Litnet

You are invited to the launch of The Echo of a Noise on 23 October in Melville. The author, Pieter-Dirk Uys, will be in conversation with Michelle Magwood.

"Through the author’s dexterity of storytelling and astute turn of phrase, each sentence becomes its own canvas, and yet the storylines blend effortlessly."

"Sometimes, you can say something in a letter that is impossible to voice otherwise."

"Despite flaws in Jennings's poetic technique, the subject matter and the intimacy of her perspective results in insightful, sensitive and forthright poems."

"The afternoon was bathed in a milky blue. To our left were the koppies and on our right the grassy veld. Right in front of me, my father’s legs in his farm shorts." Read an excerpt from Green as the Sky is Blue by Eben Venter.

"We congratulate the 2018 nominees for their sterling work and keeping South Africa’s literary heritage alive."

"It is a book every menstruator will profit from reading."

"Time is fluid for Leigh Fermor. Present and past coexist, his experiences threaded into a historical and geographical tapestry ..."

You are invited to the launch of Illuminating lives on the 27th of September 2018 at the Book Lounge in Cape Town.

This full-colour graphic novel places Shaka’s rule against the slave trade that was expanding from the East African coast, and the Europeans spreading inland from the south.

 "I saw hope rising from the ashes of despair. As I stood at the podium to talk about my book, The lion’s binding oath and other stories, I saw a sea of young faces – young men and women in their late teens and early to mid-twenties – staring at me attentively, taking it all in."

"The Commonwealth Short Story Prize – the flagship project of Commonwealth Writers and the world’s most global literary prize – is now open for entries. The closing date is 1 November 2018."

"After fleeing Somalia, Ahmed Ismail Yusuf lived in several states but has lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota since 1997. He did not speak English when he arrived, he was a high-school dropout, and he was not sure what his actual age was. Today he has two college degrees."

"Nevertheless, the fact that certain authors manage, like Gaël Faye does with Small country, to create chronicles that do not seem to desecrate, cheapen or sensationalise the devastating dimensions of those events, remains admirable proof of the nuanced art and deep empathy of which some writers are capable."

KZN's premier book festival, the Midlands Literary Festival, is taking place at Fern Hill Hotel near Howick on 1 and 2 September 2018. Here is the full programme.

"The 7th annual Africa Century International African Writers Conference (ACIAWC) call for papers is now open. Papers and panel proposals interpreting the theme 'Unifying Africa: Writing and reading in African languages' are invited."

"A violent incident at 17-year-old Noah Groome’s school sets into motion a chain of events that will test him and his family deeply." Read an excerpt from The Enumerations by Máire Fisher, author of Birdseye. 

"Macgregor seeds a fair amount of technological information throughout the novel. This locates the plot in substantial fact – the controversy around Karoo fracking has led to much publicity in the South African media – while Macgregor also presents these details in digestible pieces, mostly through Sam’s voice."

"What was striking about the different poets was that each one had, at some point in their life, experienced some form of grief, love, birth and hope. These themes came through in all the languages."

"Open Book Festival is committed to creating a platform to celebrate South African writers, as well as hosting top international authors. The festival strives to instil a love of reading among young attendees, with the programme designed to create conversations among festivalgoers long after the event." The eighth Open Book Festival will take place from 5 to 9 September 2018.