Litnet

This first comprehensive biography of Cecil Rhodes in a generation illuminates Rhodes’s vision for the expansion of imperialism in southern Africa, connecting politics and industry to internal development, and examines how this fueled a lasting white-dominated colonial society.

The 20th edition of the South African Literary Awards (SALA) honoured 49 South African writers, translators and other literary practitioners across 16 categories at a prestigious ceremony in Johannesburg on 11 November 2025.

"With less of his characteristic reserve and more rampant enjoyment, Sole shapeshifts in this collection, appearing as an old man, as a trogon, as a bee, as the sun, as the beloved – with a sideways wink between author and reader."

"At the heart of the novel lies a painful paradox: education, once a promise of progress, has become a burden in a country where opportunity has collapsed."

For November’s play reading, we’re delving into Love in the time of Labarang Hajj by Tasneem Daniels.  The evening will include a table read of the play by actors, followed by a discussion of the work. The discussion will be led by Melanie O’Connor Horn and a panel of experts. Input from the audience is most welcome! 

"What would Nick Cave do?" Conrad Jamneck, beloved festival director and sound engineer, delves into his lifelong relationship with Nick Cave’s music and writing. A Nick Cave affair – produced by Jamneck and featuring James Smith, Jake Gunn, Anjulie Nock and a special appearance by Andra – will be performed at the PJ Olivier Art Centre in Stellenbosch on 21 November 2025.

"South Africa can learn from other countries and cities. Megacities as diverse as Bangkok, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Dhaka, Jakarta, Calcutta, Lagos, London, Manila, Mexico City, New Delhi and Shanghai already use groundwater to varying degrees for water supply."

"The world of Cats is truly immersive, and the illusion of talented humans portraying these delightful feline characters will hopefully be more than enough to hold the audiences’ attention for a few hours of theatrical magic."

"I urgently need a copy of op weg na ku, but unfortunately it’s out of print. Could anyone help me?"

"And yet, of the 122 Nobel laureates in literature from 1901 to date, only 15, or 12%, are playwrights. Many, many more are the writers of fiction and novels. And at literary festival after literary festival here in South Africa, there are novelists galore and only occasionally the odd playwright."

"Beneath its quiet surfaces, Szalay’s novel probes the cultural unease of our time – the exhaustion of liberal optimism, the backlash angst against 'wokeness' and the waning of faith in collective redemption."

"It is not often that a volume of poetry captures the public imagination in South Africa. Yet, Siphokazi Jonas’s Weeping becomes a river has done just that. This is an unlikely and heartening success in a literary landscape where poetry is often treated as the private language of a select few. One wonders, inevitably, about the reasons behind this resonance."

"The first chapter also provides a vivid portrait of a cultural, linguistic and continental outsider’s journey to this most enigmatic of collections. That he is further unafraid of discussing his own missteps relative to working with the material, and of reflecting on major personal events that tie in with his research, such as his father’s passing from cancer while trying to start an academic career, marks this section as particularly moving."

"What an interesting and peaceful place. There is a strange quiet about this city that caught me off guard. It almost feels as if one is walking in an old movie set in a studio mimicking a city."

"It did start as memoir, as many of my stories do. A draft of this was written as and when it happened. But a life story does not always a good short story make. I had this in my trunk for years, and when the opportunity to submit it for Power came around, I wove in the power cuts so that it had a literal symbol, and then realised I’d thematicised the voyage from disempowerment to empowerment of the women in the story."

"The rural Western Cape town of Porterville came alive on 23 and 24 September with the second iteration of the Purple Mountain Heritage Day Festival, a free, 36-hour celebration of heritage through art, poetry, storytelling, traditional food, music, photography and astronomy."

"The weeklong journey the characters undertake provides a marvellous readymade itinerary for anyone wishing to follow the tour – although personally I think you’d need two weeks, not one!"

"Breyten Breytenbach is of virtually unparalleled stature in South Africa’s contemporary Afrikaans-language literary landscape."

"The next morning, there was a little AI niggle in my brain. What if? Could it be? Was it time to pack up and go teach English to little children in South Korea?"

"There is a freedom in speculative fiction that doesn’t exist in any other genre – anything can happen. That kind of freedom, once tasted, is addictive. And that is what fantasy has provided me – a place to articulate these stories fully. This particular story begins with a dream, possibly the oldest of all that is speculative."