Litnet

"If you’ve loved the sparse ironic tone of Amor Towles’s A gentleman in Moscow, you’ll love Beyond the door of no return."

"Thus, these many commitments are not commitments to study and then decide on action; they are clearly phrased as actions that have been decided on, and must now be seen through. We know where we are with the EFF."

"It feels a bit unreal putting these words on paper, but a phantom is looming ever larger in the global consciousness. Something is definitely going on; turbulent daily news events describe geopolitical tensions of all sorts – military build-ups and diplomatic stand-offs."

"For months now, the water and sanitation (WSS) unit of eThekwini (Durban) municipality has been in the news for all the wrong reasons."

Open Book Festival is thrilled to announce the return of our dedicated Youth Festival. Building on the success of our inaugural Youth Fest in 2023, we are gearing up to host an even more vibrant and impactful celebration of literature and creativity among young minds. This year’s festival is scheduled to take place 13 – 20 March 2024 at schools, public libraries and other venues.

"With his having written Manifesto, his patriotism and determination to make South Africa a better place are indisputable. And his willingness to abandon an obviously successful career to see through his ideals is very unusual in a country now dedicated to 'What’s in it for me?'."

"Thoko Didiza, the minister for land reform, has a master plan for dagga. How about the prickly pear? We believe that this plant could make a difference for many poor people if they had access to knowledge to utilise the fruit and the rest of the plant for numerous purposes."

"It is not easy, waiting for fair sailing weather, permanently watching for the winds to turn."

The Drama Factory presents a fabulous February programme which offers audiences a delicious selection of comedy, music and entertainment for the younger ones, including Reünie with Frank Opperman and A vegan killed my marriage with Aaron McIlroy.

Today, on the ninth anniversary of André Brink’s death, we pay tribute to his life and work and announce that the Philida Literary Award, established in his memory in 2020, goes to Penny Haw and is awarded to her for an oeuvre of literary excellence.

Die aanlyn studenteportaal is nou oop en studente wat voor 16 Februarie 2024 registreer kwalifiseer vir ’n spesiale aanbod. | The online student entry portal  is now open and students who enroll on or before 16 February 2024 will qualify for the early-bird special.

"In general, a creative nonfiction asks the reader to trust in the author’s voice in revealing the truth. The problem in this is that sometimes the spectrum of a certain experience cannot always be displayed in one recounting of it. That is to say, Off-centre and out of focus cannot be a definitive guideline to all the experiences of coloured bodies in a past or present and perhaps future time, but is rather an enclave."

"With an enthusiasm bordering on sheer abandon, Niki noticed children and entered into their point of view, their world, their strange and terrible and joyful existence, in a way that few children’s writers and illustrators have ever done. This instinct shone on every page of every book he ever wrote or illustrated."

Expelled is a family drama which focuses on the largely ungoverned world of social media. Alex, a Matric pupil at an elite school, gets caught up in a viral scandal and is suspended. Once shared, lives alter in seconds. This production is a must-see for all high school learners who make use of social media, and for their parents wading through the minefield – and to this end significant school learner discounts will be on offer.

"In contrast to the joint engagement in the 1990s of at least the major political protagonists, it is telling that the scenario process on which this book is based seems markedly less rooted in dialogue among political parties."

"If there is anything in common between the rigour of the English boarding school system I grew up in and the staunch Calvinism of Afrikaners of, say, Stellenbosch University, it is the belief that young men in particular need to be toughened up to prepare them for life. It is the reason why, though known to authorities, these rituals and rites of passages are tolerated and ignored until they go too far, as they sometimes do."

"Democracy is at risk of being replaced in many cases with despotic oligarchies and fascist elites. Our ‘imperfect, but still the best system of government’, to paraphrase Churchill’s definition of democracy, is even under threat in the EU, where right-wing parties with dubious links to history are poised to make electoral gains this year."

"I suggested that it might be useful to think of Modisane’s history like a kind of monstrous Large Language Model (LLM) – a bizarre and monstrous simulacrum of human intelligence trained on our basest reflexes and insecurities."

"You can’t go back in time to kill your grandfather with an axe because you dislike the historical context he furnished you with. If you could, he could have done the same to his grandfather, until the only ancestor remaining to provide you with a validating context would be lonely old Adam playing with his snake in the Garden of Eden."

"South Africa’s case against Israel is very important and symbolic for the world. This is my opinion as someone from the global North: It demonstrates the possibility of real cosmopolitanism, the only answer to racism."