Litnet

"If, as an African in particular, you visit China or want to learn more comprehensively about the lives of Africans in China, buy Noo Saro-Wiwa’s Black ghosts. You can thank me later."

"In his genius way, and always with a satirical and humorous tongue in the cheek, the reader is not only confronted with – but also brought up to date with – the latest science and questions about the reality in which we live."

Apart from being a platform on which South Africans from all walks can express themselves, the AVBOB Poetry Library has become an essential resource for readers and writers of poetry, helping aspiring poets to learn their craft and sharpen their skills. In this way, the AVBOB Poetry Project is fostering a community of poets across the country.

"And then, a mother is necessarily also the bridge through which we enter this world. Every single one of us crossed that bridge to get here, irrespective of the relationships we may have with our mothers throughout the rest of our lives."

"The group writes poetry, publishes an anthology and uses the money raised to fund their next anthology."

"It’s difficult to explain, especially when asked what is and isn’t 'true', and I always end up saying that all the feelings are real, but that I may have made up the incidents and even the characters to put those feelings across."

"The intertexts, coordinates and ontologies offered in the poems create an intricate network of significance in which many voices are deployed, some echoing others, a polyphony that exalts in the musicality of language, the tone and pulse of words, their conjunctions and conjurations."

"Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed must be credited for making me see new beauty in what is vanishing. And for elevating the Durban Casbah to the pantheon of great South African places like District Six and Sophiatown."

African languages for a global audience: publishers, writers, and translators on the art of translation. Join Bhakti Shringarpure, Hannes Barnard, Raphael Thierry and Tina Kover for a roundtable discussion on translated literature.

Political theorist Steven Friedman addresses how and why the current language around anti-Semitism in Israel has been distorted and weaponised to serve the political objectives of the Israeli state. Friedman’s critique examines what this implies for the fight against racism in South Africa and India, and in other parts of the world.

The UCT Summer School takes place from 13 to 27 January 2024. Download the complete brochure here.

"Maybe it’s good that much of it is now consolidated into one volume – but we’ve heard it so often and for so long that it is hardly now exciting."

"[South Africa’s] biggest challenge is self-esteem for our own talents – having to be told who’s world-class by international speculators, rather than realising this through our own people and media. Then, we’re also struggling to get the funding of local films right, performing miracles on shoestring budgets and being expected simply to rinse and repeat these miracles."

Call for flash stories for a new anthology to be published in 2024.

A book of affirmations that highlights each of South Africa’s eleven official languages [and] is a love letter to children (especially Black, Indigenous, and people of colour) in South Africa honouring their magic, worth and power.

Award-winning poet Jacques Coetzee will be reading in Gqeberha on 5 December when the Ecca Poets will launch their new collection, The salt of being.

A transgender Roman emperor? Why were there no bedrooms in Caesar’s palace? How about an emperor who may have worn more shoes than Imelda Marcos? Is democracy better than a benign dictator? These are but a few of the hot topics Mphuthumi Ntabeni teases out of Mary Beard during an interview in Cape Town.

Tony Jackman interviewed Marita van der Vyver on her novel Still breathing and her memoir A long letter to my daughter. What is it like to get older? How does one hold an entire cast of characters in one’s hand? Are her characters based on real people? How does it feel to dream in a language that differs from the one your daughter dreams in?

"Mandivale ngokucoma Umuzi/Praesa ngalo mbono mhle kangaka wokuguqulela le ncwadi kulwimi lweSintu. Nakugqirha Guzula ngomsebenzi omhle encomekayo." | "I think this is a superb translation that not only makes the book accessible in Xhosa, but, because a language lends a new way of seeing the world, will enrich your knowledge and enjoyment of the book even if you have already read it in English."

Vimbai soon learns that every action has a consequence and some of our wishes come to haunt us when we are at our happiest. Her carefully orchestrated life takes a nosedive when her secrets are held against her.