Monthly Archives: September 2012

Passing experience from mouth to mouth

Nal’ibali: It starts with a story, 20 September 2012, Central Library TAZNEEM WENTZEL I’m on my way to town to attend a talk by the group Nal’ibali as part of the Open Book Festival. Fleeting images flash past the windows […]

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‘We write for people who resemble us’

Etonnants Voyageurs: Story Tellers and Travel Writers, 23 September 2012, Fugard First DANSON KAHYANA Attended by about 40 people, this session featured Georges-Olivier Chateaureynaud (a French novelist and short story writer known for his realist style), Anne Nivat (a freelance […]

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The freedom of the global writer

Etonnants Voyageurs: Place, Space and Writing, 22 September 2012, Fugard First DANSON KAHYANA This event, which in English means “Amazing/astonishing Travellers”, featured four writers – Yanick Lahens (Haitian novelist, short story writer and literary critic), Veronique Tadjo (novelist, academic and […]

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Prize writing

Caine Prize 2012, 22 September 2012, Fugard Theatre DANSON KAHYANA This event was a conversation between Ifeanyi Ajaegbo, author of Sarah House (a novel about present-day slavery and human trafficking) and two fellow Nigerian writers – Rotimi Babatunde, winner of […]

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Nigerian writers call for closer bond with SA counterparts

Nigeria Writes, 24 September 2012, Fugard Studio WANJIRU KOINANGE There was a palpable sense of camaraderie among the writers who graced the stage for “Nigeria Writes”, one of the events which drew this year’s Open Book Festival to a close. […]

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No place here for crypto-colonial, romantic garbage about Africa

Constructive Engagement: Outsiders Writing about Africa, 23 September 2012, Fugard Studio ROSA LYSTER This session, chaired by UCT’s Deborah Posel, united two apparently very different books. Michela Wrong’s It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower is […]

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Biko offers cultural counter to technocratic discourse

Launch of Biko: The Biography by Xolela Mangcu, 24 September 2012, Fugard Theatre KATE ELLIS-COLE Questioning what might have been is generally a proposition that engenders more detriment than benefit, but for Professor Xolela Mangcu, this point of departure is […]

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Die storie bly belangrik

Bekendstelling van Etienne van Heerden se Haai Karoo, 21 September 2012, Fugard Teater MELT MYBURGH Wanneer feesgangers die Fugard Teater binnestap, sit die sprekers klaar op die verhoog op hoë stoeltjies by ʼn ewe hoë ronde glastafeltjie. Agter hulle ʼn […]

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‘Page versus Stage’ an effervescent affair

The Distance Between Page and Stage, 21 September 2012, Truth and Coffee KATE ELLIS-COLE In the rough underbelly of burgeoning Cape Town location, Truth and Coffee, the voices of a myriad of poets boom and interweave before a close-knit audience. […]

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McKaiser, Galgut and Hollinghurst in full swing

Eusebius McKaiser in conversation with Alan Hollinghurst and Damon Galgut, 22 September 2012, Fugard Theatre JONATHAN AMID Eusebius McKaiser, prolific Tweeter, astute political analyst and regular contributor to the New York Times, is about to start a discussion of the […]

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The less funny side of the comics industry

Co/Mix: Glocal is Lekker, 22 September 2012, The Bank JONATHAN AMID It’s a sunny afternoon and I walk into The Bank, one of the venues for this year’s Open Book festival. A wide-angle camera shot would reveal more than a […]

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Putting women first

Launch of My First Time edited by Jen Thorpe, 22 September 2012, Fugard Studio WANJIRU KOINANGE This was my first time at the Open Book Festival, and what better way to begin exploring the sea of events than with the […]

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Kiran Desai: Comprehending the world by writing it down

GIPCA – Great Texts with Kiran Desai, 20 September 2012, Hiddingh Hall ROSA LYSTER Kiran Desai was the guest author speaking at GIPCA’s Great Texts series. She’s won the Booker Prize (2006), and her books (Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard […]

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Short stories: love letters to the writer

For the Love of Short Stories, 21 September 2012, Fugard Studio SEAN O’TOOLE If metered time – minutes, hours and days – were in some way correlative to literary form, an hour, the length of this panel, would probably suggest […]

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The complication and pleasure of being in print

Launch of Print, Text and Book Cultures in South Africa, 21 September 2012, Fugard Studio, Cape Town SEAN O’TOOLE The evening before he was due to chair a panel session that excerpted some of the findings, attitudes and ideas announced […]

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Jong skrywers skryf oor ou lesse

Bekendstelling van Nuwe Stories, 13 September 2012, Kaapse Hotelskool, Granger Baai. TANYA VAN BUUREN Om in jou twintigs te wees is nie aldag maklik nie. Baie van jou dae word deur ’n waansinnige gejaag gekenmerk waarin jy die hele lewe […]

