Litnet

Here is the final round of feedback from the LitNet | STAND theatre review workshop mentors: Tracy Saunders and Nkgopoleng Moloi react to the second version of Alberto Smit’s theatre review.

"It’s difficult to explain, especially when asked what is and isn’t 'true', and I always end up saying that all the feelings are real, but that I may have made up the incidents and even the characters to put those feelings across."

"The intertexts, coordinates and ontologies offered in the poems create an intricate network of significance in which many voices are deployed, some echoing others, a polyphony that exalts in the musicality of language, the tone and pulse of words, their conjunctions and conjurations."

"Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed must be credited for making me see new beauty in what is vanishing. And for elevating the Durban Casbah to the pantheon of great South African places like District Six and Sophiatown."

African languages for a global audience: publishers, writers, and translators on the art of translation. Join Bhakti Shringarpure, Hannes Barnard, Raphael Thierry and Tina Kover for a roundtable discussion on translated literature.

Terry Tselane is the executive chairman of the Institute of Election Management Services in Africa (IEMSA), which will act as an election watchdog in the coming South African elections. Freek Robinson asked him to explain the role and the powers of an election watchdog. Also: Who watches the watchdog, and what would happen if the watchdog and the ruling party were to disagree on the outcome of the election?

Political theorist Steven Friedman addresses how and why the current language around anti-Semitism in Israel has been distorted and weaponised to serve the political objectives of the Israeli state. Friedman’s critique examines what this implies for the fight against racism in South Africa and India, and in other parts of the world.

The UCT Summer School takes place from 13 to 27 January 2024. Download the complete brochure here.

"Maybe it’s good that much of it is now consolidated into one volume – but we’ve heard it so often and for so long that it is hardly now exciting."

"Kissinger arguably saved the world from nuclear war by defusing geopolitical crises on several occasions during the height of the Cold War."

"As a country we must stop paying lip service by having commissions and task teams and Zoom meetings. We need to implement existing policies effectively, and we need it to happen now!"

"[South Africa’s] biggest challenge is self-esteem for our own talents – having to be told who’s world-class by international speculators, rather than realising this through our own people and media. Then, we’re also struggling to get the funding of local films right, performing miracles on shoestring budgets and being expected simply to rinse and repeat these miracles."

Call for flash stories for a new anthology to be published in 2024.

A book of affirmations that highlights each of South Africa’s eleven official languages [and] is a love letter to children (especially Black, Indigenous, and people of colour) in South Africa honouring their magic, worth and power.

Award-winning poet Jacques Coetzee will be reading in Gqeberha on 5 December when the Ecca Poets will launch their new collection, The salt of being.

A transgender Roman emperor? Why were there no bedrooms in Caesar’s palace? How about an emperor who may have worn more shoes than Imelda Marcos? Is democracy better than a benign dictator? These are but a few of the hot topics Mphuthumi Ntabeni teases out of Mary Beard during an interview in Cape Town.

Tony Jackman interviewed Marita van der Vyver on her novel Still breathing and her memoir A long letter to my daughter. What is it like to get older? How does one hold an entire cast of characters in one’s hand? Are her characters based on real people? How does it feel to dream in a language that differs from the one your daughter dreams in?

"The grim reaper is everywhere to be seen as these tragic events unfold. Beyond the rights and wrongs, the claims and counter-claims, this war, like all wars, has already resulted in the deaths of thousands of non-combatants ..."

"Mandivale ngokucoma Umuzi/Praesa ngalo mbono mhle kangaka wokuguqulela le ncwadi kulwimi lweSintu. Nakugqirha Guzula ngomsebenzi omhle encomekayo." | "I think this is a superb translation that not only makes the book accessible in Xhosa, but, because a language lends a new way of seeing the world, will enrich your knowledge and enjoyment of the book even if you have already read it in English."

The season must end this weekend on 3 December 2023. More information here!