On 1 September 2026, Helen Moffett’s Salon Hecate will be having a ‘full circle’ celebration: many of you heard novelist Melissa ‘Missy’ Volker read extracts from her work in progress at one of the surfing salons in World Ocean Month. Likewise, you’ll have heard Glen Thompson, historian and surf scholar (there is such a thing!), read his poems on sea and surf. Both are familiar faces at Salon Hecate: they’re great supporters of local authors, they’re passionate about preserving the ocean and its denizens for the future, and share the Noordhoek Art Point gallery’s commitment to all things green and blue.
So we’re delighted to announce that we will launch not only Missy’s important new book – Chasing Waves: The Rise of Women’s Surfing in South Africa – but we’ll be celebrating the arrival of Glen’s debut collection of poetry – In the Slowness of Melting – as well! This is particularly special because he read those poems for the first time at the Salon.
The salt-splashed pair will interview each other, complementing each other’s approach to waves in words. Don’t miss this event, and be sure to tell all your surfing buddies to come along. (Remember, entrance is free, and there’ll be wine and small snacks.)
In 1977, the world surf tour comes to South Africa and the final event of the SA Pro Contest Circuit runs at Umhlanga Rocks, north of Durban. Zigzag Surfing Lifestyle Magazine reports that ‘thousands of young, foxy, tanga-clad ladies’ request autographs from the surfing stars.
Prior to the final matchup between the male surfers, the women’s surf contest, a single heat, paddles out. It is called the ‘comedy interlude’ in the press.
A little over four decades later, Melissa A. Volker watches the women’s surfing Gold Medal Match at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. South African surfer Bianca Buitendag is competing against USA’s Carissa Moore and wins the first ever Olympic surfing medal for South Africa. Thinking about the challenges South African women had to overcome to charge the waves, Melissa wonders who paved the way for Buitendag. She decides to find out. Chasing Waves chronicles the journey and tells the story of the remarkable women who have defined the local surfing scene.
Praise for Chasing Waves
‘In Chasing Waves, Melissa Volker gives voice to the girls and women who shaped South African surfing’s past and continue to make waves in the present. Weaving in reflections on her research journey and her own surfing life, Volker crafts a tapestry detailing the choices and challenges of courageous female surfers since the Sixties. In documenting their life stories, Volker surfaces hidden surf histories and shows how the waves have become more inclusive. This is not only a book for those who surf but also for those who wish to wade into the unfolding history of South African beach cultures.’ – Glen Thompson
‘An extraordinary book. Chasing Waves, and the women surfers it recognises and celebrates, will inspire you both in and out of the water. I know I will return to it often.’ – Qarnita Loxton
About the Author
MELISSA A. VOLKER is the author of short stories, a novelette, two novels, and several articles on women’s surfing. Her writing is inspired by the land and seascapes of the Eastern Cape, where she grew up. Her environmental romance Shadow Flicker won the Romance Writers Organisation of South Africa’s Strelitzia Award for the best manuscript in 2017. The novel’s protagonist is a renowned surfer. Melissa learnt to surf in 2015 and won the Women’s 45+ South African SUP Surfing Championships in 2017 and 2019. She lives in Cape Town with her husband and two daughters.
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.
Last night, writers, readers and other creatives descended on Noordhoek Art Point to celebrate Salon Hecate’s 1st Birthday. It has been a year of inspiring artistic gatherings. Thank you to Helen Moffett and the Art Point team for everything that you are doing for the community! We all look forward to many more years of Salon Hecate.
June is World Ocean Month, and to celebrate the sea and beaches integral to South Peninsula life (and so beautifully represented on the walls of the gallery), Salon Hecate at the Noordhoek Art Point Gallery is presenting something different this coming month: surfer-poets. What better way to celebrate the sea than by hearing from those who spend their spare time in and on the waves? So we’ve invited some fabulous surfers, sailors, and stand-up paddlers who also happen to be published authors to come and read their poems and passages about the sea.
Who’s reading?
You’ll hear from surfer-poets Justin Fox, Byron Loker, Stephen Symons and Melissa Volker. There may be one or two more surprise performers (there are quite a few creative surfers – or should that be surfing creatives? – in the ‘hood). We’ll keep you updated.
