Books and writers
Information about the latest books and the people behind them
Review like nobody's watching
2014-12-02 Within South Africa's claustrophobic literary scene everybody is too afraid to write bad book reviews. Fiona Snyckers tells Naomi Meyer what needs to be done.
Review: Tales of the Metric System by Imraan Coovadia
2014-11-19 "'(N)ovels are more important than ever … because they enable us to exercise our minds … allow us to step back and see where the history is taking us.' Coovadia’s latest testifies not only to the truth of this statement, but also to so much more."
Joint review – Heaven: New and Selected Poems and Holding Back
2014-10-27 "Gus Ferguson and Douglas Reid Skinner are generous poets who live in their works as real characters (worried, bereaved, amused, enamoured) and who mind about their readers."
Ingrid Jonker award ceremony speech
2014-10-10 Karin Schimke says she is "deeply moved by this honour".
Review: Entanglement by Steven Boykey Sidley
2014-10-10 Professor Jared Borowitz observes that the trouble with the universe is that “it has tricks and unpleasant surprises and irritating little quirks, and refuses to be ordered.”
Review: Tokoloshe Song by Andrew Salomon
2014-10-10 Tokoloshe Song, Salomon’s first published novel, is a fantasy laced with horror and humour.
Interview: Arthur Attwell explains the impact of the South African Department of Basic Education’s proposed new policy
2014-10-07 Arthur Attwell explains the impact of the South African Department of Basic Education’s proposed new policy: "Different learners need different kinds of textbooks, chosen school by school for their specific needs."
A tribute to the late Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane (1948–2014)
2014-10-02 "On Saturday, February 15 the sun set on one of South Africa’s pre-eminent black scholars and writers, Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane."
Review: The Story of Anna P, as Told by Herself by Penny Busetto
2014-10-02 "How do we find our place in the world if our vision of ourselves is never fully consonant with the self-narratives we would like to believe?"
Review: A sportful malice by Michiel Heyns
2014-10-02 "A Sportful Malice is a very funny book, fully accomplishing its subtitle 'A Comedy of Revenge'. The high points of comedy and satire are in the dialogue, especially the extended conversations in which Michael unwittingly reveals his pretentions and shallowness."
Karin Schimke on Bare & Breaking
2014-10-01 Karin Schimke is the winner of the Ingrid Jonker prize for her debut collection of poetry, Bare & Breaking.
Interview: Richard Poplak on Until Julius comes
2014-10-01 "I would not say I chose Julius Malema. He chose me."
Review of Divided Lives: Dreams of a Mother and Daughter by Lyndall Gordon
2014-09-29 "Literary history has a tendency to focus on the great deeds of renowned men. Women’s lives often end up sinking like dresses in a lagoon, pushed down by the rudders of ignorance and neglect. Lyndall Gordon’s writing inflates them with life-saving breath which allows them to float and sparkle in the sunlight of recognition."
Melville: Dyer in Coversation with Vladislavi?, 6 October
2014-09-29 Love Books and Wits School of Literature, Language and Media invite you to a conversation between Geoff Dyer and Ivan Vladislavi?.
2014 Ingrid Jonker Prize for English Poetry
2014-09-26 Karin Schimke wins the 2014 Ingrid Jonker Prize for English Poetry
The Image of a Pie: Reflections on Open Book 2014
2014-09-25 "I should have started shedding tears at the beginning of the event, when the woman who is our national treasure, Sindiwe Magona, noticed that we were only a few people in the audience while the whole of South Africa should have been attending."
Sandton: Book Launch, The Rite Stuff
2014-09-25 Pharos Dictionaries and Nedbank invite you to the launch of The Write Stuff, the style guide with a difference.
Interview: Birdseye by Máire Fisher
2014-09-23 "What is particularly exciting is that Birdseye is appealing to a wide range of readers: from my sons and their friends in their twenties, to my father and mother-in-law in their eighties, to middle-aged men and women. I’m so happy about that – I love knowing that Birdseye is crossing all sorts of age boundaries."
Open Book Festival 2014: Programme
2014-09-16 Here is the exciting programme of Open Book Festival 2014: 17–21 September 2014 at the Fugard Theatre.