Litnet

"Waves of dunes continue into the desert
– death traps in the shifting sands.
Here, compass bearings start to waver 
and directions become unclear."

"The vast open farms of youth,
where horizons were clear
and bush trails led to secret hideouts."

"We are enveloped in a hollow sky.
Our search for truth unmasks the void
and its uncertain quantum probabilities"

"Ivermectin exploits this communication system: it makes it impossible for the different parts of a worm or other parasite to talk to each other."

"Sometimes in the middle of the night
I am awakened – desperate and confused.
Was it an echo of her voice I heard
or just someone shouting in the street?"

"The lights go out – an electricity failure –
the canvas becomes a ghostly surface.
Lingering shapes suspended in the dark –
your portrait waiting to be drawn."

"What gives his book its especially concentrated quality is its microscopic examination of a body of ideological fragments – visionary novels, poems, pamphlets, manifestos and other documents – some of them fairly trivial, it could be said. These direct our attention to an alternative tradition of South African political literature, enthusiastically radical in its stance and resolutely internationalist in its inspirational reach."

"The night is an ancient stellar theatre
where cosmic symphonies are heard.
It has an orchestra without a conductor
playing music in counterpoint"

A new writing programme launched by theatre production company How Now Brown Cow will encourage the creation of twelve new works by South African playwrights. 

"I’m one of the survivors of COVID, and I wouldn’t wish what I went through on anyone else. It hurts, literally." Cliffordene Norton interviews two people who have recovered from the virus.

"Prisoner 913 is a wonderful book and definitely worth the read, and it will be of particular interest to serious scholars of history and cognate disciplines, particularly as it contains archival material that has not been published before."

"In that quiet mind, there brewed a thinker, a visionary, a philosopher – a lover of people; of all people. His vision was that of inclusivity with no excuses, no prejudice. In his life he lived his dream of dancing and travelling, and even having a family."

"Paradise in Gaza is an ambitious enterprise."

"So, thanks for the laughs, Donald. May all our dreams also come true."

"Noting my insights and emotions is not merely a tool for making sense of the past and sinking into the present. It’s also a way of starting a conversation with the future."

Each chapter features various stages of Dorah’s fascinating life, with recipes to match: traditional African, Township, Pan-African and Western.

"Gus’s totem, the snail, holds the key to a less well-known aspect of his make-up. He was a closet scientist; for him, science had a beauty and patterning that made it mystical."

What went wrong in South Africa? Freek Robinson interviews paediatrician and president of the Medical Research Council, Glenda Gray.

Alan Winde, premier of the Western Cape: "This is a very delicate balance with lots of moving parts. We have developed systems so that we can track the number of beds available, available oxygen and staff. We are recruiting more staff and we have potential for additional beds in facilities across the province should they be required and should we have available staff for them."

"In Paris at midday on a day in May we emerged from the métro at the Place Maubert. In that tiny square the Huguenots were burned at the stake, I’d read, and I remarked to him that the screams must have been awful."