Persverklaring: Belgiese en Suid-Afrikaanse skrywers deel in opwindende Brussel tot Karoo-residensie in KwaNojoli in die Oos-Kaap
Die Jakes Gerwel Stigting (JGS) en Passa Porta, ’n internasionale letterkundehuis in Brussel, sien daarna uit om twee Belgiese en vier Suid-Afrikaanse skrywers te verwelkom by hul twee weke lange Brussel tot Karoo-residensie by Paulet Huis in KwaNojoli in die Oos-Kaap.
Die Belge Nele Van den Broeck en Gerda Dendooven en Suid-Afrikaners Sibuyiselo Sbuja Dywili, Shireen Mall, Charl-Pierre Naudé en Ayanda Xaba sal die residensie bywoon. Hierdie residensie vorm deel van professor Jakes Gerwel se nalatenskap – hy het in 1979 sy doktorsgraad in letterkunde en filosofie (magna cum laude) aan die Vrije Universiteit Brussel verwerf. Sy lewenslange liefde vir die Vlaamse letterkunde het posgevat gedurende sy tyd daar.
Hierdie gesamentlike projek van JGS en Passa Porta, ondersteun deur die Vlaamse regering in Suid Afrika, bied aan skrywers ononderbroke skryftyd en skep ’n geleentheid vir die kruisbestuiwing van idees en kennis tussen skrywers van verskillende agtergronde, en verryk sodoende die plaaslike en internasionale letterkunde.
Nele hoop dat die residensie die ink sal laat vloei, aangesien sy tuis voortdurend in die versoeking is om haar werkruimte op te ruim eerder as om te skryf. Toe sy aansoek gedoen het vir ’n residensie in die buiteland, het sy ’n plek gekies waar sy die taal kan praat sodat sy haar internasionale netwerk kan verbreed en die vertaling van haar eerste roman kan fasiliteer.
“Ek wil werk aan my tweede roman, The Aphid (werkstitel), wat handel oor ’n klassieke pianis wat ophou speel,” sê Nele.
Ayanda het onlangs haar suster aan die dood afgestaan en haar kinders onder haar vlerk geneem. “Noudat ons stabiliteit gevind het, is ek gereed om terug te keer na my skryfwerk en klaar te maak met ’n roman wat ek in 2022 laat vaar het toe my suster siek geword het. Ek sien uit na die kans om aan my projek te werk en om die ander skrywers te ontmoet wat deel van die program sal wees. Dit sal ook my eerste besoek aan Gqeberha en Somerset-Oos wees, so ek sien uit daarna om geïnspireer te word deur die nuwe plekke wat ek gaan sien,” verduidelik sy.
Vir Charl-Pierre sal die residensie hopelik ’n bietjie afstand van sy alledaagse lewe bied om die verswelgde dele van sy verbeelding aan te wakker. Hy werk tans aan twee nuwe romans, een in Afrikaans en die ander in Engels.
Sbuja is van plan om aan sy debuutdrama, The Salt Lesson, te werk terwyl hy by Paulet Huis is. As die broodwinner in sy huishouding kry hy nie altyd tyd om te skryf nie. Hy sê: “Ek het aansoek gedoen vir die Brussel tot Karoo-residensie omdat ek geweet het dat dit vir my kosbare tyd sou gee om aan niks anders as my toneelstuk te dink nie en dit te skryf en klaar te maak. Ek hoop om betekenisvolle verhoudings te smee terwyl ek daar is. Ek beoog om my toneelstuk klaar te maak en met my gedagtes en idees tot ander skrywers se projekte by te dra.”
Shireen beoog om haar roman Moy te skaaf. “Die feit dat ek hierdie geleentheid gegun is, bewys dat ek ernstig opgeneem word as skrywer en dit gee my die selfvertroue om nog hoër te mik. Die luuksheid van ononderbroke skryftyd in die geselskap van ander eendersdenkende mense in ’n pragtige, rustige omgewing soos Somerset-Oos is nie iets wat aldag gebeur nie. Ek wil graag nuwe verhoudings smee wat uiteindelik deure sal oopmaak en my die geleentheid sal gee om te deel,” voeg sy by.
