Books and writers
Information about the latest books and the people behind them
Press release: Amazwi’s Literature, Heritage, Ecology Conference
2024-03-08Amazwi is hosting its annual Literature, Heritage, Ecology Conference on 19 and 20 March. There is no charge to attend the conference.
Open Book Youth Festival 2024: an interview with Refilwe Nsibande
2024-03-07"Growing up, I did not have books. People around me didn’t buy books, and libraries were far from where I lived in Soshanguve. .... I eventually went from not having books to writing them."
Open Book Youth Festival 2024: an interview with Bianca Flanders
2024-03-07"Representation really matters. When you see yourself represented on film or in books, I feel that it sends the message that you are worthy and your stories are worthy of being told. You belong in this world. You are seen."
Press release: Time of the Writer Festival Literary Legacies
2024-03-06The Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is presenting the Time of the Writer festival from 14 to 21 March. A noteworthy focus will be on literary legacies, inviting festival attendees to engage in profound reflections on the significance of literary legacies in our ever-evolving world.
Translated or repatriated? An interview with Ignatius Mabasa on translating Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous conditions
2024-03-06"In a bid to understand the process, nuances, motives and challenges of the process while also uncovering the politics of language, Philani A Nyoni converses with Ignatius Mabasa, the man who translated Nervous conditions into Shona."
Goodbye and hello: Zimbabwean publishing future and past
2024-02-29"The reign of these juggernauts was quite a golden age, but not without its problems."
Press release: Exploring democracy through a literary lens during Time of the Writer Festival
2024-02-28During the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, 17 and 18 March, attendees are invited to explore the complexities of democracy and the different aspects of what builds a democratic society. This year’s programme features various dimensions of reflection on a free and just society through a literary lens.
Copyright Amendment Bill: Authors unite
2024-02-28South African authors, readers and stakeholders in the book industry note with grave concern that the Copyright Amendment Bill is scheduled for concurrence by the National Assembly on 29 February 2024. Read the views of Gabeba Baderoon, Sihle Khumalo, Sihawukele Ngubane, Athol Fugard, Breyten Breytenbach, Jaco Jacobs, Margie Orford, Fanie Viljoen and Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout. You may join in voicing your concern by adding you signature to the online petition.
Press release: Please sign this petition as South African authors urge the National Assembly to reject the Copyright Amendment Bill
2024-02-23The bill will deprive local creatives of existing rights and income streams. Further, the local book industry will suffer, with projections of a 33% decrease in book sales and a 30% decline in employment if these provisions should become law.
A sociological analysis of Breaking the bombers by Mark Shaw
2024-02-23"Shaw provides excellent evidence to show that wherever and whenever different societal agents and agencies started moving towards cooperation and collaboration, they started becoming effective. When the agencies of the state started talking to one another and when leadership compelled the institutional actors to collaborate, the situation changed positively."
Beyond the door of no return by David Diop: a review
2024-02-20"If you’ve loved the sparse ironic tone of Amor Towles’s A gentleman in Moscow, you’ll love Beyond the door of no return."
Open Book Festival in partnership with the Book Lounge presents our second dedicated Youth Festival Event in March 2024
2024-02-14Open Book Festival is thrilled to announce the return of our dedicated Youth Festival. Building on the success of our inaugural Youth Fest in 2023, we are gearing up to host an even more vibrant and impactful celebration of literature and creativity among young minds. This year’s festival is scheduled to take place 13 – 20 March 2024 at schools, public libraries and other venues.
Manifesto: A new vision for South Africa by Songezo Zibi: a review
2024-02-13"With his having written Manifesto, his patriotism and determination to make South Africa a better place are indisputable. And his willingness to abandon an obviously successful career to see through his ideals is very unusual in a country now dedicated to 'What’s in it for me?'."
Sociology of the prickly pear and other sticky things | Etienne van Heerden Veldsoirée 2023
2024-02-13"Thoko Didiza, the minister for land reform, has a master plan for dagga. How about the prickly pear? We believe that this plant could make a difference for many poor people if they had access to knowledge to utilise the fruit and the rest of the plant for numerous purposes."
Press release: Announcement of the winner of the Philida Literary Award in 2024
2024-02-06Today, on the ninth anniversary of André Brink’s death, we pay tribute to his life and work and announce that the Philida Literary Award, established in his memory in 2020, goes to Penny Haw and is awarded to her for an oeuvre of literary excellence.
Off-centre and out of focus: Growing up “coloured” in South Africa by Nadia Kamies: a book review
2024-02-06"In general, a creative nonfiction asks the reader to trust in the author’s voice in revealing the truth. The problem in this is that sometimes the spectrum of a certain experience cannot always be displayed in one recounting of it. That is to say, Off-centre and out of focus cannot be a definitive guideline to all the experiences of coloured bodies in a past or present and perhaps future time, but is rather an enclave."
Remembering Niki Daly, 1946-2024
2024-02-03"With an enthusiasm bordering on sheer abandon, Niki noticed children and entered into their point of view, their world, their strange and terrible and joyful existence, in a way that few children’s writers and illustrators have ever done. This instinct shone on every page of every book he ever wrote or illustrated."
The good, the bad and the ugly: Scenarios for South Africa’s uncertain future by Ray Hartley, Greg Mills and Mills Soko – a book review
2024-02-01"In contrast to the joint engagement in the 1990s of at least the major political protagonists, it is telling that the scenario process on which this book is based seems markedly less rooted in dialogue among political parties."
Revisiting Bloke Modisane, from Sophiatown to Gaza: #III – On escape
2024-01-30"I suggested that it might be useful to think of Modisane’s history like a kind of monstrous Large Language Model (LLM) – a bizarre and monstrous simulacrum of human intelligence trained on our basest reflexes and insecurities."
The Pole by JM Coetzee: a review
2024-01-24"When he has a performance in Barcelona a middle-aged lady, Beatriz, who is a university lecturer, is assigned to care for him during his stay. He becomes obsessed with Beatriz, though she is married."