Photo: https://www.litnet.co.za/schreiner-karoo-writers-festival-6-9-june-2019/
Internationally popular writer Deon Meyer will take a break from filming next week for a flying visit to Cradock. His trip is timed for the launch of a new holistic arts town project which encompasses the Schreiner Karoo Writers Festival (SKWF) taking place on 22 and 23 October.
“Deon is a loyal supporter of all things Karoo,” said Lisa Ker, SKWF organiser, “and he is very generous with his time – such an encouragement for our efforts here.”
The award-winning Deon Meyer feature film, “Jagveld” (“Hunting Emma”), will be screened at Victoria Manor on Thursday evening (21 October) and, on Friday afternoon, Meyer will discuss film-making. He has also agreed to participate with other writers in a Karoo Couch Conversation session on Saturday morning.
Arts Town Cradock
An introduction on Friday morning to the inclusive 'Arts Town Cradock (ATC)' project sets the scene for lively synergy between ATC and SKWF.
ATC is an outcome of the maturing collaboration between the SKWF and founding sponsor, Amazwi South African Museum of Literature. Representing the ATC team, Lisa Ker will introduce ATC as an inclusive and healing initiative using the arts to improve community life and promote economic activity via tourism.
Amazwi director Beverley Thomas will explain the museum's plans for the development of the Schreiner House precinct with its new exhibition and performance facilities dedicated to preserving Schreiner's legacy of human rights.
“Schreiner house is Amazwi's Cradock satellite and, although it is an historic site, it should also serve as a community hub, supporting initiatives like the ATC. We commend Lisa Ker's endeavours in contributing to the upliftment of the local community,” said Beverley Thomas.
Her presentation will be followed by a round table session on how best to promote literary tourism and attract visitors to significant sites. Melissa and Ian Sutherland of Vindigo Travel will participate.
“Personalities, anecdotes, sites, artefacts and memorabilia all attract visitors. The Schreiner heritage is rich in all of these,” said Lisa Ker.
Supporting the point, Schreiner scholars, Professor Paul Walters and Jeremy Fogg will recount the events of 13 August 1921 when Schreiner's remains were moved from Cape Town and re-interred on Buffelskop. Amazwi's Marike Beyers will offer a peep into Schreiner family life via personal letters in the museum's collection.
The pre-lunch session sees Maeder Osler and Graaff-Reinet artist Janet Kingwill explaining their yen to document communities in words and images. After the break, Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit will take us on The Flanagan Journey, introducing their recent book for Rhodes university. The book is a collection of stories about extraordinary South African women.
Writing for film
The remainder of the afternoon is devoted to writing for film. In a first session of “couch conversations”, Dorothy de Kok will retrace her steps from that first online course to getting her script accepted by a director and now seeing her first half-hour mini-feature film (The Tip) on YouTube. Award-winning screenwriter Cate Wood Hunter will share some advice on how to develop fictional characters. Deon Meyer will chat about the switch from novel to screenplay and his fascination for film.
As night falls, visitors are invited to unwind with a music-filled evening of poetry, dance, eating, drinking and merrymaking: Vuurklip: Bohemian Karoo.
Couch conversations
Saturday morning kicks of with an influencer, an author/adventurer and a poetry maker (Elona Rasmeni, Dean Allen and Freda Froelich).
Then its back to the Karoo couch for a second round of conversations as AJ Opperman goes behind the scenes with masters of the published word: Deon Meyer, Tony Jackman, Martin Welz and Ian Sutherland.
Pop ups from mime artist Richard Antrobus and a quartet from the Iva Collective (including Sam Collett and Buntu Duku) will add a shot of adrenalin.
The afternoon will draw to a close with the traditional audio-visual presentation by Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit, this time introducing their most recent book Karoo Roads 2.
Leopard's Leap wines will be paired with traditional Karoo favourites in a lavish and leisurely dinner in Victoria Manor's awesome dining room.
Schools programme
Leading into the main programme from 20 October, 20 educators will participate in and enact an innovative fusion of Creative Arts and Life Skills during a two-day think-tank on blurring divisions between the Creative Arts and Lifeskills syllabi and merging them into more relevant fields of experience.
“Poetry is the most immediately useful of the Creative Arts for this experiment and, appropriately, the think-tank is generously supported by The AVBOB Poetry Project,” said co-ordinator Melina Smit. She is a Senior Education Specialist for Creative Arts & Life Skills at the Department of Education.
CEO of AVBOB, Carl Van der Riet, expressed his pleasure at being able to support this innovative event. “The initiative shows remarkable resourcefulness and creativity, as well as an original and integrated approach to education that fosters much-needed life skills and creative thinking. The AVBOB Poetry Project values the thoughtful and intelligent approach to education that underpins this endeavour. We are glad to contribute and to participate in the think-tank via our head writer on the project, Liesl Jobson,” he said.
Jobson and a number of the educators will stay on to participate in the main SKWF programme.
“Short term, we hope for a flurry of entries from the region in the fifth AVBOB Poetry Competition. Long term, we anticipate seeing many more creative thinkers emerge from the region’s youth who might, in turn, apply this holistic approach to finding meaningful solutions for the challenges that are uniquely their own,” he concluded.
The AVBOB Poetry Competition is open to poets writing in all 11 official languages. The closing date for entries is 30 November 2021. Entrants are encouraged to register now on the website – www.avbobpoetry.co.za.
All Covid safety protocols will be observed throughout the SKWF programme.
For further general information, please
CONTACT Die Tuishuise and Victoria Manor 048 881 1650