Somak Ghoshal reviews AN ISLAND by Karen Jennings
It’s tempting to imagine the island as a symbol of imperial ambitions, though the idea of Samuel, thwarted all the way by life, as an oppressor is also risible. If anything, An Island reveals the shifting sands of power and the persistence of inequality, even among the most wretched. Like her great literary forbearers—Doris Lessing, Nadine Gordimer and Coetzee—Jennings makes bold this ineradicable truth.
Mint Lounge
Audio book: An Island by Karen Jennings, narrated by Ben Onwukwe
An Island by Karen Jennings will be released by QUEST from W. F. Howes Ltd as audio book on the 14th of October.
The book is narrated by Ben Onwukwe, the British film, radio, theatre and voice actor, currently to be seen as Jackson Donckers in the Ben Miller crime drama on ITV and Brit Box, Professor T.
AN ISLAND by Karen Jennings shortlisted for the K. SELLO DUIKER MEMORIAL LITERARY AWARD
It gives us great joy to announce that An Island by Karen Jennings has been shortlisted for the K. SELLO DUIKER MEMORIAL LITERARY AWARD in the South African Literary Awards (SALA).
The shortlist also includes Lihle Sokapase’s Yapatyalaka Ibhobhile (isiXhosa) and Brian Fredericks’s As die Cape Flats kon praat (Afrikaans).
Congratulations to all shortlisted authors in this and all other categories!
Monique Verduyn reviews A Hibiscus Coast by Nick Mulgrew for Business Day
The impact of emigration is a fractious topic for many, and Mulgrew’s finely developed, sometimes messy, characters have been deeply affected by life events, losses and prejudices. When the group of rugby-mad expats encroach on the dream of the local self-appointed Māori leader, Mulgrew deftly draws comparisons between two narratives of land ownership and dispossession.
With SA nineties culture as a backdrop, the novel reflects on what it takes to fit in. It is also a considerate portrayal of Maori culture and the challenges these First Nation people continue to face. This a beautifully written, carefully researched novel on a difficult subject.
Business Day
David Attwell reviews An Island by Karen Jennings for LitNet
Samuel’s final act is a culmination of this violence and, paradoxically, a desperate and self-destructive protest against the triumph of cruelty in the world.
An island is an ethically driven and formally accomplished novel. Those making decisions about texts to prescribe in the undergraduate curriculum might consider it. If Mark Behr’s The smell of apples was a university text of the 1990s, with its emphasis on the uncovering of apartheid-era secrets – a novel that was eminently teachable because it was ethically centred, with clear lines of development – the novel that might play a similar role for the 2020s could well be An island.
LitNet
WIN A FIVE-DAY FIVE-STAR WRITING RETREAT
STUNNING NATURE & ART LOCATION | ULTRA-MODERN DESIGNER ACCOMMODATION
Dear Writer,
You haven’t seen anything like this before.
Imagine having five heavenly days to write and write and write in the heart of the wilderness yet with all the modern amenities available to you. Not only that, you’re a step away from an amazing outdoor art exhibition in the NIROX Sculpture Park that you can visit at any time. Located in the Cradle of Humankind, all this could be yours for just R100 entry ticket for this Life Righting Collective lucky draw competition.
Huge thanks to LRC friend Clara Cruz-Almeida for offering this special place as a writing retreat micro-home pod for our LRC fundraiser!
WHERE?
The POD is located inside the NIROX Sculpture Park in the Cradle of Humankind on the R540, 20 minutes from Lanseria Airport; 45 minutes from Johannesburg & Pretoria. Entry to the park is free for dwellers of the POD. A very safe and protected area, the property has guards who inspect the fences at night.
PLEASE NOTE: Travel costs to and from the POD location are for the winner’s account.
A beautifully fitted kitchen has a two-plate gas hob, fridge but no oven or microwave. There’s a braai grille but please bring your own wood, coal and firelighters; you can pick up kindling in the forest. All the necessary cutlery, pots and plates are provided.
A mezzanine bedroom is accessed via a built-in ladder, sleeps two and all linen and towels are provided.
WHEN?
DATES: Monday 1 Nov to Friday 5 November 2021. Check-in is from midday 1 Nov and checkout by 11:00 am on 5 Nov.
WEATHER
Weather is a bit colder in the evenings than Joburg, with lots of dew and spider diamond webs in the early morning before humans move around. It is close to the Bloubankspruit river.
WHAT TO BRING
Bring clothes, warm layers and a T-shirt or two; also an extra blanket to wrap yourself in so that you can enjoy the braai in the evening. Bring a torch so you can take walks in the park at night to scare away the snakes. Yes, there are snakes. It is the wilderness. And boots, as the dew on the grass wets your trainers at sunrise. Bring your own food and drink, firelighters and wood; the restaurant “and then there was fire” is open but booked weeks in advance (you could try and book ahead). There is a bar /sandwich service you can access if you haven’t booked. NOTE: Please keep the POD locked and all openings closed when you go for a walk as a troupe of monkeys can create havoc. You can practise your aim at the monkeys with the slingshot there, and reconnect with your childhood naughty self.
YOUR ONLY OBLIGATION, APART FROM WRITING
If you post on social media about your stay, please hashtag #podidladla and #liferightingcollective or check-in on Facebook, or send Clara a review of your stay that she can quote you on!
HOW TO ENTER
All you have to do is purchase a lucky draw ticket by paying R100 to the LRC Banking account:
ABSA
Life Righting Collective
Cheque account number: 40 9382 6013
Branch code number 632005.
Please include your full name as reference.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Send your POP to terry@liferighting.com with your name and contact details: email and phone number please, so we can contact you if you’re the lucky winner. All proceeds will go towards supporting the LRC. You’re very welcome to purchase more than one ticket and increase your chances of winning!
Members of the Life Righting Collective EXCO are excluded from the competition. The winner will be decided by drawing a random name and will be contacted to make booking arrangements directly with Clara.
The competition is now open and will end on 13 October 2021. The winner will be announced on the 15 October 2021.
Please share and forward this to anyone who might be interested in buying tickets for this fabulous writing retreat.
You could be a winner! And whatever happens, you’re supporting a winning cause… 🙂
Love 
And the LRC EXCO team
PS: We’d be so grateful if you would consider joining 24 other LRC supporters and become a Patreon member of the LRC for as little as R95 a month. Click on the button below.
Stephen Symons wins The Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Competition
The winners of The Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Competition have been announced earlier today. Congratulations to all, but especially Stephen Symons! Stephen’s poem, “Small Souls”, took the first prize in the competition. Karavan Press is the proud publisher of Stephen’s latest collection, FOR EVERYTHING THAT IS POINTLESS AND PERFECT.
Book signings at EB Constantia
Do not miss these two wonderful authors – Penny Haw and Nancy Richards – at Exclusive Books Constantia on 9 and 16 October respectively.
A great opportunity to chat and get your books signed.
karavanpress.com 