“She doesn’t want to be. She is,” Thobeka Yose said in response to a woman who attended “Signs of a struggle”, one of the Saturday sessions of this year’s edition of the Franschhoek Literary Festival, which spanned the weekend of 17 to 19 May. That was the moment when our tears spilled over after an already emotionally charged discussion between Yose and Sara-Jayne Makwala-King, whose remarkable insights and empathy held us throughout the session. The woman in the audience spoke about a grandchild who is transgender. She was asking Yose how to deal with the reality of this fact that she was struggling to understand. “Love your grandchild,” Yose said …
The prize is annually awarded to one MA student who best embodies the academic values that the Program in Comparative Literature particularly cherishes: original and critical thinking; commitment to learning; respect for, and interest in, the work of others. A monetary award and a diploma recognize both collegiality and intellectual excellence. In May, after the students’ final presentations, a committee composed of the Chair, the Graduate Director, and the instructors of COLT 100, COLT 101 and COLT 103 decide to whom to bestow this award.
Following the enormous success of last year’s “Surf’s Up” reading by local surfer-authors-poets, Salon Hecate at the Noordhoek Art Point Gallery is returning with another fabulous line-up of surf literature the first Tuesday evening in June. We’ll be launching the re-issue of Byron Loker’s short story collection, New Swell, and getting a teaser taste of his brand-new collection, Heavy Water, forthcoming from Karavan Press. Byron is one of “Nature’s gentlemen”, a surfer who never drops in and shares not only the backline, but the limelight. He asked if others could get on board too, so … check out the entire line-up here:
Please join us at the Noordhoek Art Point Gallery on 4 June, 5.30 for 6. Entrance is free, but PLEASE RSVP by 1 June at the latest. Otherwise we run the risk *gasp* of running out of wine. Small snacks provided.
Got a question about this event or interested in a particular piece you’ve seen at Noordhoek Art Point? Get in touch at info@noordhoekartpoint.co.za or call 0835642493.
The Kingsmead Book Fair took place yesterday – a day of gorgeous weather, glorious encounters and the most amazing exchanges of stories. Literary fun has been had! The programme this year was so rich that the one persistent comment throughout the day was “I wish I could have attended all the other sessions!”
Anna Stroud made her literary debut as a novelist with Who Looks Inside. She has a bright literary career ahead of her, and it is such a privilege to publish her debut novel and to see her shine on this stage. The official launch of the book will take place at Love Books on 19 June. She will be in conversation with Michael Boyd.
Other session highlights in photographs:
The short story panel was a joy:
“Make a virtue out of your quirk!” – Diane Awerbuck
“Genius is not a constant thing.” – Frankie Murrey
In the Green Room and around Kingsmead grounds:
Personal highlights:
Thank you to everyone who makes this annual event possible, especially Alex Bouche and the KBF Team, Kingsmead College, Standard Bank, Timberland and Exclusive Books! #KBF24
Thank you to Mike and Family for hosting me, to Khalida and Dawn for the photos, and to all the other Writers for their generosity of sharing – stories and kindness!
Good Hope, Nick Clelland‘s debut novel about an alternative-reality independent Western Cape, is venturing outside of the Good Hope Territory for the first time and will be launched at Love Books next Monday, 27 May 2024. Nick will be in conversation with the wonderful Kate Sidley. Hope to see you all there!
About the book:
Lisa Robinson has moved from Durban to Cape Town to be with Grant, the prospective next First Minister of the Good Hope Territory. The GHT is the safest and most prosperous country in the southern hemisphere – at a price. Citizens contract to be tracked by drones, executions are synchronised to the Noon Gun and only those with qualifications are permitted to vote in the Qualified Franchise system. Life here is picture-perfect. The Mother City is pristine. Everyone has a job. Tourism is booming. But this shiny new state has decided that Lisa is a problem, and problems here disappear quickly and quietly …
We are all looking forward to the nextKingsmead Book Fair, taking place at Kingsmead College on Saturday, 25 May 2024. Hope to see you there!
09:30-10:30 | Mackenzie 2
Dawn Garisch (What Remains) confirms, with Diane Awerbuck (Inside your body there are flowers), Frankie Murrey (Everyone Dies: A Series), Alex Latimer (Love Stories for Ghosts), and Barbara Ludman (Moving On), that brevity is the soul of wit. And drama. And romance.
09:30-10:30 | Mackenzie 3
Fiona Snyckers (The Hidden) asks Owen Salmon (A Weakness to Die For) and Andrew Brown (The Bitterness of Olives) to unpack the male gaze in storytelling.
12:30 – 13:30 | Music Centre Georgina Geddes asks Alistair Mackay (The Child), Craig Higginson (The Ghost of Sam Webster), Shubnum Khan (The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil) and Amy Heydenrych (Bad Luck Penny) what it is that makes stories ‘literary’.
12:30 – 13:30 | Chapel
Diane Awerbuck (Inside your body there are flowers) answers the call of nature with Adam Welz (The End of Eden), and Nick Norman (The Woodpecker Mystery: The Inevitability of the Improbable).
12:30 – 13:30 | Mornington
Kate Sidley (Katie Gayle – Julia Bird Mysteries) asks Saaleha Bhamjee (Home Scar), Anna Stroud (Who Looks Inside) and Janine Jellars (When the Filter Fades) what it takes to really own your writing space as a woman.
