27th edition of Time of the Writer festival announces dates.
The Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal has announced that the 27th annual Time of the Writer festival will take place between March 14 to 21, 2024.
The festival programme will be curated under the broad theme of Reflections, Resonance & Revival.
“We want the festival to be a site for rediscovering the resonance of literature, reflecting on shared narratives and for reviving the essence of storytelling for social justice”, says Tshosheletso Chidi Bongwadi, the Curator-In-Residence at the Centre for Creative Arts.
Tsosheletso Chidi Bongwadi is a bilingual (English & Sepedi) poet and novelist. She graduated from Rhodes University in Master of Arts Degree in Creative Writing and she is a recipient of the 2019 Andrew Mellon Foundation Scholarship for writers. In 2016, her short story was published by FLOW Communication at the request of Ekurhuleni Municipality with her debut novel The Baby Is Born having been published in the previous year by Sharp Shoot Publisher.
In 2019, Thyni Magazine published her poetry and she was commissioned by Avbob Poetry. In early 2020, Aletta Motimele Publishers published her short story in their short stories anthology RE ALOŠITŠE in Sepedi. Her work has been featured in Hugh McMillan’s Poems of Pestilence Blog Post of Scotland responding to the COVID19 pandemic. Other poems about witnessing the pandemic were chosen in the top ten and approved for publishing by Ratomill.
Publishers in their recent anthology CORONA’CLES: “We are excited about the appointment of Tshosheletso as the Curator-In-Residence for the 27th edition of the Time of the Writer. We believe that she will bring a fresh eye to our curatorial processes and with an enthusiastic focus on developing opportunities for new and emerging writers to be profiled alongside established literary luminaries”, said Ismail Mahomed, the Director for the Centre for Creative Arts.
The 27th edition of the Time of the Writer festival will also feature on-going collaborations with the Wits Writing Centre, Centre for Studies of the US, JIAS at the University of Johannesburg and the ISRA Institute amongst several other partners.
“Over the next few months, we will release highlights of what literature enthusiasts can expect at the festival. The full programme will be released in mid-February 2024”, says Tsosheletso.
The 27th edition of the Time of the Writer festival is funded by the University of KwaZulu-Natal, National Arts Council and the KwaZulu-Natal department of Sport, Arts & Culture.
The Centre for Creative Arts is located in the School of the Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The Centre is renowned for its long-standing festivals --- Time of the Writer (27 years), Poetry Africa (28 years), JOMBA! Contemporary Dance festival (25 years), Durban International Film Festival (44 years) and Artfluence Human Rights festival (4 years). The Centre is committed to grow cultural leadership, promote artistic excellence and position the arts to be a dynamic advocate for social justice.
For more information contact Tsosheletso Chidi Bongwadi on email: ChidiT@ukzn.ac.za or phone: 060 700 4665
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