Skrywersbiografieë
Gerda Dendooven
Gerda Dendooven (1962) is in Kortrijk, België, gebore. Sy het grafiese ontwerp aan die Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Gent studeer. Aan die begin van haar loopbaan het sy vir etlike jare toesig gehou by kinderkunsateljees in museums. Sy doseer tans Illustrasie by die LUCA School of Arts in Gent. Sy doen illustrasies vir ander skrywers, maar ook vir haar eie stories. Baie van haar verhale is as teaterstukke verwerk en sy is soms self op die verhoog.
Sy skep gereeld lewendige beelde by konserte of literêre optredes. In 2020 het sy lewendige beelde vir die Brussels Filharmoniese Orkes gemaak tydens die volledige uitvoering van Peer Gynt, en saam met Mauro Pawlowski en Fikry El Azzouzi vorm sy deel van Trio El Azzouzi. In 2007 is sy namens die Belgian Reading Foundation as die eerste (en enigste) kinderkonsul aangestel. Hulle fokus op kuns, kultuur en veral letterkunde.
Nele Van den Broeck
Nele Van den Broeck (1985) is ’n teatermaker, musikant, voorsanger van die groep Nele Needs a Holiday en is die afgelope agt jaar ’n gereelde rubriekskrywer vir De Standaard. Nele het musiekproduksie aan die London College of Contemporary Music studeer. Voorheen het sy gelyktydig Drama aan die Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Gent en Duits en Spaans aan die Vrije Universiteit Brussel studeer.
Sy woon in Brussel. Nele se werk handel oor temas soos sielkundige kwesbaarheid, groot drome, skreeusnaakse mislukkings en filosofiese alledaagsheid. Haar werk beeld ’n voortdurende soeke na die handleiding van die lewe uit. Sy het ’n ongewone pad geloop wat haar deur teater en musiek geneem het tot by skryf en weer terug. In 2019 is ’n bloemlesing van Nele se rubrieke, Halfvolwassen, deur Uitgeverij Horizon uitgegee. Haar debuutroman, Iemand Anders, is in 2023 gepubliseer.
Sibuyiselo Sbuja Dywili
Sibuyiselo Sbuja Dywili (2000) is ’n gepubliseerde dramaturg sowel as ’n bekroonde uitvoerende kunstenaar op die skerm en verhoog. In 2021 het hy self in sy toneelstuk Ganga Nyoko! Inzima Nyoko, uitgegee deur Junkets Press, gespeel en die Zabalaza-toneelfees se toekennings vir beste produksie en beste akteur gewen. Hy is ook genomineer vir drie Fleur du Cap-teatertoekennings, en wen die prys vir beste nuwe regisseur.
In 2021 is hy deur Lara Foot van die Baxter-teater genooi om aan die Masambe Writing Residency deel te neem, waartydens hy sy tweede toneelstuk, Ngxi!, geskryf het. Hy het ’n gevorderde diploma in filmvervaardiging met hoofvakke in regie, draaiboekskryf en vervaardiging. Sbuja het die voorreg gehad om by die Baxter-teater onder leiding van David Kramer onderrig oor musiekteater te ontvang.
Shireen Mall
Shireen Mall kom uit ’n gesin van agt seuns en drie dogters, almal gebore en getoë in ’n vervalle skakelhuis in Athlone op die Kaapse Vlakte. Shireen is die enigste een wat verder studeer het en het ’n BA Hons in Engelse letterkunde aan die Universiteit van Wes-Kaapland en ’n MA in kreatiewe skryfkuns aan die Rhodes-universiteit in Grahamstad verwerf.
Shireen het nog altyd ’n stille ambisie gekoester om eendag ’n groot skrywer te wees wat lank na haar dood nog erken word vir haar bydrae. Sy wens dieselfde toe vir enigeen wat dit begeer.
Charl-Pierre Naudé
Charl-Pierre Naudé (1958) is ’n Suid-Afrikaanse digter en romansier. Hy is ook ’n opgeleide en gepubliseerde filosoof met spesifieke belangstelling in hoe ons die geskiedenis onthou en die manier waarop samelewings ontwikkel. Hy het verskeie boeke en bloemlesings agter sy naam.
Foto: Alet Pretorius
Hy het aan verskeie literêre feeste en residensies in Europa, Suid-Afrika en Indonesië deelgeneem, en vertalings van sy poësie het in literêre tydskrifte en bloemlesings in Nederland, België, Duitsland, Noorweë, Frankryk, Indonesië, Brittanje en die VSA verskyn. Hy is in Kokstad aan die voorheuwels van die Drakensberge gebore en het die grootste deel van sy kinder- en grootwordjare in Oos-Londen, omring deur plat bome en klein riviertjies, deurgebring. Hy het aan die universiteite van Stellenbosch en die Vrystaat studeer en woon en werk in Johannesburg.
