Books and writers

Information about the latest books and the people behind them

Respectful, because it does not pretend: A review of Halley’s Comet by Hannes Barnard

Jessica Smith Books and writers 2022-05-31

"The three teenagers must navigate the aftermath of their shared experience and the illegality of interracial friendship, and survive the predator that still lives free among them."

The yumness of the Kingsmead Book Fair 2022

Karina Magdalena Szczurek Books and writers 2022-05-31

"There was something for every literary taste."

Promotion: The murders of Fleat House by Lucinda Riley

LitNet Books and writers 2022-05-27

The sudden death of a pupil in Fleat House at St Stephen’s – a small private boarding school in deepest Norfolk – is a shocking event that the headmaster is very keen to call a tragic accident. But the local police cannot rule out foul play and the case prompts the return of high-flying Detective Inspector Jazmine "Jazz" Hunter to the force.

Real fiction: The revival of the Franschhoek Literary Festival

Karina Magdalena Szczurek Books and writers 2022-05-26

"We all have crocodiles to tame. Writing – and living, ageing, dying – does take courage. One day, we will all end up in 'the big library in the sky', to quote Deon Meyer. But before we do, we will continue raging in the service of The Story."

In conversation with Hannes Barnard about Halley’s Comet

Hannes Barnard, Izak de Vries Books and writers 2022-05-24

"They run for their lives as dusk turns into night. Bullets fly as he gets closer. They stop breathing because it’s making too much noise. Still, Rudie comes closer. And closer."

SA Festival of Children’s Literature: an interview with Darryl David

Naomi Meyer, Darryl David Books and writers 2022-05-19

"I believe it may well turn out to be my most important book festival."

Fresh off the press: To 100 & beyond by Wynand Gouws

LitNet Books and writers 2022-05-18

To 100 & beyond  provides sound, tried-and-tested advice on how to approach living a longer, financially secure life, including how to invest wisely, generate alternative income streams, handle your tax affairs and plan your estate.

A home on Vorster Street: A memoir by Razina Theba: a book review

Bill Nasson Books and writers 2022-05-10

"But it is to be commended for the scrupulous directness with which it recounts the idiosyncrasies of multigenerational living, and for what it reveals about the making of one contemporary South African memory and about how we create the stories we tell about ourselves."

Book launch: Creating conditions for student success, edited by Magda Fourie-Malherbe

LitNet Books and writers 2022-05-09

You are invited to the online book launch of Creating conditions for student success on 12 May 2022. 

Beyond fear – Jacana releases Ebrahim Ebrahim’s post-1994 memoir

LitNet Books and writers 2022-05-06

Beyond fear: Reflections of a freedom fighter, Ebrahim Ebrahim’s memoir, is now available in book shops all over South Africa.

Fresh off the press: A century of South African naval history

LitNet Boeke en skrywers 2022-05-05

"While there are a number of books on the history of the South African Navy, this book brings them into perspective and gives an overall picture of the Navy and its development over the 100 years of its existence."

Life in the time of the plague – and an interview with Julian Roup

Naomi Meyer, Julian Roup Books and writers 2022-04-29

"I kept a diary during the first year of COVID because I was not sure that I would survive, and I was also incandescent with rage at the ineptitude, corruption and general mismanagement of Boris Johnson and his government. I found writing the book cathartic and was delighted when Alec Hogg of BizNews asked me to produce it as a series of podcasts, which I did, and then it was published as a book by BLKDOG."

Lansdowne dearest: My family’s story of forced removals – an interview with Bronwyn Davids

Naomi Meyer, Bronwyn Davids Books and writers 2022-04-27

"I wanted to give my family dignity and closure and, above all, let them rest in peace. And to the future generations, this is what it was. You can go on and make your own lives."

African library: Season of crimson blossoms by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim

Annie Gagiano Books and writers 2022-04-26

"Narrative closure is ruthlessly sudden, but this was in many ways inevitable from the start. The tragic tale has also been a story of the liberation of deep feelings – perhaps more valuable than their terrible cost."

Press release – 2022 Commonwealth short story prize: shortlist announced

LitNet Books and writers 2022-04-25

Twenty-six outstanding stories have been shortlisted by an international judging panel for the world’s most global literature prize. The writers come from 20 countries across the Commonwealth including, for the first time, Papua New Guinea, eSwatini, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

British-born South African author Mary Renault

Herman Lategan Books and writers 2022-04-21

Close to World Book Day on the 23rd of April 2022, Herman Lategan remembers Mary Renault: "Why, then, is she hardly known in the country from where she wrote hit after hit, best-sellers that have been translated into some 20 languages and that have sold millions of copies in English alone?"

Press release: The launch of Can Themba, the making and breaking of the intellectual tsotsi

LitNet Books and writers 2022-04-21

Mahala’s biography takes a critical historical approach to Themba’s life and writing, giving a picture of the whole man, from his early beginnings in Marabastad to his sombre end in exile in Swaziland.

An interview with Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, winner of a Windham-Campbell Prize for 2022

Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Izak de Vries Interviews 2022-04-20

"I believe that literature, if done right, speaks about much more than just the present moment – it allows us to examine the past and imagine the future."

"Do you remember still?"– some unknown juvenilia of Vincent Swart

Jean Meiring Books and writers 2022-04-13

"Piqued by his anonymity, by how well his poetry survived the passage of years, and by an error – which I learned only later was an error – I started looking for whatever I could lay my hands on concerning Vincent Swart, perhaps South Africa’s best forgotten poet."

Intricately detailed: A review of How to be a revolutionary by CA Davids

Wamuwi Mbao Books and writers 2022-04-13

"In a field of recent South African novels that have been marked by a dire need for more judicious editing, the deftness of Davids’s plot is striking."

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