Litnet

"Reading this novel and its record of great suffering and the profound emotional dislocations brought about by exile and migration, is arduous, often harrowing and disturbing; but as a narrative, Aya Dane is an immense and lasting achievement."

New dates have been announced for Cape Town City Ballet's production of Veronica Paeper's A Christmas Carol – the story of Scrooge. The production will run for a limited season from 19 until 22 January 2022 in the Artscape Theatre. Some performances in December were postponed following the confirmation of a COVID-19 positive case.

... with compliments of Evita Bezuidenhout and Pieter-Dirk Uys. One Man Shows: the result of months of lockdown. Free to download.

In an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Afrikaanse Taalraad (Afrikaans Language Council – ATR) expressed its deep concern about the Department of Higher Education's language policy of 2020. The letter was handed over at the Union Buildings on 10 December – on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, a constitution that promotes multilingualism and protects language rights.

To protect all concerned, including audiences, the second week of the play has been postponed to 23 to 26 February 2022 at the Artscape Arena. Booking has already opened.

On 10 December Aoife Lennon-Ritchie spoke to Gabeba Baderoon and Sifton Anipare about getting published, emigrating and feminism.

"I retraced 
My steps 
Back to the days 
Before I lost all of my ways"

"I accept this on behalf of so many disadvantaged women, persons with disabilities and also people who have no voice in life. I started my life in what can be seen as a cycle where you are born into poverty and would ultimately die in poverty."

Showmax shares twelve reasons to stay home safely these holidays and offers eleven trailers to tease you with.

"There are plenty of fight scenes. The battles are impressively detailed, and sometimes shocking or gross. I think this is one of the book’s strongest points. The violence is completely unfiltered, with everything from a simple jab to the crunch of a bone breaking."

"And then, out of a crowd, there he was – standing at my table with his hand held out. To this day I can still hear his voice in my head, see that wry smile. ‘James Woodhouse,’ he said. ‘I’m Wilbur Smith.’ As if he needed to introduce himself."

Die internasionaal-gerekende Suid-Afrikaanse kunstenaar Mary Sibande is die ontvanger van die Helgaard Steyn-prys, vanjaar toegeken vir beeldhoukuns. | Internationally-acclaimed South African artist Mary Sibande has been awarded this year’s Helgaard Steyn Prize.

PEN South Africa is excited to announce a new six-episode season of The Empty Chair podcast.

How do we represent Africa as a multicultural, multifaceted continent to our readers? How do we embrace diversity in early readers for Africa’s kids? And how do we market our wonderful African stories to a Eurocentric world?

In this, the fifth episode of his monthly podcast series, David Attwell talks to Zakes Mda about his latest, and possibly his last, novel. 

"I saw the deaths of twenty-somethings
crawl behind me,
dressed in fire suits"

"By an invisible force that will not sway 
And its purpose to disrupt and to set asunder  
And rob this world of all its wonder"

"This is a simple tale of a love-struck man, wanting out from what has become a tedious and unfulfilling life. In essence, it is a tragicomedy, a fated love story, a fable of our times, in which Tubby Reddy is himself complicit."

African comics are created for Africans, not the East, nor the West. “I draw myself,” one panellist said. Yet many African comics find their way into Europe, simply because our comics are of international quality.

"On Sunday, 5 December more than 500 people met at Surfer’s Corner on Beach Road in Muizenberg to protest against seismic blasting off the South African coast."