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The paradox of the biographer

Rory Riordan LitNet25-skrywersberaad 2025-08-28

"Grab a mug of coffee and settle down in your most comfortable chair, blanket on your knees and cat on your lap. I’m now going to tell you the unbelievable story of Athol Fugard and the Serpent Players – theatre against apartheid."

The Western Cape is not a country

Mphuthumi Ntabeni Opinion 2025-08-26

"The DA’s frustrations with the ANC are understandable; so are the Western Cape’s citizens’ grievances with crime and governance. But the remedy cannot be the slow dismantling of the very republic that holds us together."

Short.Sharp.Stories anthology, Power: interview with Janine Milne, author of "There are gods worse than us"

Vuyokazi Ngemntu, Janine Milne Books and writers 2025-08-26

"In a way, power exposes us, the worst of us. Part of us is kept in check by our evolutionary social hardwiring."

Short.Sharp.Stories anthology, Power: interview with Angelo Louw, author of "Above and beyond the water’s edge"

Lester Walbrugh, Angelo Louw Books and writers 2025-08-26

"At Greenpeace, I see the impacts of the climate crisis daily. And so, I firstly wanted to remind myself why I am still fighting as a climate justice activist, despite things looking so bleak. But I also delved deeper into the idea of climate apartheid. We are not equally impacted by the climate crisis; people with money can simply relocate when they’re at risk. I wanted to explore what would happen to my community once the wealthy residents abandoned Cape Town."

Short.Sharp.Stories anthology, Power: interview with Werner Labuschagne, author of "The killer"

Bongani Kona, Werner Labuschagne Books and writers 2025-08-21

"My fascination with this story began with the idea of a weight cut for a fight. A relinquishing of the body’s power, right before putting the body’s power to the test. There’s an inherent conflict in that."

What Guy Butler saw

Anthony Akerman Etienne van Heerden Veldsoirée 2025-08-20

"He made a late and untheatrical entrance and stood there catching his breath as he faced us first-year drama students, expectantly clutching our brand-new copies of Brooks and Heilman’s Understanding drama."

Short.Sharp.Stories anthology, Power: interview with Nadia Cassim, author of "The stairs she climbed"

Consuelo Roland, Nadia Cassim Books and writers 2025-08-20

"The fight for justice, and for what you love, can be a powerful motivator, often compelling people either to step up or to step away. That’s the emotional truth I wanted to capture."

Invitation: Book launch of The shadow state at Exclusive Books, V&A Waterfront, on 28 August 2025

LitNet Books and writers 2025-08-19

Adriaan Basson will be in conversation with Jeff Wicks at the book launch of The shadow state: Why Babita Deokaran had to die on 28 August at Exclusive Books, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.

Short.Sharp.Stories anthology, Power: interview with Kamva Majo, author of "We cannot afford to be silent"

Vuyokazi Ngemntu, Kamva Majo Books and writers 2025-08-19

"With 'We cannot afford to be silent', I hope to annihilate the word missing in front of middle class. I do not believe that, as the middle class, we are missing at all. I hope to call out to other middle-class citizens that their complacency is not serving them, but rather hurting them and rendering them “missing”."

Shirley, goodness and mercy by Chris van Wyk: A reader’s reception

Nicol Gowar Books and writers 2025-08-18

"From Newclare to Coronationville to Riverlea, he takes our hand as we are guided on an Odysseus-like journey through the streets of his childhood, weaving vivid recollections of food, family and foes."

Invitation to audition for the Karoo Youth Choir

Andile Bhali Lifestyle and entertainment 2025-08-18

"We are still looking for singers, therefore the recruitment goes on."

Press release: Postcolonial opera: William Kentridge and the unbounded work of art by Juliana M Pistorius

LitNet Books and writers 2025-08-16

Taking the multimedia operatic experiments of William Kentridge, South Africa’s most celebrated contemporary visual artist, as a starting point, author Juliana M. Pistorius investigates contemporary opera’s potential to process the troubled histories that haunt post- and decolonial societies.

Writer’s residency: Brussels to Karoo

LitNet Books and writers 2025-08-11

There are no mentors involved and both emerging and established writers of all genres are invited to apply.

Call for papers: Third annual Amazwi conference on children’s literature

LitNet Books and writers 2025-08-11

Amazwi South African Museum of Literature invites you to a conference that explores all aspects of children’s literature, from picture books to young adult fiction. The conference brings together authors, illustrators, translators, academics, publishers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, reviewers and all organisations and individuals working to promote or study children’s books, get children reading, and to get books to children.

Short.Sharp.Stories anthology Power: interview with Kate Thompson Davy, author of "Still the sun rises"

Consuelo Roland, Kate Thompson Davy Books and writers 2025-08-11

"The thing about speculative fiction is that it’s always about now."

Ukrainian book and chat club launches at the Central Library, Cape Town

Dzvinka Kachur Books and writers 2025-08-07

"When we discussed the idea of the book and chat club, we imagined books as a way for people to connect – a way to say 'hello' from South Africa to Ukraine. That’s how this project was born."

Andile Bhali shares his favourite photographs of the Etienne van Heerden Veldsoirée.

Andile Bhali Etienne van Heerden Veldsoirée 2025-08-07

Andile Bhali attended the Etienne van Heerden Veldsoirée from 25 to 27 July 2025. Here is a selection of his photographs.

Kemi Badenoch: The Africa that was not born in her

Mphuthumi Ntabeni LitNet25-skrywersberaad 2025-08-07

"Africa is not merely a matter of geography. It is a wound still healing, a question still posed, a promise yet unfulfilled. For those of us who believe in her future, that work of memory and of resistance remains unfinished."

What to watch: A TV guide

Réney Warrington Lifestyle and entertainment 2025-08-07

"Feeling overwhelmed with all the shows on offer? Here is a list of highly rated shows to watch, covering varying genres."

University of São Paulo Winter School on University, Memory and Reparations

Moegammad Tahier Kara Universiteitseminaar | University Seminar 2025-08-07

"[M]emory, especially in societies shaped by violence and historical injustice, is never singular or linear. It is shaped by power, trauma, resistance, silence and ongoing struggles for recognition. Memory is often contested and fragmented, because different groups remember differently, and what is remembered or forgotten is deeply political."

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