Litnet

The Department of Languages and Communication in the School of Humanities invites abstracts for the Sol Plaatje University International Language Conference scheduled from 6 to 8 September 2023 in Kimberley, South Africa.

"All characters are disturbed and have gone through trauma of some kind; only the depth varies. Nobody is born bad. What happened to her? That is why this is important."

A new PEN South Africa "Empty Chair Podcast" episode celebrates the life and legacy of Keorapetse Kgositsile, South Africa’s former national poet laureate.

"In this era of historical revisions by both white conservatives and radically woke activists who’re obsessed with trying to use history as another weapon of politics, perhaps this recalling of our lived experiences beyond mere ideologies is what will free us from these demagogues."

Pippa Hudson will be in conversation with Sung Yoon at the V&A Waterfront on Wednesday, 5 April 2023.

"If Eskom and corruption seem to take up the headspace of most adults in South Africa there’s a lot more that takes up the headspaces of born-free South Africans. This year’s festival, with its theme Placemaking: influence, roots, expression & imagination, was a dynamic platform for critical reflection and engagement."

It was a glittering affair at the Oude Libertas Amphitheatre in Stellenbosch on Sunday 26 March when the winners of the 58^th Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards were announced.

"Filmmaking is famously described as 'showing and not telling'. My favourite thing about it is that screenwriting is the art of getting a character to say something which reveals a completely different truth to the words they say. As Emma Thompson said when I had the honour of meeting her (it’s in the book!), screenwriting is the art of a character saying, 'Pass me the butter', when they really mean, 'You have ruined my life.'"

This “micro-novel” describes an imaginary future society and the role of social media where people are literally living inside virtual reality to the extent that they are unable to distinguish virtual reality from real life.

"We implore the legislature to reconsider the entire clause 12A and 12D until a proper socio-economic impact assessment has been done. We are legitimately concerned that fair use will diminish legal certainty and harm authors and publishers by diminishing their work, and creating a climate for freely using their work without permission or compensation."

"It’s why casinos are loud, have no clocks and give you free stuff every few spins. Like casinos, pachinko machines or Candy Crush, houses might be aware that some of their customers are there to go on a date, and then to lose a moerse klomp money over a f#%$n bunny chow."

The Island Prize is very proud to be announcing our longlist for 2023.

"Clearly, the longing for such a gathering of writers and readers must have been in the salty air for a long time, and hopefully Books on the Bay can still it every Cape autumn from now on."

Eve Fairbanks’s book about post-apartheid South Africa, The inheritors: An intimate portrait of a brave and bewildered nation (Jonathan Ball), was launched on Thursday, 9 March in Bloemfontein. Johann Rossouw interviewed her about her book. Themes such as Girardian mimesis in South Africa, the shared loss of a future, the shared Christian idealism of South Africans and the position of minorities were discussed during this launch.

"I was tired of wanting to regain compliments on my exterior, yet I was also tired of the dreadful comments directed at my weight. I had to learn how to love myself again."

"But, of course, the cream on the cake is the extraordinary character that Field has created in Lydia Tár, and Ms Blanchett’s rendition of her is off another planet. Only vintage Streep could compete with Blanchett as Tár. It is an experience of an exceptional kind to be able to witness this performance."

Do you want to be on TV? If you’ve got a dynamic personality and want to shoot your shot with this season’s contestants, Love is love is looking for you! Click the link to learn how.

"The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) held their High Scorers’ Concert for the Eastern Cape, George and surrounding areas on Sunday 5 March 2023 in Gqeberha at the Collegiate Junior School for Girls."

There is a war being waged against corruption in South African universities’ lecture halls, libraries, boardrooms and offices. Sandile Ntuli attended the Johannesburg launch of Jonathan Jansen’s book, Corrupted: a study of chronic dysfunction in South African universities, and shares his "crib notes" with LitNet’s readers.

"When I was writing the story I was just being a storyteller. And when it comes to different genders, races or ages when writing, I always think of characters as people and that everyone deserves to have their story told."