Litnet

Africa’s first AI-generated opera is set to disrupt traditional performance art with a bold and immersive production that blends choreography, generative soundscapes and machine learning. Due to be performed at Flipside at the Baxter Theatre from 26 to 29 March 2025, autoplay by acclaimed choreographer and director Louise Coetzer interrogates the intersection between identity, autonomy and the digital landscapes that define modern existence.

"I felt it important to present an alternative version to the highly readable one he so strongly portrays. We are all different and our experiences of, and reactions to, similar circumstances can differ widely. That said, this is probably the best book that I have read in a long time."

"bred barefoot
to stagger over the shards
of yesteryear’s looking glass,"

What makes The Otto Foundation’s book prize unique is that young readers play an active role in selecting the winning titles. Following a nomination process held last year, the shortlisted titles were included in the Otto Foundation’s annual Reading Relay, which is hosted every year among six schools in the District Six area in Cape Town.

"What this team accomplishes is the practice of engagement; everyone in the theatre was laughing, commenting, gasping – An unromantic comedy is, at its centre, loaded with comedy. Taking a look at the inner narratives of the play, I am posed questions that have my eyebrow muscle in a flex."

"For the arts and culture sector, Trump’s executive order might leave a small dent, but it is nothing that a good amount of panel-beating between South African and US institutions/organisations that hold shared values cannot navigate."

"Dis ’n lekker manier om te besef jy is nie alleen in jou stryd as middeljarige vrou nie; jy kan ’n verskil in ander se lewens maak as jy jouself reg inspan, en geen gebeurtenis in jou lewe is noodwendig die einde nie – dis dikwels ’n nuwe begin."

"By withdrawing the United States (US) from the global Paris Agreement, Trump is defying multilateral climate resilience cooperation, at a time when global average temperatures already exceed a critical 1,5°C warming threshold, and severe weather events are becoming more regular."

Today, on the tenth anniversary of André Brink’s death (6 February) we pay tribute to his life and work and announce that the Philida Literary Award, established in his memory in 2020, goes to Hedley Twidle and is awarded to him for an oeuvre of literary excellence.

"Throughout the Cold War, and through to today, the credibility of nuclear deterrence was and is attached to all manner and sorts of things: the personalities of leaders, their rationality, the regime type, and whether leaders believe in the doctrine of nuclear deterrence."

Open Book Festival announces its third annual Youth Festival, building on the momentum of previous years to create an even more dynamic celebration of youth literature and creativity. Youth Fest 2025 will run from 19 to 26 March 2025 and promises to bring together established and emerging voices in children’s and young adult literature, fostering a love of reading and writing among young people across Cape Town. 

"The year of the Master’s Resurrection and Ascension.
His call, as the Thunderous Sounds of the Apocalypse."

"[I]n most cases, the causes and atrocities of the wars – Korea, Vietnam, numerous struggles for liberation across Africa and the Middle East, Latin America and a dozen other settings – have been brushed over or inadequately brought to light. South Africa stands out as an exception, with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. But the truth of the lessons of Auschwitz holds true for a world in conflict since 1945, and makes the 80th commemoration all the more important."

"Your chosen favourite can say or do no wrong, and anything, however outrageous or immoral, can be justified, condoned and, with every-day use and reinforcement, it becomes your new normal, the standard from which to judge The Other."

"In simple English, even in cases where there are healthcare workers paid for by the government, medication cannot be handed out."

"There is an honesty within these pages that is rarely seen in memoirs and politically slanted texts from the African literary scene." 

"Eurotrash, by the Swiss-German author Christian Kracht, is a novel of ideas and what the Germans call Vergangenheitsbewältigung (coming to terms with the past). It is about the grinding burden of having been born into tainted privilege, and the engulfing guilt that comes with that self-realisation."

Starting in 2025, the all-new AVBOB Prize for Best Published Collection of Poetry (by an individual poet) will shine a spotlight on South African poets with a R10 000 prize, honouring their artistic vision, linguistic mastery, and unique contributions to the country’s cultural tapestry.

The annual Literature, Heritage and Ecology Conference hosted by Amazwi South African Museum of Literature aims to foster cooperation and interaction between the humanities and the sciences and so help mitigate the social-ecological crises we face today.

"Logically, what is the justification for fact-checking – and then monitoring and censoring – Facebook or X or Instagram, but not WhatsApp?"