar van spanningvolle, deernisvolle, besonder sterk karakter-gedrewe misdaadfiksie steeds die vinger op die pols van wat sy aanhangers van sy skryfwerk verwag?
Staring down the barrel: Mike Nicol’s Of Cops & Robbers
2013-09-04 "Whether you read his latest work as a playful homage to the hard-boiled heroes of the 1930s, find the crossing of boundaries between fact and fiction a source of interest, or just want to read a white-knuckle thriller about the not-quite state of the nation, Nicol’s your man."
Zebra Crossing: An electrifying novel
2013-08-28 "Without unqualified exultation it would be fair to say that Zebra Crossing is one of the very best works of socially conscious fiction produced in 2013, one that provides ample evidence of tremendous literary ability and a fine understanding of form."
Lees gerus ’n Ander mens
2013-07-31 "Die gepaste titel dui ooglopend op die feit dat diegene wat in die getuiebeskermingsprogram geplaas word, ’n nuwe identiteit moet aanneem, en wesenlik 'nuwe' of 'ander' mense moet word om te oorleef en met hulle lewens aan te gaan."
Koljander: Geurige dis vir die fynproewer
2013-06-12 "Die roman behoort in ’n wye smaak te val, terwyl daar ruimskoots vir die fynproewer voorsiening gemaak word."
Die dans met die dooies: Karsten se nuutste ’n Roman van Groot Belang
2013-05-27 "Die opgrawe van die beendere dien as plot-drywer en vlek ook die sentrale tema van opgrawing en identifikasie oop: fisiese sowel as psigiese opgrawing, die oopgrou van ’n verlies van onskuld ..."
Video: Leon de Kock and Michiel Heyns in conversation
2013-03-22 Michiel Heyns and Leon De Kock in conversation with Jonathan Amid18 March 2013
JS Gericke Library Auditorium
Mackenzie’s Pale Horses atmospheric, thought-provoking fare
2012-11-27 "Pale Horses really starts to hit its stride when De Jong visits the devastation of the “scene of the crime”, only to find that the missing community lived on land expropriated from a white farmer."