14:30 – 15:30 | Mornington Amy Heydenrych (Chasing Marian, Bad Luck Penny) sees if she can find a reason why the characters created by Ashling McCarthy (Down at Jika Jika Tavern), Marina Auer (Double Edged), Femi Kayode (Gaslight) and Natalie Conyer (Present Tense) need to worry about their welfare.
16:00 – 17:00 | Lange Hall Police reservist Andrew Brown (The Bitterness of Olives) guides Daniel Steyn (The Thabo Bester Story), Naledi Shange (Killer Cop – The Rosemary Ndlovu Story), Karl Kemp (Why We Kill: Mob Justice and the New Vigilantism in South Africa) and Nechama Brodie(Domestic Terror) into the minds of murderers both famous and anonymous.
16:00 – 17:00 | Music Centre
Alex Latimer (Love Stories for Ghosts) discovers if the future is fantastic or frightening with Mandla Moyo (The Fallen Angel), Sarah M Naidoo (A Remedy for Death), Alistair Mackay (The Child) and Babette Gallard (Future Imperfect).
John Maytham speaks to Nick Clelland about his debut novel, Good Hope – the book is about an alternative present-day Cape Town that is the capital of a new independent country.
Comic Con was first held in 1970 in San Diego, California as an exhibition of comic books. Today, Comic Con is international event, celebrating popular culture, film, comics, fantasy novels, anime, art and storytelling in its multiple forms. Comic Con Cape Town and Comic Con Africa (Johannesburg) are now annual events.
With one of the Jawas from the deserts of Tatooine – Star Wars.
Comic Con Cape Town also hosts the Animation Festival, where visual storytellers are upskilled by international and local animators, story board artists, producers, screenwriters and filmmakers.
A Fremen – Dune.The Mandolorian.
Comic Con brings gamers, writers, actors, dancers, publishers, illustrators and artists together to gather, learn and share. Merchandisers, artists, animation schools and book sellers display and sell creative wares. I saw a stand selling the most accurate replicas of light sabers I’ve ever seen.
This year, I was invited to participate at Comic Con Cape Town as an exhibitor with the Romance Writers Organisation of South Africa (ROSA). As a member of ROSA, I assisted other members who were hosting the ROSA stand next to the main stage. Writers, readers, fans and publishers stopped to buy books or discuss reading and the craft of writing. I displayed my books, Shadow Flicker, A Fractured Land and The Pool Guy. I am so proud of the beautiful physical books that my publisher, Karavan Press, created for my stories. The Cape Town City Library stand was nearby, on the other side of Artist’s Alley, so I and the other ROSA writers enjoyed meeting them and discussing strategies to raise up readers and writers together through libraries and author events. The ROSA stand was coincidentally at the gathering point for the daily Cosplay competition. (Cosplay is costume play – a form of performance art where fans dress up as their favourite popular culture character.) We had a close-up view of Vikings, superheroes, a Fremen (from Dune) in a Stillsuit, and children’s cartoons characters. Captain America had to sit down to take a break after a lengthy round of selfies with fans. A writer came to the aid of one cosplayer who found the confines of a heavy costume caused overheating. Perhaps there’s inspiration for a fictional meet cute there?
The resting Captain America.
My favourite were the many Mandolorians. I admire the storytelling techniques of the streaming series. If you’ve not yet watched The Mandolorian, it’s a Sci Fi tale set in space, with the atmosphere and some tropes of an old Western. Of the two main characters, one speaks, but the audience (almost) never sees his face. The other character never speaks but communicates with facial expressions. It’s delightful. And clever.
Comic Con Cape Town is bright and busy, loud and energetic, a diverse mix of creative people, from geeks to gamers, who love stories and characters. It’s a crowded, frenetic celebration of storytelling in its multiple formats.
I am Weird Barbie from the movie. My daughters and niece are K Pop Band G-Idle.
The news of her mother’s death pulls Hannah back from South Korea to her childhood home in the Karoo where she discovers that she has never escaped her abusive father and passive mother. That, in fact, she has been there all along, baking bread and raising a son whose father might be a local farmer she is having an affair with. Her world unravels as she struggles to separate the life she has built for herself from the one she survived. Unsettling, eerie and evocative, Who Looks Inside explores themes of childhood trauma in a working-class Afrikaans family.
“Poetic, atmospheric and haunting—Who Looks Inside is an intricate and compelling exploration of family trauma, small-town secrets and the decisions that seal our destinies.” — JENNIFER MALEC
ISBN: 978-1-0672224-2-0
Publication date: May 2024
Cover artworks: Serena Moodley Anderson | Cover design: Monique Cleghorn
About the author:
ANNA STROUD loves books. Like, really loves them. Authors, too. She once travelled over two hundred kilometres by bus from Daegu to Wonju in South Korea to hear Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o speak. She’s been reading Antjie Krog since the age of eleven, even the sweary bits. She moved close to Love Books so she’d never miss a book launch. Naturally, she’d become a writer, with stories appearing in Grocott’s Mail, Cue, WordStock, The Sunday Times, Books LIVE, City Press, The Reading List, Daily Maverick, The Johannesburg Review of Books, tagged! and Business Day, among others. When she’s not writing, she’s walking her husband, Sean, and two dogs, Raven and Poe, at the park. Who Looks Inside is her debut novel.
karavanpress.com 