Ayanda Xaba
Ayanda Xaba (1990) is oorspronklik van Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal. Haar passie vir skryf het op 10-jarige ouderdom posgevat en tydens hoërskool ontluik toe sy deel was van ’n skrywersgroep, Dancing Pencils, wat gelei het tot die publikasie van haar werk in talle bloemlesings. Sy het haar eerste roman, The EZ Gang (umSinsi Press), op 16-jarige ouderdom gepubliseer, gevolg deur vyf selfgepubliseerde hardekopieë: Ulala: The Journey of Discovery, die bekroonde Through Her Eyes, The Maiden & The Bear, SCARRED en DAMNED; en ’n e-boek, No One’s Hero, op Amazon.
Ayanda is ’n bydraer vir FunDza Literacy Trust en haar werk is ook op Reader’s Café Africa, Kalahari Review en Gamaphile en in Drum-tydskrif gepubliseer. Sy het ’n sertifikaat in kreatiewe skryfkunde van INTEC College en ’n joernalistiekdiploma van ICESA Education verwerf. Sy verbeter voortdurend haar skryfvaardighede deur werkswinkels by te woon. In Februarie 2024 was sy die koördineerder van die eerste iLembe-boekfees wat by die Luthuli-museum in KwaDukuza (Stanger) in KwaZulu-Natal plaasgevind het. Tydens die residensie gaan sy aan die derde boek in haar SCARRED-reeks, Triggered, werk.
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Press release: Belgian and South Africans writers to share the vibrant Brussels to Karoo residency in KwaNojoli, Eastern Cape
The Jakes Gerwel Foundation and Passa Porta international house of literature in Brussels are thrilled to welcome two Belgian and four South African writers to their two-week Brussels to Karoo residency at Paulet House in KwaNojoli, Eastern Cape.
Belgians Nele Van den Broeck and Gerda Dendooven and South Africans; Sibuyiselo Sbuja Dywili; Shireen Mall; Charl-Pierre Naudé and Ayanda Xaba will share the two-week residency borne out of Professor Jakes Gerwel’s considerable legacy. As it was from the Vrije Universiteit of Brussels in 1979 that he received his doctorate in Literature and Philosophy (magna cum laude).
JGF and Passa Porta’s collaboration not only provides uninterrupted time to write, but it also creates an opportunity for cross-pollination of ideas and knowledge between writers from different backgrounds, thereby enriching the body of literature here and abroad.
In residency, Nele hopes to get a good writing flow going, undisturbed by her penchant to spend too much time tidying her workspace instead of writing when at home. In applying for a foreign residency, she says she chose a place where she speaks the language with a view to broadening her international network and facilitating the translation of her first novel.
“I want to work on my second novel, The Aphid (working title) - novel about a classical pianist who stops playing” says Nele.
Ayanda recently lost her sister whose young children, has become her responsibility. “Now that we have found stability, I am ready to return to my writing and finish a novel I abandoned in 2022 when my sister got sick. I hope to find the space to work on my project and meet other authors who will be part of the programme. This will also be my first time in Gqeberha and Somerset East, I am looking forward to being inspired by the new places I am going to see there.,” she explains.
Participating in the residency means; “A little estrangement from my usual life, in order to kickstart submerged categories of the imagination. Hopefully,” muses Charl-Pierre who is currently working two new novels, one in Afrikaans and the other in English.
The Salt Lesson, his debut play in English is what Sbuja will be working on at Paulet House. As sole breadwinner in his household he has been struggling to find the time to write. He says, “I applied for the Brussels to Karoo Residency solely because I knew that it would allow me a great time to think about nothing else but my play, write it and finish it. I hope to make meaningful connections while at the residency. I aim to finish my play and contribute with my thoughts and ideas in other writers’ plays.”
Shireen intends refining her novel Moy. “In the main, gaining acceptance to this programme to me means I am being taken seriously as a writer firstly and boosts my confidence to reach even higher. And the luxury of unencumbered time with my writing in the company of other like-minded people in a beautiful, serene setting such as Somerset East is something that was always never possible. I’m hoping to forge links and friendships to more open doors and share,” she adds.
