Litnet

"Die skryf daarvan was vir my ’n geestelike pad, omdat dit my gehelp het om daaroor te mymer en te groei."

"Botha lewer, met ’n chemikus se oog vir besonderhede, met Bakeliet ’n verfrissende bydrae tot hedendaagse Afrikaanse poësie." Lees Nini Bennett-Moll se resensie van Bakeliet en onderhoud met Anri Botha.

"Dalk was Leo net created om mense te wys dat enige iets possible is. Is soes ieman wat jy onmoet in jou liewe – is sometimes net vi ’n kot tydjie, but die engagement is impactful. Maybe it was the case with Leonardo."

"Die lewe is ’n asem lank. Laat elke sekonde tel."

"Ons teikenmark is jonk en oud, Afrikaans en Engels – enigiemand wat ’n betroubare, sakpas naslaanbron saam met hulle wil dra."

"Mitologie is nie net ou stories nie. Dis ’n spieël vir die menslike hart. Dit help ons verstaan hoe mense dwarsdeur die eeue heen sin probeer maak het van lyding, liefde, dood en hoop. Dis die soort dinge wat ek glo kinders regtig laat nadink, selfs tussen al die aksie en avontuur."

"The thing about speculative fiction is that it’s always about now."

"I see electricity as a character as well, as the story accentuates the power of electricity by showing how it controls and affects life. Lack or scarcity of electricity disrupts society and causes issues that affect everyone. Electricity empowers and connects people; it’s a power that nobody should be denied."

"As for escapism, the literary world has always been an excellent, reliable form of escape. Not only can you lose yourself in a riveting scene in the right chapter, but that form of escape also happens to expand your mind with words you’ve never encountered (and have to google), perspectives you’ve never considered – with a new world of intellectual curiosities."

"Humour, in my story, was used as a tool to lighten what could otherwise be considered a volatile social issue, while still taking the bull by the horns."

"I love humour in books. Especially the 'tongue-in-cheek' variety. There’s even more to come in book two. I think it’s important to balance some of the darker aspects of the thriller genre with moments of levity."

"I can’t claim a moral high ground; for that I am too flawed, too contradictory. I suppose something I’ve been thinking about a lot is that empires fall – and how right now feels like the end of something."

"Ek het in kloosters gewoon, talle geestelike begeleiers gehad, aan die voete van wysgere in die VSA, Birma, Frankryk en Spanje geleer. Al daardie dinge en insigte dam oor die jare heen in jou kop op. Toe ek gaan sit en skryf, was dit soos om ’n sluis oop te trek en het baie daarvan op die bladsye uitgespoel."

"Ek koester wel die sukses wat ons met die onderrig van plaaslike skoliere in die Caprivi behaal het – daarop is ek trots, en dankbaar dat ek die voorreg gehad het."

"Ons was een oggend besig om ’n kamer uit te pak. Ek het boeke van een plek na ’n ander gedra, toe ’n seun op ’n huis se dak in my gedagtes verskyn."

"Dis belangriker om lewendig te voel as om lekker te voel."

"In a world where 1% of the population have a monopoly on economic and, by extension, political power, the general masses suffer under the weight of inequality. What we do have are our voices."

"The world often doesn’t make sense to any thinking person, so taking flight to imaginary worlds can offer comfort – here, often the world does make sense. Magic realism can be a form of sense-making of the world around us, a need that seems to be escalating."

"Ervarings of dae waar ons oorweldig en moedeloos voel van die storms wat ons omring. Dit is altyd, maar ook in tye soos hierdie, belangrik om te onthou die lig skyn die helderste in die donker."

"I would really stress to writers, especially creative writers – of fiction and also of creative nonfiction – to develop your voice, your style; don’t turn to AI to develop it for you. There’s a wooden quality to this sort of prose that’s a bore to read."