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Personal reflections on the 16th Nelson Mandela Lecture, delivered by Barack Obama
2018-07-19"I sat hundreds of metres away from Obama, but I wasn’t moved the way Pieter W Grobbelaar’s books moved me as a child. I wasn’t moved the way I was when my nanny told me about Tselane and the Giant."
Reading books on current affairs
2018-07-19"Now, Zuma is gone, and there are more breaking stories about the extent of the fiscal damage that has been done by his administration. But, When Zuma Goes and On the Brink are still there."
Boerekos with a Twist by Annelien Pienaar: book launch and bread tasting
2018-07-18You are invited to the launch of Boerekos with a Twist on 21 July in Durbanville. The author, Annelien Pienaar, will do a bread tasting and all the items you will taste are taken from the recipe book.
Get up! Stand up! by Mark Heywood: a review
2018-07-18"Ultimately, what I have taken from this book is the story of a man who could have continued with his life of privilege, but instead chose the road of social justice in a way that few can speak for themselves today."
Ocean’s 8: a film review
2018-07-18"A great cast rarely guarantees a great film (and a lot has been made of this film’s cast). Yet, I was hopeful that the ginormous ensemble of highly talented women in Ocean’s 8 would prove to be a slick, exhilarating and entertaining combination. It was all in vain."
Book launch: A new selection of Joan Hambidge's poetry in translation – The Coroner's Wife
2018-07-18You are invited to the launch of The Coroner's Wife on 28 July in Stellenbosch, where Joan Hambidge will be in conversation with Fourie Botha.
On “Young man at home 1972”
2018-07-12"Time to part with what I’ve gleaned,
pick your favourite, he said,
I’ll print it, frame it, bring it round."
Press release: Audacious new play to be introduced at Karoo Writers’ Festival in Cradock
2018-07-05MEIN CAMP will be read/performed by actor Emil Lars in the role of Le Clerq Goldberg, the central character, though the actor slips into several other characters during the course of the story, including BJ Vorster, Verwoerd, Adolf Hitler, and Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates.
Press release: 2018 Caine Prize winner announced
2018-07-05"Narrated in the first person plural, 'Fanta Blackcurrant' follows Meri, a street child of Nairobi, who makes a living using her natural intelligence and charisma."
Hermann Giliomee speaks about his latest book, Die Afrikaners
2018-07-04"There was a hard-hitting question about the future of Afrikaans."
The decision to declare English as the only language of record in court in South Africa: a reaction
2018-07-03"The question inevitably arises whether the obligation to convert all legal communication to English would have any influence on the ability of many citizens to express themselves efficiently and understand the language of the court (particularly as regards vocabulary), given the fact that English is arguably the third or fourth language of the majority of the population."
Ingrid Jonker – ’n biografie by Petrovna Metelerkamp: a review
2018-07-03"Metelerkamp is careful not to turn her biography into an abject lesson on the ravages of a patriarchal society on individual lives. She steers through her complex subject with a careful and steady rudder – a class journalistic act."
The 44th National Arts Festival hits Grahamstown
2018-06-28“Very few other festivals in the country have the demographic diversity of our audience. By numbers, we’re also the largest multi-arts festival of this kind on the continent, and we’ve also been around a lot longer than most.” Marli van Eeden chats to Ashraf Johaardien, executive producer of the National Arts Festival. The 44th National Arts Festival is taking place from 28 June until 8 July in Grahamstown.
Independent filmmaking: “Get out there and make movies”
2018-06-27"On 24 May, the South African Independent Film Festival, or SA Indie Film Fest for short, took place at the Labia Theatre in Cape Town, celebrating independent filmmaking. The festival showcased 22 short films, documentaries, music videos and even VR films from all around the world."
African Library: And they didn’t die by Lauretta Ngcobo
2018-06-27"South Africans and others who want to, need to or ought to have an understanding of rural black South African life under the apartheid system can do no better than to read or reread Lauretta Ngcobo’s searing, moving and profoundly probing account enshrined in the unforgettable narrative of her 1990 novel, And they didn’t die."
Press release: Nigerian-German writer Efua Traoré named regional winner for Africa in 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
2018-06-27The Nigerian-German writer Efua Traoré was announced the regional winner for Africa in the world’s most global literary prize. Traoré, who grew up in a little town in the south of Nigeria, wins with a first person narrative that sees a 13-year-old boy wrestle with the question of what it means to find "True Happiness".
Press release: The Jakes Gerwel Fellowship: Applications open for 2019
2018-06-26If you want to pursue a meaningful, challenging career as a high school teacher, apply for the Jakes Gerwel Fellowship today.
Press release: Winners of the 2018 Sunday Times Literary Awards announced
2018-06-25"Bongani Ngqulunga received the Alan Paton award for non-fiction for The Man Who Founded the ANC: A Biography of Pixley ka Isaka Seme, while Harry Kalmer was named the recipient of the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize for A Thousand Tales of Johannesburg."
The Summit Syndrome by Owen Dean: book launch
2018-06-20You are invited to the launch of The Summit Syndrome on 23 June in Stellenbosch. The author, Owen Dean, will be in conversation with Cobus Jooste.
Binding the nation through language diversity: A challenge to a new president
2018-06-20"Mr Ramaphosa’s call, 'Send me', has made us perk up our ears. Nothing will ensure the wholehearted co-operation of the Afrikaans-speaking community with his presidency more than offering a fixed, secure and sustainable place for Afrikaans at both school and university level."