Books and writers
Information about the latest books and the people behind them
Book discussion and interview on the Juta publication: Copyright reform or reframe?
2023-07-20"[The Copyright Amendment Bill] will do inestimable damage to our law of copyright and related areas. Perhaps worst of all, if made law, they will cause immense harm to the very people they purport to be assisting, namely the authors, the composers, the artists and generally the creative persons who seek to produce new and better works and make a livelihood from doing so."
Press release: One-man shows: The Mandela rainbow honeymoon (1992–1999) by Pieter-Dirk Uys
2023-07-20The first volume is already being shared by school children in South Africa. They choose sketches from the revues of the 1980’s and give them life. ... Volume Two could raise similar questions for readers with humour, surprises and the enjoyment of the Mandela years. No wonder it was being launched on Madiba Day 18 July 2023.
Short.Sharp.Stories anthology Fluid: interview with Vuyokazi Ngemntu, author of “Mirror, Mirror"
2023-07-19"The ability to see ourselves in our myths allows us to be critical of ourselves and the world as we know it. This encourages us to envision a better world, in which we too are better versions of ourselves in our interactions with one another. At the root of it all are empathy and transference."
You cannot make that up: A review of Floor 1 by Carla Chait
2023-07-18"I realised the characters, incidents and interactions were all derived from real-life experiences – you just cannot make that *insert swear word here* up. From the first sentence I was right back there in a government hospital."
Short.Sharp.Stories anthology Fluid: interview with Peter-Adrian Altini, author of “Hanna. With two N’s”
2023-07-18“I was inspired to write this story after reading about the Aversion Project, a medical torture programme in South Africa during apartheid which identified gay soldiers in the South African Defence Force and forced them to submit to ‘curing’ their homosexuality. The doctor in charge later fled to Canada.”
A place to call home: an interview with Darryl David
2023-07-18"And maybe A place to call home might have been produced by my subconscious, trying to work through that grief. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and leaving Howick made the life I lived there just so vivid. In many ways the story of my Egyptian geese is the story of my life."
Up-close South African insight: a review of Pearl of the sea
2023-07-15"It is a beautiful, flowing work that echoes both the serenity and tempestuous character of the ocean."
Injustices not to be forgotten: a reader’s impression of Bridget Pitt’s novel Eye brother horn
2023-07-15"It is difficult to read about all the injustice that accrued and how some missionaries were funded by slavery, but it is also a beautiful story about people who were able to see beyond race, culture, beliefs and societal status."
Inter-review with Anne Schlebusch about her book, Bloomer
2023-07-11"With the help of Maggie’s enterprising grandchildren they start a Boomers’ Rights Campaign which catches the attention of the press. They demand freedom of movement, among other things."
8115 Orlando West and its people: a review of Winnie and Nelson, portrait of a marriage by Jonny Steinberg
2023-07-11"Is this a good book? Yes, it is a bloody good book. Is it a masterpiece, as was A Man of Good Hope? No, its descriptions are, but its analysis is sometimes flawed. Would I recommend it as a purchase and as a read? Without a doubt."
Short.Sharp.Stories anthology Fluid: interview with Alex Latimer, author of "YOLO"
2023-07-10"I’ve found that as my career has progressed, I get the chance to work with more and more incredible people. For me, the fun is making a book or a comic or a novel that is better than what I could do on my own."
Short.Sharp.Stories anthology Fluid: interview with Shanice Ndlovu, author of "Of somo seeds"
2023-07-10"I have a rough idea in my head of where places are, but what I will find there is a discovery each time and I can know only when I put it to the page. The reader and I find things together."
Fresh off the press: Countdown to socialism by Anthea Jeffery
2023-07-06If South Africa’s mainly capitalist economy was thriving, with high growth, low unemployment, and rising living standards, the ANC could not justify expanding state ownership or control.
Harry Oppenheimer: diamonds, gold and dynasty by Michael Cardo: a book discussion
2023-06-29"This is how Cardo argues: he admits the truth, then airbrushes it to excuse his subject’s failures."
Short.Sharp.Stories anthology, Fluid: interview with Lerato Mahlangu, author of the short story "The healer who married the water"
2023-06-28"This story came about through my love for spirituality and my fascination with the divine powers intrinsic to humans, animals and nature. I come from a long line of diviners and healers, and also sinister sorcerers, who all propelled me, involuntarily, to write this story."
Short.Sharp.Stories anthology Fluid: interview with Yuwinn Kraukamp, author of the short story "iHeart you now and always"
2023-06-27"Writing is a passion-driven art form, but at the end of the day it’s still a job, so at times it needs to be difficult."
Short.Sharp.Stories anthology Fluid: interview with Kingsley Khobotlo, author of "Against the grain"
2023-06-22"One of the things I try to teach my students is that words can be a seed or a match, depending on how we use them. They have led to wars, and they have inspired nations."
Short.Sharp.Stories anthology Fluid: interview with Andrew Robert Wilson, author of "Seahorse"
2023-06-22"There is time and space in the Karoo that you don’t have in a city. In the Karoo, you experience not only a closeness to nature, but a closer coalface experience of society."
Schreiner’s legacy attracts international contributors to Cradock
2023-06-21"Academics from Sweden, Australia, the United Kingdom and, of course, South Africa descended on Cradock during the latest edition of the Schreiner Karoo Writers Festival, which took place from 15 to 18 June 2023."
Fresh off the press: The Samsung man’s path to success by Sung Yoon
2023-06-21As Samsung Africa’s former President and CEO, Sung Yoon was a first-hand witness to the company’s journey to becoming a global brand.
