Litnet

"Being able to have more songs enabled me to tell more stories and there's a whole lot more freedom in my approach."

"My losses now lie quietly –
a landscape of perfect ruins, softly shining
with ferns and moss in the low light"

"Consultation, for want of a better word, with the universities alone is not enough. The matter should have been subject to systematic public discussion."

"Narrated in a style initially resembling that of the typical adventure tale or the traditional “rollicking yarn” (but with several intriguing twists), Witch Girl is a novel that darkens as it moves along into the sinister aspects of a modernising African society."

On Ingrid Jonker: "I really felt her despair and wanted to fight alongside her ..."

"I say start a literary festival in one of the most famous places on the planet - Soweto. And I believe all races will come to Soweto for such a literary festival."

"So what’s up with the hesitation to speak Afrikaans publicly? Or to conduct interviews about politics in Afrikaans? Or speak about the magic of books in Afrikaans?"

"In the scheme of things
I cast small shadows ..."

"The publishers have made sure that they give pride of place to Burchell’s life and travels in a highly accessible tome that is as attractive as it is readable. They have ensured that a life of extraordinary experience, in art and science, is appropriately commemorated."

"Afrikaans, one of the youngest languages in the world, will be extinct in less than a century from now."

"Most importantly, Omotoso shows that life and love are rarely black and white. They are full of nuances and contradictions. We can be simultaneously kind and cruel, open and closed, warm and cold."

"Sunday, 22 May, one of those glorious winter days in Cape Town: all light and revelation. It wasn’t even 9 am, but the queue in front of the Gardens Community Centre in Hatfield Street looked overwhelming."

"Piracy has provided us with endless entertainment options."

"I’d like to think that people would be able to identify with all the universal human aspects of my story – starting from humble beginnings, trying to succeed as a musician, deciding what to do with my career, getting married, divorced, starting businesses, nearly going bankrupt, learning to fly aircraft, making a name for myself in the legal profession, and so on. There’s something for everyone in the story ..."

The vandalising of close to 30 schools through arson and other means in Vuwani from late in April to early May left the nation puzzled. Hans Pienaar spoke to a resident who prefers to remain anonymous, as he fears for his safety.

"Jennifer Platt, the Sunday Times Books Editor, says the 2016 shortlist finalists represent 'books of quality, that take the temperature and pulse of the nation'."

"We understand completely the points made about decolonisation, and believe that creating, building and enhancing book festivals is key to reaching and growing the South African book-reading base."

The third Spier Poetry Festival: dancing in other words took place on Saturday, 7 May.

"In the above, the interdependence between me, the writer, and you, the reader; between Kropotkin and Darwin; between Fourie and Ramose; and so between different human populations and the primacy of humane, ethical and equitable relations is thus the only discernible law of nature according to ubuntu and African philosophy."

The dancing in other words / dansende digtersfees is an annual international poetry event, curated by Breyten Breytenbach, Dominique Botha and composer Neo Muyanga. This year's participating poets were introduced at a special Poets’ Welcome Dinner at Spier on Sunday, 1 May.