Time of the Writer is a celebration of
African voices, hosting approximately 20 writers from South Africa, Africa and
different parts of the world, telling their own stories as they have lived them
and are living them. The festival aims to be an acknowledgement of the great
minds that have contributed to the advancement of the literary arts and a space
with which to inspire and develop emerging creative titans.
In November 2016, the City of Durban was
awarded the first African UNESCO City of Literature and at the fore is Time of
the Writer, the first literary festival to be hosted since the announcement. It
is against the backdrop of this achievement and in the spirit of the
celebration of Mandela’s Centenary year, that the 21st edition of Time of the Writer
is aptly themed “Changing the Narrative”.
This 21st edition of Time of the Writer
will consist of a day programme that is hosted in four community libraries, art
centres and schools around Durban where workshops and panel discussions will
take place and in the evening panel discussions will be hosted at the Elizabeth
Sneddon Theatre.
Ms. Chipo Zhou, Acting-Director of the CCA,
said: “Nelson Mandela once said: “The
education I received was a British education, in which British ideas, British
culture, British institutions, were automatically assumed to be superior. There
was no such thing as African culture.” A very sad statement which to a great
extent, even now, speaks the reality that is our education system in
Africa."
The
African Educational Revolution is now taking place all over independent Black
Africa to correct this sad colonial hangover" (Kakwe Kasoma, 1976). Just
over two decades after South African independence, this statement has never
been truer. A new generation of scholars is on the rise, demanding recognition
of the African intellect and its contribution to literature, an “African
Renaissance” if you will. We cannot rewrite history, but we can question and
maybe alter history. And most definitely, we will write the future.”
The literary world has witnessed dynamic
innovations in storytelling formats and genres that are gaining ground amongst
writers and readers. Writers from the continent and the diaspora are not only
challenging the tropes but are also positing interesting possibilities of the
future and present.
Time of the Writer is one of the largest
and longest-running literature festivals in Africa. Over the years, it has
hosted a wide variety of internationally-acclaimed thought leaders such as
Zakes Mda and NoViolet Bulawayo, from all over the world, with the main focus
on Africa.
The festival is made possible with the
support from eThekwini Municipality, National Department of Arts and Culture,
National Arts Council and Alliance Française Durban.
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