Litnet

Two of South Africa’s theatre greats, Andrew Buckland and Sylvaine Strike, once again team up to create theatre magic, in the stage premiere of Firefly, directed by Toni Morkel, at the Baxter Flipside, for a limited season from 24 March to 9 April 2022 at 7:30pm nightly, with Saturday matinees at 2:30pm.

"This book could be a good start for someone who wants to get to know the work of Nigerian authors. I would recommend it for readers with a taste for family dramas with weighty topics and satisfying character growth."

In the sixth episode of his podcast series Full particulars, David Attwell discusses JM Coetzee's enigmatic Jesus trilogy with Robert Pippin (University of Chicago), Derek Attridge (University of York), and Elleke Boehmer (University of Oxford). With a reading from The death of Jesus by JM Coetzee.

"Watching Ukrainian parents evacuate their children to safety while staying behind to fight for their future breaks my heart. I cannot imagine the levels of anxiety and distress this kind of separation causes for a family. These people will never fully recover from this, even if they survive."

"For the uninitiated, Cosmonauts do it in heaven might feel like an exploration of space itself, seemingly obscure and impenetrable at first, but the poetry is infused with a desire to take the great leap, to reach for the sky and to celebrate its wonders and 'mysteries,/ solved & sensuous' ('First light')."

The concert at the Stellenbosch Town Hall takes place on Saturday 19 March 2002 at 6pm.

Poets or their publishers are invited to submit entries for the Ingrid Jonker Prize for English poetry in 2022. The closing date for submissions is 15 March 2022. 

"Am I waxing poetic about Russian culture? No, I don’t think so. I am not saying that Putin is good, or doing good things. But I have seen and experienced and read and been born into a life that sees, very well, that to heal the cycles of violence we are used to, we need to think differently to how we have been feeling thus far."

"What wasn’t surprising about the vote on Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly on 2 March 2022 was that South Africa abstained ... For South Africa’s foreign policy to become focused on human rights again, the left-nationalist power cabal that is the ANC must go ... But underneath, tremendous forces are at play. The world is being reordered and it is unlikely to be in Africa’s favour."

"They bomb in the evening. And with bags in hand, we go down from the tenth floor to the subway."

"Institutional support and status involves far more than just mouthing platitudes to the electorate. It means a dogged determination, as displayed in the development of Afrikaans to where it is today."

The Western Cape Blood Service is appealing to all eligible donors to donate blood as blood stocks are critically low. Do something remarkable, donate blood.

"While newspaper articles have often provided superficial reports on high-profile doping cases, Van der Berg provides detailed information that readers will find interesting and in some cases alarming."

"All the public talks and podcasts in Russia, all the conversations with friends and family, come down to just a few topics: Will the metro be a safe place to hide in case Moscow is bombed by NATO? Is it the right time to withdraw all cash from our bank accounts? Is it too late to buy US dollars and sell the stocks? Will our young male family members be mobilised and sent to war, most of them against their will? Will the government start mass repression of its own citizens, those who dare to speak up?"

"Ahmed and Zarga educates its readers concerning the reverence in which camels are held in this context, as it does in making clear the basis of this Bedouin attitude towards their beasts. Slahi’s novel’s natural, informal style and the impression of oral narrative that it establishes are extremely appealing, as well as elegant and aesthetically admirable."

"With the sun reaching nearly 40 degrees, some of the uncles are not singing from the flat-surfaced rock, and instead they sit under a gazebo, serenading the beachgoers with their velvet voices."

At a glittering event at the V&A Waterfront on Thursday, 24 February 2022, Cape Town Opera announced a diverse, innovative and creative programme for 2022, encompassing both the artistic and educational.

"The war began today (24 February 2022) ... Today represents the world’s failure to find peace for Ukraine. Unfortunately, tomorrow won’t be any better."

"Eurydice will debut in an empty abandoned swimming pool in Cape Town city centre. The infamous myth is reimagined to focus on the journey of its heroine as the play deals with themes of love, loss, remembrance and reminiscence."

Janet van Eeden interviews Michelle Edwards and also writes: "The novel is page-turningly good. The plot moves swiftly through the first-person voice of Skye, who is that most delicious of literary devices: an unreliable narrator."