Cape Town can be proud of many attractions, but the Open Book Festival is a gem that is a rare example of what the rainbow nation and Ubuntu are. This festival is the highlight of our year not only as writers, readers and artists, but as a community. Even if it is your first time attending, you know that you will find your way into the literary community and meet new people.
This past weekend, 4-6 September, the Open Book Festival entertained us with discussions, performances and exhibitions. As always, the audience echoed the famous words of Judy Boucher, wishing they could be in two places at the same time; with so many discussions taking place, they were spoiled for choice. When you enter the space of the Homecoming Centre, you experience a sense of joyful overload – a stimulation of the senses for literary lovers.
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This past weekend, 4-6 September, the Open Book Festival entertained us with discussions, performances and exhibitions. As always, the audience echoed the famous words of Judy Boucher, wishing they could be in two places at the same time; with so many discussions taking place, they were spoiled for choice. When you enter the space of the Homecoming Centre, you experience a sense of joyful overload – a stimulation of the senses for literary lovers.
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When you are seated for whichever discussion you have chosen to attend, there is the excitement of seeing your favourite authors take the stage. This year, the programme offered an abundance of choices – when you look at the full programme, you have to acknowledge that putting it together is a craft in itself. My first session was “Intentional recalibrations”, a conversation between Sanah Ahsan, Siphokazi Jones and Lebogang Matseke facilitated by Maneo Mohale, which asked the question, How do we balance the world? I chose this session because, as the world stands, it often feels like we are just about to topple over. Yet, at the end of the conversation, I understood that we hold the balance of our world. We not only need to find our balance, but also need to allow ourselves to stumble, and when we find our feet again the stumble becomes a life lesson.
This year’s programme gave us topics ranging from queer writing to African diaspora cosmologies and violence against the body, and many more. The variety of topics, in a small way, makes space for the many dualities that show up in literary communities. There is magic in the worlds imagined in these books that we hold close to our hearts.
The poetry performances are what I always look forward to. One reason for this is that space is made for first-time poets – somewhere a stage will open up. One such space was the book launch for English Alive with Kirsten Deane, editor and author of her debut poetry anthology, Disabled, but. In this session, we saw high school students reading their poems published in this year’s anthology, and many voices were heard for the first time.
This, at the core of Open Book, is what it means to open up the next generation to the literary community. It is a way of opening the door and letting them know that this community is looking forward to what they will bring to the table. These voices will carry the next story. They will shape the industry. They will hold these moments dear and look back one day and say, “I started at the Open Book Festival.”
Is this not what we want for our next generation of writers, poets and artists?
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A word of gratitude should go to Frankie Murrey and the entire team. Here, I want to thank and highlight the staff at the door who are willing to help, scan your ticket and answer every question, and those who attend to the exhibitions and showcase their talent at the booths. I believe that a festival such as Open Book needs a team dedicated not only to the success of the weekend, but also to the importance of holding space for everyone who chooses to show up. Every venue you walk into, be it Avalon, Star Theatre or any of the others, reflects the dedication that goes into every small detail, whether it is lighting or sound, or the countless things that happen behind the scenes – we appreciate your hand in this festival.
We look forward to Open Book Festival 2027 and getting to know the voices that will join us there, when we gather again to witness this gem in Cape Town and answer the call to be a community once more.
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