Justin Fox travels (and writes about it) for a living. The former editor of Getaway Magazine, he has published over twenty books, ranging from fiction to photography to art to children’s books to poetry, but always returning to the ocean horizon. He still finds time to surf and sail.
Byron Loker is a freelance writer and filmmaker, with a Masters in Creative Writing from UCT. His prescribed collection of short stories, New Swell, explores the corners of our local neighbourhood and celebrates his love of surfing.
Stephen Symons is a poet, academic, historian, graphic designer, husband and father (not necessarily in that order), who has won national and international awards for his poems and published research. He writes about his many passions, including surfing and the sea.
Melissa (Missy) Volker is an author, beautician, SUP prizewinner and surfer, who takes pride in teaching her daughters to stand up for themselves in the backline. This from her publisher’s website: “Melissa found a way to obsess about surfing – by obsessing about writing about surfing! A mid-life blooming writer and water woman, Melissa’s delicious fiction blends ‘surf noir’ with ‘environmental romance suspense.’”
Newsflash: we’ve just heard that Glen Thompson, local surf historian who looks at “the role of black surfers and female surfers in shaping today’s wavescape” will be joining us too. Not to be missed!
Date and time
Please join us at the Noordhoek Art Point Gallery on 5 June, 5.30 for 6. Entrance is free, we’re always prepared for loadshedding, and there will be a glass of wine to warm you.
Surf Therapy collections
We’ll be collecting gently used wetsuits, swimwear, reef booties, rash vests, boogie boards and even towels on the night, so please look around for any gear you’re no longer using. These will be handed over to volunteers from the Roxy Davis Foundation, an NPO that provides surf therapy for children with disabilities. Read more about the inspiring work they do here: roxydavisfoundation.org/surf-therapy
Got a question about this event or interested in a particular piece you’ve seen at the gallery? Get in touch with us at info@noordhoekartpoint.co.za or call 0835642493.
‘Melissa Volker found a way to obsess about surfing in any conditions – by obsessing about writing about surfing! A mid-life blooming writer and water woman from South Africa, Melissa’s delicious fiction blends “surf noir” with “environmental romance suspense.” (Check out the addictive Shadow Flicker!) In our pod, we chat about the coastal topography and bathymetry of South Africa’s breaks (get out your pencils) and she indulges my obsession with South African sharks. (Did you know you can get a gig as a Shark Spotter in Cape Town?) The South African waters are wild and intimidating, and though she grew up learning to paddle on flat water in an estuary, the ocean felt menacing to her well into her 40s. She still considers herself one of the most frightened surfers in her lineup, but she has braved sharks, orcas (!!!) and kilometers of open water on paddleboards, SUP’s and longboards. She credits a community group focused on supporting women for getting her off the beach and into the lineup. She also finds inspiration, and courage, in books and courses on surfing, the ocean, and, yes, sharks. Recognizing how her own life has transformed from surfing, feeling “older, but stronger, happier, braver, and stoked” she created Saltwater Sisters with her BFF to share their love and stoke and to empower other women to experience the joy they have found themselves. Melissa wraps up with one of my fave pieces of advice so far: “Get to know the ocean, because not every day is your day.”’
SALON HECATE was launched Noordhoek Art Point last night. Art lovers from across the peninsula gathered to celebrate the new space which will welcome readings, book signings and discussions throughout 2023 and beyond.
Thank you to the gallery and Helen Moffett for welcoming writers into this exciting place of co-existence between the visual arts and literature.
Melissa A. Volker and Stephen Symons, among others, read from their works and I read from one of the stories included in Let It Fall Where It Will by Lester Walbrugh because Lester was baking Grabouw Bread between insane bouts of loadshedding and could not make it to the launch (it was an honour to step into his literary shoes for a few minutes).
Please join us for the second Karavan Press Literary Festival on Saturday, 3 December 2022, at Karavan Press’s headquarters (6 Banksia Road, Rosebank, Cape Town). Ticket numbers are limited, so please book early to avoid disappointment. Let’s talk books again!
karavanpress.com 