Explore the power of memoir to carry personal narrative and process life experiences through literature.
SWIFT by Melinda Ferguson
In Silence my Heart Speaks by Thobeka Yose (winner of Canex Prize 2025)
Moderated by: Ebrahim Fakir
Join online here: OUR STORIES: THE LITERATURE OF LIVED EXPERIENCE
Books on the Bay is taking place in Simon’s Town between 13 and 15 March 2026 this year and we are thrilled to announce that a few Karavan Press authors will be taking part. We hope to see you all there!
Ice Shock
An Icelandic volcano has thrown an ash cloud into the atmosphere and, across the world, planes have stopped flying. Karina Szczurek is in conversation with Elleke Boehmer about how her characters respond to a catastrophically changing environment.
Swartbooij and Titus
Critically acclaimed author Karen Jennings tells Karina Szczurek about the inspiration behind her latest book, set in the eighteenth century on the Cape’s northern frontier, its mix of genres, and the real-life father and son at the heart of it.
How to Build a House in the Mountains
His musical career was destroyed by the security police: this is the story of how he built back his life, brick by brick. Legendary musician Roger Lucey, combines storytelling, memoir and song in this moving account of building his own house in the mountains of the Breede River Valley.
Sponsored by The Hardy Boys
Wine sponsored by Mooiplaas.
Books on the Bay: 2026 Authors
Click here for the entire three-day programme: Books on the Bay
The Cape Flats Book Festival 2026 is just around the corner and it is the perfect start to the literary festival calendar of the new year. A few Karavan Press and Indeed Books authors feature on the wonderful programme that has something to offer for every literary desire. We can’t wait for these two days of bookish encounters. Please join us!
Click here for the entire programme:
We are looking forward to seeing you all there!
27-31 October 2025
Wits Writing Centre, Wartenweiler Library
Humanities Graduate Centre
A festival of writing, featuring panel discussions, film screenings, dance, storytelling and poetry performances, workshops on poetry, translanguaging, zine publishing, book launches and much more.
We are heading to Richmond again at the end of this month and hoping that many readers from across the country will follow. It is time for the Madibaland @ BookBedonnerd Literary Festival! Taking place between 30 October and 1 November, the festival brings together a wonderful mix of writers and readers.
Among the participants are Karavan Press authors Chantal Stewart, Kerry Hammerton and Holland House Books’ Andile Cele, whose wonderful debut novel, Braids & Migraines, we help distribute in South Africa.
For more details and the full programme, see:
We look forward to seeing you all there!
The iLembe Book Festival (IBF) is a collaborative literary event that brings together readers, writers, and creatives from the iLembe District Municipality and surrounding communities. The festival features panel discussions, a school outreach programme, poetry workshops, and a slam poetry event, all aimed at fostering a deeper appreciation for literature and the spoken word.
This year’s festival is taking place on Saturday, 25 October 2025. Karen Jennings and Andile Cele feature on the programme. For more details, see: iLembe Book Festival.
Beskrywing
Klara du Plessis (Act/Ek’t) is ’n digter wat tussen tale glip: die Afrikaans
van haar kinderdae en die Engels van haar volwasse lewe in Kanada.
Pieter Madibuseng Odendaal se huwelik met die Peruaanse digter Jorge Alejandro
Ccoyllurpuma het tot wedersydse vertalings in Spaans en Engels gelei, en
Pieter se Afrikaanse gedigte is ook nou in Engels vertaal en gebundel as a corpse is
also a garden. Die Vlaamse digter Frank Keizer lees voor uit sy werk, wat met
min moeite deur Afrikaanssprekendes verstaan kan word.
Aangebied deur Karavan Press, uhlanga, Jakes Gerwel-stigting
Datum en Tyd: 12/10/2025 | 16:00
Venue: EasyEquities Skrywerskamer
For details and tickets, please see: Woordfees
Don’t miss a great lineup, including Thobeka Yose, author of the award-winning In Silence My Heart Speaks, at this year’s Khayelitsha Book Festival taking place between 26 and 28 September 2025.
Khayelitsha Book Festival is a vibrant celebration of reading, writing, and storytelling rooted in the heart of one of South Africa’s most dynamic communities. Under the powerful theme “We Read, We Write: A Declaration…”, the festival brings together local authors, poets, educators, and young readers to affirm the importance of literacy as a tool for empowerment, identity, and change. Through book launches, panel discussions, performances, and workshops, the festival inspires a love for literature and creates space for voices from Khayelitsha and beyond to be heard, shared, and celebrated.
Venue address: Kilombo Village, 1 Joe Modise St, Mandela Park, Khayelitsha, Cape Town
Book tickets here: Quicket
Pagecast was at the 2025 Open Book Festival, speaking with authors about their writing journeys and the stories they share with readers. In this episode, Bongani Kona interviews Frankie Murrey about her latest work, A Collection of Gaps.
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