Litnet

"Eddie du Pisani’s life has not turned out the way he had planned (sounds familiar?), and he is hanging on to a last string of hope. While questioning his own existence, purpose and will to live, he returns to the lamppost in Witbank that he had visited once before on a fateful night that changed his life forever. As he detours through childhood memories, his first love, his emulation of Elvis and the events that led him to this very place, he re-enacts heartbreaking memories."

Siv Ngesi will be in conversation with Zelda la Grange for the launch of her book, What Nelson Mandela taught me, on Tuesday, 15 October 2024 at 17:30 for 18:00 at Exclusive Books Cavendish (Claremont) in Cape Town.

"Die 2024-Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees wat vanjaar met die feestema van #speel gespog het, was weer dié kulturele samekoms waaroor almal nog lank gaan gesels. Daar was meer as 400 unieke produksies wat in ongeveer 60 venues in en om Stellenbosch aangebied is en het elke moontlike kunsvorm – van dans tot boekgesprekke; kunsrondleidings tot wynskole; klassieke musiek tot komedie – ingesluit."

"I would say that art is always of its time, but also that great art has the potential to be timeless. By that, I already get into trouble with the postmodernists, but that’s fine by me."

"Can broken things, broken hearts, broken people be mended? And if so, do you repair them to the state they were in before breaking? Perhaps it is stronger or better if the item finds a new purpose."

"The dancing was performed with an ease that made me feel almost like I was watching him dancing in his own home. It was intimate and mesmerising. The African influence in the music and set, the use of sand and liquid to create strong visuals and the unbelievable voices of the quartet accompanying Maqoma are all locked in my memory."

"The billions of dollars in financial aid flowing from the West to Israel, primarily from the US, raises the question: why is there such fierce loyalty, despite clear human rights violations and evidence of the greatest crime of all crimes – genocide?"

"Understanding the recent attacks launched by Iran against Israeli targets and, concomitantly, the spectre of a broader conflict requires engaging with a wider history of Iranian foreign policy."

"The map of Die Vlakte, another critical component of the exhibition, fails to represent the entire area accurately. Instead of depicting the full extent of Die Vlakte, the map includes only a few streets, while prominently featuring the predominantly white areas of the town."

The Otto Foundation is excited to reveal the shortlists for its inaugural Children’s Book Award. The award was conceived with the aim to support local publishers, promote new authors and illustrators, and to recognise quality South African storytelling.

"Old-style glam, new celebrity, tragedy behind closed doors, red carpets, a pocket full of dreams and a long line of rejection – these are the overarching themes of Hollywood, a dance production performed by Lamta students at this year’s Woordfees. It is, in summary, a whole lot of fun – an easy-to-watch showcase of talent, skill and performance styles."

"All the cast deliver solid performances, with many playing dual roles effortlessly. The interweaving of languages is also used poetically throughout the performance and adds another layer to an already musical script."

"When desperate needs outpace scarce resources, a young doctor gets caught up in a deadly trinity of medicine, corruption and superstition. Murphy Meyer, the fictional doctor in the novel, has her own reasons for coming to work at Eden, and she will soon figure out whether Eden is a safe haven or hell. Will she be alive long enough to learn the truth and unravel the mystery she has tasked herself with?"

The AVBOB Poetry Project embarks on an inspiring journey with the addition of a brand-new competition theme, "New beginnings". At least one poem entered under this theme in each of South Africa’s 11 official written languages will be selected for publication in the eighth annual AVBOB poetry anthology, which will be published in 2025. Additionally, one commissioned poem per language will be written on this theme.

"The book tells the story of a strong man going through hell, from Johannesburg to San Antonio, Texas, with one operation after the other. Boxes of pills from OxyNorm to Suboxone, each one worse than the others."

Dit is die tweede keer in die geskiedenis van die Helgaard Steyn-prys vir skryfkuns dat die wenwerk ’n digbundel is. | This is only the second time in the history of the Helgaard Steyn Award for Literature that the winning work is a volume of poetry. 

"Ian’s transition from stage to screen was made through his humility in taking on any work on a film set, from set-building to painting, and putting his hand to anything he was asked to do. This willingness to learn led to the incongruity of a man with the most English heritage one could ask for playing a role as an Afrikaner with a brei in Dokter Con se Overberg. The rest, as they say, is history."

Eva Mazza will be in conversation with Costa Ayiotis for the book launch of Matriarchs, meze and the evil eye: a memoir on Thursday, 26 September at 18:00 for 18:30 at Exclusive Books, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.

"Mythscape – the desire for interpreting reality through native mythology – as a narrative form is becoming common in books of our era. This is understandable in the case of African literature, since our continent’s sense of self and development of organic narrative structure was interrupted – almost truncated – by the occidental colonial project."

Hoe om jou pad uit troebel water te vind is een van die temas wat Martin Steyn in sy eerste roman sedert 2018 ondersoek. Donker water is oudergewoonte uitmuntende misdaadfiksie en ’n boek waarvoor Steyn se aanhangers lank reeds wag. Sluit aan by Martin Steyn en Jonathan Amid by Oude Leeskamer in Stellenbosch op Woensdag 18 September om 15:30.