Litnet

"Regrettably, Mr de Lange is incorrect to think of SALA as a competition. Instead, it is a celebration of the literary craft as an instrument of artistic, creative and cultural expression within the context of our diverse and multicultural society."

The Madibaland World Literary Festival takes place from 20 to 28 November 2021. Here is the full programme. Register now! It is free.

"I recommend it – engrossing and tender – to all who face the challenges of letting go, to readers heading for a time of life without children, perhaps without partners, and considering, with hope, what fruitful – also intense and challenging – years may lie ahead."

"The flight of the bat is an engaging, thought-provoking novella and a valuable addition to the growing genre of South African speculative fiction."

It’s been another helluva year, and who better to make sense of it than Zapiro, cartoonist, political analyst and agent provocateur?

Each year during the first full week of December, we invite publishers, authors, educators, librarians, readers, and book-lovers of all kinds to use the hashtag #ReadingAfrica across social media to highlight posts that celebrate African literature.

The 16th South African Literary Awards ceremony was held on 7 November 2021. Here is the complete list of winners.

"I wanted to make the point that competitive parenting has become a worldwide phenomenon."

"Damon Galgut, after several shortlist nominations, has finally received the global acknowledgement he richly deserves," said Steve Connolly, CEO of Penguin Random House SA and Damon’s local publisher.

Open Book Festival has announced the stellar line-up for its new podcast series which runs from 8 to 24 November.

"This remarkable collection runs to 200 pages of poems by 40 black women, some of whom are familiar crowd-drawers – think Nikki Giovanni, Gabeba Baderoon, Warsan Shire – while others have smaller but no less committed audiences."

Karen Jennings, Holland House Books and Karavan Press are delighted to announce a new competition for debut novelists from Africa: The Island Prize. 

"The negotiated settlement of 1994, it is claimed, ended racial domination and created the foundation for a prosperous democracy – but greedy politicians betrayed the promise of a new society."

"No tickets needed! All our talks are FREE. We believe our festivalgoers have to travel so far to join us, how can we saddle them with yet another cost."

"It is a pleasure and a lucky chance to have chosen Gurnah’s latest novel as the topic of this entry’s profile days before his selection as a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature was announced. ... As an aesthetic achievement, it roundly confirms Gurnah’s worthiness as the world’s – and our continent’s – latest recipient of literature’s highest accolade."

The changing face of colonial education in Africa by Peter Kallaway offers a detailed and nuanced perspective of colonial history. You are invited to the online launch of this publication on 3 November 2021.

Open Book Festival returns with an eight part podcast series celebrating just some of the works of literature to come out of SA this year. The series will run from 8–24 November 2021.

"He was a sardonic man, his expression one of wry amusement. He was exceptionally kind and gentle."

"This concludes what was for me a quite enjoyable book, one which is an important addition to the literature on South African politics, and of which the main subject of importance is Leon’s exposé of the internal DA politics."

"This teaches and encourages the youth of today not only to believe or trust someone because they are a person they love or respect, but also to remain curious and question things for themselves."