The written word will envelop Durban as 19 writers from South Africa, Africa and abroad, gather for a thought-provoking week of literary dialogue, exchange of ideas and stimulating discussion at the 16th Time of the Writer International Writers Festival (March 18 to 23). The festival, hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal), with principal support by National Lottery Distribution Fund, will feature a diverse gathering of leading novelists, social commentators, activists, playwrights and short story writers.
Opening night will feature all participating writers as they
make brief presentations at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, while the newly-appointed
Deputy Vice Chancellor of the School of Humanities, Prof Cheryl Potgieter, will
make a keynote address and a tribute to the late Phyllis Naidoo will be read.
The rest of the week’s evening presentations will be panel discussions with
writers talking about their writing and the issues dealt with in their work.
The musical act opening the festival is Zimbabwean band Tanga Pasi.
Tuesday March 19: The panel
discussion titled Perspectives
in South African Writing will feature South African writers Kabelo
Duncan Kgatea and Jo-Anne Richards. Trained as a journalist and working as a
miner, it was after Kgatea’s first book Njeng
manong fa ke sule! (Devour
me, vultures, when I’m dead!) was published and won the Sanlam
Prize Youth Literature (silver) in the Sotho category, that he got promoted to
communications officer and no longer worked below ground. When The Innocence of Roast Chicken, the debut novel of internationally published author and
journalist Richards first appeared, it topped the South African best seller
list in its first week and remained there for 15 weeks. This discussion will be
facilitated by Zukiswa Wanner.
Controversial human rights issues are brought
to the fore in the evening’s second panel titled Africa Writing Queer Identity, featuring
leading Nigerian writer Jude Dibia and Graeme Reid of South Africa, and will be
facilitated by Sarojini Nadar. Dibia’s books address issues which range from
sexuality, gender roles, race to the stigma of HIV/AIDS in modern day Africa.
Reid, the director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights
Programme and founding director of the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South
Africa, explores gay identities in South Africa in his book How to be a Real Gay.
Music by Durban duo Njeza and Siphelele Dlamini will commence the evening
proceedings at 19h30.
Wednesday March 20: The first panel, titled Reflections on the Palestinian State,
features Palestinian-born American-based novelist and essayist, Susan Abulhawa,
in an interview discussion with Lubna Nadvi. Abulhawa’s Mornings in Jenin was
translated into 24 languages worldwide and hailed by The Times as the “first
English-language novel to express fully the human dimension of the Palestinian
tragedy”.
Exploring Genre in African Literature is the topic of the
second panel, featuring South African author, photographer and filmmaker,
Zinaid Meeran, alongside Nnedi Okorafor, award-winning author born in the
United States and of Nigerian descent. Meeran was awarded the European Union
Literary award for his debut Saracen
at the Gates in 2009. About a curious exploration of living
raceless in a country where just about everybody seems to have one, this debut
was also shortlisted for the Sunday Times fiction prize in 2010. A professor of
creative writing, Okorafor has received numerous accolades for her books, which
are often characterized by African culture infused with reminiscent settings
and memorable characters. This panel will be facilitated by True Love books editor and
publisher Melinda Ferguson. Music by Durban duo Nhlanhla Zondi and Zulublue
will kick start the evening presentation, while Molope’s book, This Book Betrays my Brother
launches prior to the show.
Thursday March 21: The evening of
Human Rights Day offers the panel titled Perspectives
in SA Writing with a panel which features Elana Bregin and Damon
Galgut and facilitated by Siphiwo Mahala. Galgut’s In a Strange Room. Following the journey of
an isolated South African traveler seeking a deep satisfaction in life, In a Strange Room was
shortlisted for several awards, including the 2010 Man Booker Prize and M-Net
Literary Award. Bregin is well known for her award-winning young adult titles,
which include The Kayaboeties
and The Red-haired
Khumalo, which
all deal with the social realities of a changing South Africa.