Author profiles
Gerda Dendooven
Gerda Dendooven (1962) was born in Kortrijk, Belgium. She studied Free Graphics at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. At the beginning of her career, she supervised children's art studios in museums for several years. She currently also teaches Illustration at Luca School of Arts, in Ghent. She makes drawings for stories by other writers, but also for her own stories. Many of her stories became theatre plays and she is sometimes on stage herself.
For several years now she has regularly made live images at concerts or literary performances. In 2020 she made live images for the Brussels Philharmonic during the full performance of Peer Gynt and together with Mauro Pawlovski and Fikry El Azzouzi she forms Trio El Azzouzi. In 2007 she was appointed the first (and only) Children's Consul on behalf of the Belgian Reading Foundation. The focus is on art, culture and especially literature.
Nele Van den Broeck
Nele Van den Broeck (1985) is a theatre maker, musician, frontwoman of the band Nele Needs a Holiday and a regular columnist at De Standaard for eight years. Nele studied music production at the London Centre of Contemporary Music. Previously, she simultaneously studied Drama at the KASK in Ghent and German and Spanish at the VUB.
She lives in Brussels. Nele addresses themes such as psychological vulnerability, big dreams, hilarious failures, and philosophical mundanity. Her work is a constant quest for the manual of life. She has taken an atypical path, which took her through theatre, then music, eventually leading her to writing and back again. In 2019, an anthology of Nele’s columns Halfvolwassen (Half Adult) was published by Uitgeverij Horizon. Her debut novel Iemand Anders (Someone Else) was published in 2023.
Sibuyiselo Sbuja Dywili
Sibuyiselo Sbuja Dywili (2000) is a published playwright, as well as an award- winning performer on screen and stage. His 2021 play Ganga Nyoko! Inzima Nyoko published by Junkets Press and in which he performed, won the Zabalaza Festival’s Best Production, Best Actor and was nominated for three Fleur du Cap Awards, winning Best New Director.
In 2021, he was invited by Lara Foot of the Baxter Theatre, to participate in Masambe Writing Residency, where he was supported while writing his second play Ngxi! He holds an Advanced Diploma in Filmmaking, with majors in directing, screenwriting and producing. Sbuja had the distinct privilege of being taught Musical Theatre Writing by the legendary David Kramer at the Baxter Theatre.
Shireen Mall
Shireen Mall hails from a family of eight boys and three girls where she ranks sixth in the menagerie, all born and bred in a run -down semi- detached cottage in Athlone on the Cape Flats. Shireen is the only one who went on to obtain a BA Hons in English Literature from the University of the Western Cape and a MA Creative Writing from Rhodes University in Grahamstown.
Shireen has always nurtured a quiet ambition to become a great writer one day: recognised for her contribution long after she had gone. And this is a wish she bestows on all who so desire.
Charl-Pierre Naudé
Charl-Pierre Naudé (1958) is a South African poet and novelist. He is also a trained and published philosopher with a special interest in the memory of history and why societies evolve the way they do. He has several books and anthologies to his name.
Photo: Alet Pretorius
He has featured on the literary festival and residency circuits in Europe, South Africa and Indonesia, and his poetry has appeared in translation in literary magazines and anthologies in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Norway, France, Indonesia, Britain, and the USA. Born in Kokstad, on the foothills of the Drakensberg, he spent the main of his childhood and growing up years in East London, Eastern Cape surrounded by the dignity of flat trees and small rivers. He attended the universities of Stellenbosch and Free State, and lives and works in Johannesburg.
Ayanda Xaba
Ayanda Xaba (1990) Ayanda Xaba comes originally from Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal. Her passion for writing began at 10 years old, blossoming during high school when she formed part of a writers’ group Dancing Pencils that saw her work being published in numerous anthologies. She published her first novel The EZ Gang (Umsinsi Press) at 16, followed by five self-published hard copies: Ulala; The Journey of Discovery; award-winning Through her eyes; The Maiden. SCARRED; DAMNED and an e-book No One’s Hero on Amazon.
Ayanda is a contributor on Fundza Literacy Trust and her work has also been featured in Reader’s Café Africa, Drum magazine, Kalahari Review, and Gamaphile. She obtained a Creative Writing Certificate from Intec College and a Journalism Diploma from Icesa Education and continuously improves her writing skills by attending workshops. In February 2024, she co-ordinated the inaugural iLembe Book Festival that took place at the Luthuli Museum in KwaDukuza Stanger in KwaZulu-Natal. She will be working on her third book Triggered from her SCARRED series.