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Fresh off the press: Apartheid’s granddaughter by Lidia Rauch

LitNet Books and writers 2026-10-07

Apartheid’s granddaughter is not a story of guilt or absolution, but of courage and repair. It’s an invitation to white South Africans to face their inheritance with honesty and courage.

Municipal elections 2026: What is the municipal election campaign telling us about South African politics more generally?

Chris Heymans Opinion 2026-10-07

"This is where the current campaign could become more intense."

Press release: Interesting job opportunity from 29 to 31 October in Richmond, Northen Cape

LitNet Lifestyle and entertainment 2026-10-06

Needed: A cool head who likes to read. Skills needed for the job: Understand Zoom and have enough technical know-how to connect computers and microphones to a simple sound desk as well as patience with people who speak book, not tech.

Call for papers: Twenty years of Ons komvandaan, reflections on the Legacy of Diana Ferrus

LitNet Books and writers 2026-10-06

Proposed chapters can be in any language and take the form of creative writing (poems, short stories or other texts), personal reflective essays, academic studies or translations of her poems (three to six poems, with an accompanying reflective or academic essay on the translation process).

Grieving in the first person plural: Writing as we grieve, grieving as we write

Mphuthumi Ntabeni Books and writers 2026-10-06

"This latest wave of gender-based violence has sent me back to a book I read a few years ago: Cristina Rivera Garza’s Grieving: Dispatches from a wounded country, translated by Sarah Booker. I haven’t been able to put it down since."

Prima facie: A theatre review

Jerome Coetzee Lifestyle and entertainment 2026-10-06

"Prima facie aims to rip the law apart, and it completely succeeds in its goal. The law can be seen as how we will be judged, but the playwright, Suzie Miller, turns this notion on its head and judges the law."

Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees 2026: A woman alone – an interview with Kim Engelbrecht

Maryke Roberts, Kim Engelbrecht Lifestyle and entertainment 2026-10-02

After becoming the fastest selling and the first sold-out production at Suidoosterfees 2026, the darkly funny A woman alone, starring International Emmy-nominated actress Kim Engelbrecht, heads to the Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees this weekend.

First sip: Scorpio rising by Deon Meyer

LitNet Books and writers 2026-10-01

"She heard the beep of an electronic lock, assuming it was the room next door. Her own room door opened. Shockingly, unexpected."

Scorpio rising: an interview with Deon Meyer

Naomi Meyer, Deon Meyer Books and writers 2026-10-01

"The problem was that Benny had no intention of sticking to his minor role. Every time he walked onto the page and into a scene, he lit it up and made things happen."

The chronicles of Shalom Court by Allan Kolski Horwitz: A reader’s reception

Elizabeth Trew Books and writers 2026-09-29

"It is much more than a singular thriller or whodunnit, having the depth of conflicting and diverse multi-voiced stories that link to Shalom Court in an impoverished society."

The glass island by Patricia Schonstein: An interview

Naomi Meyer, Patricia Schonstein Books and writers 2026-09-28

"I give a lot to my readers, treating them as guests who enter my imagined spaces, in the way I would welcome them into my voorkamer, reading to them while offering biscotti and Turkish coffee."

Afrikaners have PoepMed, a drama in one act

Izak de Vries New writing 2026-09-25

This two-hander is written to be performed on 27 September 2026 in front of the White House just after 3 000 white crosses have been planted. The play is dedicated to Donald Trump, the great leader who inspired this.

A South African small town (dorp) abecedarius: A reader’s reception of Darryl David’s Doggone days

Neil Viljoen Books and writers 2026-09-23

"Doggone days is an anthology, a florilegium, of vibrant seeing in its colour photos, enhanced by Darryl’s use of the artistic/photographic triangular structure to create powerful vistas, landscapes and portraits."

A reader’s impression of Multitudes by Mphuthumi Ntabeni

Anschen Conradie Books and writers 2026-09-22

"The inclusion of real historical figures and intertextual references add an evocative depth that will linger in the memory of this reader. Nonfiction teaches by means of facts; fiction, by means of imagination. Multitudes confirms this."

Disabled, but by Kirsten Deane: A review

Jerome Coetzee Books and writers 2026-09-21

"Deane allows her readers to breathe and take note of their bodies (disabled or not). We look forward to what comes after 'but' from Deane’s pen."

Multitudes by Mphuthumi Ntabeni: A reader’s impression

Izak de Vries Books and writers 2026-09-21

"Multitudes is home to many things: It is a collection of layered histories, philosophies, thoughts on architecture, intertexts and a place for love stories to nestle."

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner: a discussion

Mphuthumi Ntabeni Books and writers 2026-09-21

"Lastly, I am stupefied as to why it took me so long to read Faulkner, and am happy I began with Absalom, Absalom!. We both seem to be using the historical novel to explore how the violence of the past survives within the lives, memories and identities of later generations. Both our novels treat history as a fragmented, contested inheritance, reconstructed through memory, oral stories, silence and competing perspectives."

Manage your money like a f*cking grownup: an interview with Sam Beckbessinger

Naomi Meyer, Sam Beckbessinger Books and writers 2026-09-21

"Every rand that flows into your hands is a choice. Just make sure that you actually want the things you’re spending money on, and that you’re not just living out someone else’s script of adulthood."

Dit is die patriargie in ons samelewing wat reeksmoordenaars baar

Heindrich Wyngaard, Bafana Khumalo Opinion 2026-09-17

Die land is geskok oor die liggame van tot op hede nege vroue wat in Ekurhuleni ontdek is nadat hulle vermoedelik die slagoffers van ’n reeksverkragter en -moordenaar was. Heindrich Wyngaard praat hieroor met die organisasie Sonke Gender Justice se Bafana Khumalo.

Take your pick: Heritage Day! King Shaka’s Day or Braai Day?

Sihle Khumalo Opinion 2026-09-17

"Why do we wait for September to celebrate our heritage? Heritage, especially at a personal level, is the collection of traditions, values and culture."

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