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Zapiro en die Digters

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Provocative book histories

Launch of Print, Text and Book Cultures in South Africa edited by Andrew van der Vlies, WISER, Wits University, 12 September 2012. LARA BUXBAUM This year has seen the release of three edited academic volumes on South African literature: The […]

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SLiPnet – always on the button

If you’re at all serious about South African writing and criticism on the move, right now, then SLiPnet’s content over the past few weeks should not be escaping your attention. Some of our recent posts: Wamuwi Mbao delivers a finely […]

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‘Our future is greater than our past,’ Okri sings in visionary Biko talk

13th Steve Biko Memorial Lecture, Jameson Hall, University of Cape Town, 12 September 2012. WAMUWI MBAO Pictures by SLiPnet photographer Retha Ferguson The Steve Biko Memorial lectures are performances of public wisdom, testimonies in tribute to Steve Biko which take […]

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Crosscurrents: Call for papers

UCT’s English Department and Faculty of the Humanities, together with HUMA and Postamble present: The fourth annual postgraduate conference 24, 25 & 26 October 2012 First call for papers Crosscurrents: current research in the Humanities seeks to create the opportunity for […]

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‘White obsession’ with ‘Black Peril’ makes for a grim history

Launch of State of Peril: Race and Rape in South African Literature by Lucy Valerie Graham, 29 August 2012, The Book Lounge, Cape Town. WAMUWI MBAO The sun had lurched away rather suddenly from the city, replaced by an insistent […]

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Chamoiseau: Are you on the side of beauty?

Speaking in tongues: talking, writing, translating, with Georges Lory (chair), Patrick Chamoiseau and Breyten Breytenbach in debate about writing and translating. (Breyten Breytenbach and Patrick Chamoiseau appeared courtesy of the France-South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013) LARA BUXBAUM The Mail […]

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Kasrils: Moral outrage sorely lacking in government

Stories of exile, with Ronnie Kasrils (chair), Lauretta Ngcobo, Liepollo Lebohang Pheko, and Barry Gilder. Session 13: Sunday 2 September, Market Theatre NEDINE MOONSAMY Before the beginning of the final session, festival co-director Corina van der Spoel passes a short […]

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Coovadia in the wars as intellectual fisticuffs erupt at ‘war’ session

War, peace and transformation in new South African fiction, with David Medalie (chair), Imraan Coovadia, Karen Jayes, Steven Boykey Sidley and James Whyle. Session 12, Sunday 2 September, Market Theatre. KARL VAN WYK The twelfth session of the Mail & Guardian […]

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Gordimer: We are on the verge of discovery

Report on No time like the present: Gordimer and Serote in conversation, with Craig Mackenzie (chair), Nadine Gordimer and Mongane Wally Serote. Session 1 of the Mail & Guardian Literary Festival: Saturday, September 1, evening session, Market Theatre.  NEDINE MOONSAMY This […]

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Joburg a ‘haunted landscape’, a ‘fictive city’

Report on Joburg in fiction, with Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon (chair), Siphiwo Mahala, Eric Miyeni, Craig Higginson, André Kruger and Jane Rosenthal. Session 9, Saturday 1 September, Market Theatre. LARA BUXBAUM The conversation about Johannesburg continued in the first session after lunch […]

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Is the tablet still too hard to swallow for SA readers?

Report on How I stopped worrying and learned to love the tablet: the changing landscape of print, with Nic Dawes (chair), Terry Morris, Verashni Pillay and Ben Williams. Session 8, Saturday 1 September, Market Theatre. KARL VAN WYK Session 8 […]

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Many literatures, few readers: The end of ‘SA’ literary culture?

Report on One country, many literatures: looking at South African writing. Michael Titlestad (chair), with Craig Mackenzie and Margaret Lenta. Session 7, Mail and Guardian Literary Festival, Saturday September 1, Market Theatre. NEDINE MOONSAMY Darryl Accone offers a brief introduction […]

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Jo’burg: Africa’s best read

Report on Joburg: City of Extremes, with Marie Huchzermeyer, Jonathan Noble and Thiresh Govender. Session 6, Mail & Guardian Literary Festival, 1 September, Market Theatre. LARA BUXBAUM The second session of the day was opened by festival co-director Corina van […]

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Taking the mickey out of racists, tyrants, homophobes and hypocrites

Report on Satire and the limits of freedom of expression, with Sandile Memela (chair), Glenda Daniels, Diane Victor, Chris Wadman and Zapiro. Session 5 of the Mail & Guardian Literary Festival, Saturday 1 September, Market Theatre. KARL VAN WYK After coming […]

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Dorfmann’s ‘apocalyptic world’ at The Market

Report on Preparing for Dorfman’s Delirium: Pre-theatre discussion with Greg Homann, director, and the cast of Ariel Dorfman’s Delirium (playing at the Barney Simon Theatre at the Market). Session 4 of the M&G Literary Festival: Friday 31 August, Market Theatre. […]

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