TIME OF THE WRITER

Quick look at the forthcoming 12th writers festival. (Report by Margaret von Klemperer, courtesy of The Witness)

Next month sees the return of the annual Time of the Writer Festival, which will be held in Durban from March 9 to 14. This is the 12th time the festival, run by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KZN, has taken place, and once again novelists, political commentators, short story writers, journalists and cartoonists will be taking part in public debate about everything to do with the written word.

Among those on the 2009 line-up are cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro) who is never afraid of taking on the establishment, or anyone else; Max du Preez; Marlene van Niekerk; Mandla Langa; Mtutuzeli Matshoba; Pietermaritzburg-born Futhi Ntshingila and Sipho Mahala. Crime writing will be well represented by Deon Meyer, Mike Nicol, Angela Makholwa and Margie Orford – who will also be wearing her other hat as a writer of children’s stories.

Writers from elsewhere in Africa include a welcome return by Mia Couto (Mozambique); Sade Adeniran (Nigeria) who won the Commonwealth Best First Book award for the Africa region; Fatou Diome (Senegal) and Valerie Tagwira from Zimbabwe. The winners of this year’s Commonwealth prizes for best book and best first book will be announced at the festival on March 11 by judges Elinor Sisulu, Billy Kahora and Kole Omotoso, who will also give the keynote address on the opening night.

There will be the usual debates, discussions and book launches in the evenings. Among the books to be launched are Bad Company, a crime fiction anthology edited by Joanne Hichens; Mandla Langa’s The Lost Colours of the Chameleon and Durban-based Deborah Ewing’s children’s book When My Dad Comes Home. Daytime activities include workshops, school visits and a day long forum on various publishing issues on March 11.

Tickets for the evening sessions at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre are R25 (R10 for students) and are available from Computicket or at the door an hour before the event. Workshops and seminars are free. For full details, visit the website at www.cca.ukzn.ac.za or phone 031 260 2506/1816 or email cca@ukzn.ac.za – Margaret von Klemperer