Under the title The Reporter as Writer, Jackee Batanda from
Uganda and Aman Sethi from India, both novelists and journalists, feature in
the evening’s second panel discussion. Together with the numerous awards for
her fiction writing, Batanda also featured in the London Times alongside 19 young women shaping
the future of Africa. A seasoned journalist working as a correspondent for The Hindu, a newspaper in
India with a daily readership of about 2.5 million, Sethi has also contributed
articles to various publications, around health policies in India. The
evening’s musical act is the pair Mike Muyo and Tom Watkeys.
Friday March 22: Following the book launch of The
Imagined Child (Picador) by festival participant Jo-Anne Richards,
and a music performance by the band Nje, the presentation of prizes to winners
of the schools short story competition will take place. The first session
titled Youth Literature,
similarly puts a spotlight on young people and features writers Elieshi Lema
from Tanzania and BD Khawula from South Africa. Lema started writing poetry
before moving on to children’s books. Her first novel Parched Earth - A Love Story received an
honorable mention in the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa and forms part of
the curriculum in various universities. Based in Durban, Khawula’s inspiration
to write stems from his love for his country. His debut novel ,Yihlathi Leli, won a
silver award in the African Languages category at the Sanlam Youth Literature
Awards.
The second panel for the evening, Writing Transformation,
features South African critical thinkers and writers Andile Mngxitama and Prof
Sampie Terreblanche. While Mngxitama writes significantly around the philosophy
and writings of late Black Consciousness leader, Steve Biko, Terreblanche’s
focuses lies on the history of economic thought and policy matters in South and
Southern Africa.
Saturday March 23: The evening’s book launch is On Being Human, featuring
contributions by various writers and edited by Duduzile Mabaso (Black Letter
Media). Music and song by Durban songbird Skye Wanda will precede the
discussion Writing the Other,
featuring the South African panel of Ashwin Desai and Jonny Steinberg. An activist
intellectual, Desai is celebrated the world over for his poignant articulation
of stories about struggle, oppression and resistance. Award-winning author
Steinberg writes about experiences about everyday life in the wake of South
Africa’s transition to democracy. His debut novel Midlands, about the murder of a white South
African farmer, won the Sunday Times Alan Paton Prize in 2003. This panel
discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Frederico Settler from the Philosophy
department at UKZN.
The festival closes with a look at the
pertinent issue with South African writers Shafinaaz Hassim and Kagiso Lesego
Molope, in a panel titled Writing
Gender Violence. Hassim, a writer, poet and sociologist and driving
force behind Johannesburg-based publishers, WordFire Press, recently published
a novel on domestic violence titled SoPhia
in November 2012, while Molope’s third novel This Book Betrays my Brother raises
many gender equality issues prevalent in South Africa, amongst them the
perception that women who wear revealing clothing invite sexual advances.
Molope's first novel, Dancing
in the Dust, was put on the IBBY (International Board on Books for
Young People) list for 2006, making her the first Black South African to make
the list.
Publishing Forum: Publishing is
undoubtedly one of the central elements in the development of a local literary
culture. That said, a notable event that has become a significant part of the
annual Time of the Writer international writers’ festival, is the Publishing Forum. Taking place on March 20 between 10h00
and 14h00 at the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard
College Campus, this year’s forum will feature a range of panels on salient
issues within the publishing landscape. Topics discussed will cover the magazine
industry, maximizing exposure in the world of digital publishing, converting a
PhD thesis into a book and what publishers look for in a manuscript.
In addition to the nightly showcases at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, a broad range of day activities including seminars and workshops are formulated to promote a
culture of reading, writing and creative expression. This includes the educator’s forum
with teachers on the implementation of literature in the
classroom, the community writing forum with members of the
public interested in literature, visits to schools, and a prison
writing programme.
Book launches take place at the
Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre’s Wellington Tavern deck prior to the evening shows,
from 18h45. The first book launch of the festival is the UKZN English/IsiZulu Book
(UKZN Press) – a collaborative venture of stories by various authors.
Tickets R25 for the evening
sessions (R10 students) and can be purchased through Computicket or at the door
one hour before the event. Workshops and seminars are free.
The full
programme of activities, and other information is available on www.cca.ukzn.ac.za
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