THE TIME OF THE WRITER FESTIVAL HAS BEEN
CANCELLED BECAUSE OF THE COVID19 VIRUS RESTRICTIONS. THE ORGANISERS ARE
CURRENTLY WORKING HARD TO MAKE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO FACILITATE A PART OF THE
FESTIVAL THROUGH DIGITAL AND MEDIA CHANNELS.
(Left: Fred Khumalo)
The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre
for Creative Arts (CCA), in partnership with eThekwini Municipality, will host
the 23rd Time of the Writer International Festival from March 16 to 21, 2020. Reading
is the norm in order to get to know and understand each other’s stories. To
inspire people to read in order to get to know and understand each other’s
stories, this year’s festival theme is: “Do You Read Me?”
The programme will feature 20 leading
novelists, social commentators, activists, playwrights and short story writers
from South Africa and abroad that participate in an exciting programme that
sees a mix of panel discussions, workshops and writers visits. Among the writers
featured will be Fred Khumalo and Jennifer Makumbi.
On Monday March 16, the start of the
festival is marked by an opening night taking place at Ekhaya KCAP Multi-Arts
Centre in Kwa Mashu, during which all writers will introduce themselves. The
opening night will be hosted by Michelle Constant. In the evenings from Tuesday
March 17 to Friday March 20, panel discussions around a variety of engaging
topics will take place at KZNSA Gallery in Glenwood.
(Right: Jennifer
Makumbi)
As part of the day programme, the writers
will be visiting a variety of schools and arts centres, such as Mangosuthu
University, Phansi Museum and Luthuli Museum. The festival partners with
eThekwini Municipality Libraries department to deliver a community engagement
programme that actively promotes reading and writing in four community
libraries: Craigieburn, Firwood, Mortoon and Chesterville ext.
Tickets for the opening night and the panel
discussions at KZNSA are R60 (R40 students and pensioners) and available on
Webtickets.co.za or at Pick ‘n Pay. All other activities are free of charge. Find
the full programme at http://tow.ukzn.ac.za/programme/
On Saturday March 21, the last day of the
festival, KZNSA Gallery will host a publishing forum looking at publishing
perspectives in the age of media convergence. Thereafter, Dr Sazi Dlamini will
facilitate an Indigenous Language Authors’ Music Archive Workshop. The South
African Music Archive Project (SAMAP) at UKZN is inviting selected authors in
indigenous African languages to engage with their historical musical resources.
These are comprised of audio field recordings of traditional, popular and
indigenous musical performances from Southern Africa that constitute the
historical online archive of the International Library of African Music (ILAM)
- presently run under the Rhodes University institutional umbrella. Authors
will be engaged in transcribing musical items documented in performance using
the region’s diverse ethnic languages. This workshop will mark the start of
this project.
Another yearly highlight in the programme
is the focus on children’s books and writers. Participating this year are
Refiloe Moahloli, Busi Maphumulo and Lebohang Masango who will partake in a
panel on the craft and business of
children’s writing on Wednesday March 18. On the last day of the festival,
Gcina Mhlophe will host the writers as part of the Funda Nathi Children’s
Programme at The Bluff Showground.
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 by the
support from eThekwini Municipality, National Department of Arts and Culture,
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture and US Consulate.
To stay updated, follow @Timeofthewriter on
Twitter and Instagram or like the festival on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/timeofthewriter. Find more information about the participating
writers and the programme on the Time of the Writer website: http://
tow.ukzn.ac.za
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