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African Library entry: The actual true story of Ahmed & Zarga by Mohamedou Ould Slahi
2022-02-28"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."
Where is your happy place?
2022-02-25"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."
Press release: Cape Town Opera launches 2022 season
2022-02-25At 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.
Putin’s invasion and the failure of peace
2022-02-24"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."
Press release: Eurydice, site-specific theatre
2022-02-24"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."
Inter-review with Michelle Edwards, author of the novel, Go away birds
2022-02-24Janet 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."
Press release: Premier Alan Winde to kickstart DAK Netwerk’s Planning Conference
2022-02-24The planning agenda for the weekend comprises matters like economic development, job creation, youth development and literacy intervention programmes.
Promotion: The Blanket Tree books | Promosie: Die Kombersboomboeke
2022-02-23The children’s picture book series, The Blanket Tree books (Die Kombersboomboeke in Afrikaans), were written and developed during the time of lockdown by Hélène Ferreira. "Blanket" refers to these comforting, inclusive fantasies, modern-day fairy tales for everyone. The word "tree" signifies growth, learning, renewal and development.
The mouse with no whiskers
2022-02-14"The need for comfortable multilingual interaction from childhood is crucial in establishing respect and a sense of community in a country of diverse people." – Marguerite Poland remembers Benjamin Mahlasela, her Xhosa language tutor at Rhodes University 50 years ago.
Zeitz MOCAA releases a commemorative publication Home is where the art is
2022-02-14"Like its exhibition counterpart, Home is where the art is, the book, has been curated into five thematic sections that give insight into the experience of lockdown: relations, the garden, outside, inside and time. Through imagery and text, each theme is explored in varied dimensions."
Booker winner included in Folio Prize shortlist
2022-02-11The promise, Damon Galgut’s 2021 Booker Prize winning novel, has been included in the shortlist for the Rathbones Folio Prize.
Press release: PEN South Africa announces programme for season three of The empty chair podcast, "A Transatlantic conversation"
2022-02-10Starting on 3 February, the season continues to illuminate shared histories and values between South Africa and the USA, engaging with topics around social justice, racial equity and diversity. Coinciding with Black History Month in the USA, this series focuses on conversations inspired by this initiative.
Press release: KROTOA Eva van de Kaap completes season at the Artscape Arena from 23–26 February 2022
2022-02-08KROTOA Eva van de Kaap, written by Sylvia Vollenhoven and directed by Basil Appollis was first performed in The Netherlands in 2018 and subsequently ran in Cape Town and the Free State ...
Promosie: Die nuutste Francine Rivers nou by Bargain Books
2022-02-08Almal wil graag ryk word in dié myndorpie, maar dit is ’n liefde baie kosbaarder as goud wat almal in die dorp uiteindelik sal red. Sy is myne deur Francine Rivers is nou te koop by Bargain Books.
What if this night
2022-02-08"for what if this night
came as a spirit
dimming out the melancholy,
ripples of fear dissolving in a stream"
Fresh off the press: Spoilt ballots by Matthew Blackman and Nick Dall
2022-02-08Spoilt ballots is as much about the people who voted in some of our most decisive elections as it is about those who didn’t get to make their mark.
Press release: Announcement of the winner of the Philida Literary Award in 2022
2022-02-07The Philida Literary Award is awarded annually to a writer mid-career for an oeuvre of between three to five books of any genre.
Interview with Cathy Park Kelly, author of Boiling a frog slowly
2022-02-02"My heartfelt hope is that this book reaches those who are in toxic situations (whether at home or at work), where their boundaries are being transgressed, and that reading it helps them to see their situation with clearer eyes and take steps to protect themselves."
Press release: Call for applications, Hear My Voice poetry retreat
2022-01-27"Hear My Voice invites South African poets to a 4-day poetry retreat, calling for poets to explore the relationship between nature and the manifest in various art forms."
New year, new creations: an interview with an eight-year-old author
2022-01-27"No. Children in this country don’t read enough."
