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Gary Cummiskey Reimagined
2011-06-02 LitNet asked a number of artists to send us their visual interpretations of Gary Cummiskey’s poems.
Backpack
2011-06-01 Backpack We have to walk from Jo’burg to Lusaka. We don’t have passports or money – just backpacks and bottled water. And we must get there in two days’ time. Why two days, no one knows – no one ...
In chains
2011-06-01 In chains I leap down from the building into the fire. The women stand with their breasts in chains. I can’t get to collect my curry supper. The owl is going insane. This is a night of anxiety. I’m on a ...
Bonfire
2011-06-01 Bonfire Pour on more petrol and watch the flames leap higher. They’ll keep you warm on the night when you have no shelter and an eagle nips at the pit of your stomach. They’ll keep you warm on the night when the ...
Watched/watching
2011-06-01 Watched/watching We were being watched by the people on the boat. We were doing things. We were sticking our fingers in each other’s brains. They were watching us as we watched the samurai on horseback race along the ...
Meat: a film scenario
2011-06-01 Meat: a film scenario A man was walking down the street. He went into a butchery to buy some meat. As he left, blood was trickling round his feet. The end.
Another version
2011-05-26 Another version Of the same road And it was raining And they had stopped to help ...
One version of the road
2011-05-26 One version of the road And the sun was behind his head And it was much later than he thought And he thought that he had nothing more to say And he did not know whether he should And he thought that he would anyway And the ...
James Whyle, winner of the PEN/Studzinski Award of 2011, in conversation with Janet van Eeden
2011-05-25 Review by Janet van Eeden James Whyle’s award-winning short story is quite simply titled “The Story”. The title pre-empts the style of the narrative, which is written with a bald matter-of-factness with a ...
I should love Jane Eyre
2011-05-20 I love the sprawling, poetic nature of great English literature. I love Mia Wasikowska. (And don’t tell anyone, but I am a romantic at heart. Wuthering Heights, by the other Brontë,tore me up for days. Shush.)
African Library: The Sinners
2011-04-26 Yusuf Idris is considered one of the great authors – particularly as a short story writer – in the Arabic literary world.
The owl and the swan
2011-04-07 The owl and the swan For AK and JS A spotted eagle owl swooped on to his Cape Town roof like the vengeance of the Lord, sat there silently for ...
Misheard
2011-04-05 Misheard A border fence in the rain of the Eastern Cape An empty room on the farm A shadow Is where I see you A dune we once jumped over Is where you are A bag of plastic animals Becoming Games There are no more of our games Only chess With changed ...
Why you should never love a poet is because
2011-01-26 Why you should never love a poet is because Why you should never love a poet is because It all sounds very romantic and mysterious and exciting, but A poet is self-serving, self-obsessed, self-absorbed; A poet is emotionally expedient, dwarfed and ...
Winter's Bone a slow burner
2011-01-18 Title: Winter’s Bone Director: Debra Granik Cinematography: Michael McDonough Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes and Garret Dillahunt Runtime: 100 mins Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94% Reney's Score: 95% When a film as bleak, as ...
Andie Miller talks to Janet van Eeden about her anthology Slow Motion: stories about walking
2010-10-29 Title: Slow Motion: stories about walkingAuthor: Andie Miller Publisher: JacanaDate of publication: 2010 ISBN: 97817700987010Click here to order Slow Motion from Kalahari.net! Short review by JvE Andie Miller’s collection of stories ...
Big Book Chain Chat #15: Sustaining creativity
2010-10-19Helen Brain wrote: “So if you’re engaged in an everyday job that isn’t very satisfying, how do you keep your creativity fresh?” I can see the problem. Boredom at work may lead to boredom at home. And elsewhere. I would like ...
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Shaida Ali, author of Not a Fairy Tale, in conversation with Naomi Bruwer
2010-10-07 Title: Not a Fairy Tale Author: Shaida Kazi Ali Publisher: Umuzi ISBN: 9781415201121 Order Not a Fairy Tale from Kalahari.net. Not a Fairytale | Fiction Shaida Kazi Ali Not a Fairytale is a wonderful, unusual book set in an Indian ...
red-winged starlings
2010-09-28 red-winged starlings they hang there for a moment like ninjas in an ang lee film pondering their brilliance the digital dusk on their wings and the parking lot below before unfreezing fast-forwarding up and away towards sleeping trees still to be ...
Jan Rabie / Marjorie Wallace Lecture: Ground Zero – the South African literary landscape after apartheid
2010-09-22"All of this would suggest that since the dismantling of apartheid South African literature has entered a phase of unprecedented and explosive growth, and that the energy that had begun to manifest itself even during those dark days is now beginning to erupt."