ACCELERATE ACTION, THE TIME OF THE WRITER FESTIVAL

 

Women, writers, and words celebrated at Time of The Writer, as International Women’s Day is observed on the March 8, with this year’s theme of Accelerate Action, the Time of The Writer Festival has taken the theme to heart, and women are accelerating the action of the festival, both behind the scenes and on the podium.

It is no accident that the team at the Centre for Creative Arts is primarily comprised of women who help shape the agenda and are at the heart of the centre’s festivals and activities.

(Right: Shafinaaz Hassim)

The festival curator, Shafinaaz Hassim, is a multi-award-winning author and sociologist who was listed by UNESCO in 2014 as one of the top 39 writers in Africa under the age of 40. 

She has written more than 15 titles that have received international and local acclaim, and her novels have been commended by the SALA, the NIHSS awards, and the UJ Prize for Creative Writing.

Not only is Shafinaaz herself a strong female role model, but the heroine of her series for young adults, Nisa Qamar, provides an aspirational female character who faces life challenges with a fierce spirit and a brave heart. The series has been shortlisted twice for the Minara Aziz Hassim Literary Awards and the prestigious Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature 2019. 

Shafinaaz has curated a programme that “takes a big sip out of the ocean of literature published in 2024, the most productive publishing year since the pandemic, and represents a wide range of publishers, small and big.” Speaking about the curatorial process, she said, “While dancing to the beat of this creative process and working with a team of passionate fellow creatives, I've often had pause to reflect on how blessed I am to be able to witness and be part of something that builds on a legacy that will entertain, delight, educate, and celebrate all things wordy and literary.”

The exciting breadth and depth of the programme with the themes of Imagination, Freedom & Accountability is a testament to her deep love of words and an appreciation of the power that they have in the world. 

The assistant curator of the IsiZulu Programme, Thalente Ndlovu, is an emerging arts manager at the centre and is dedicated to the creative sector. She is a dynamic force in the world of arts and academia with an abiding commitment to education and has made significant contributions as a writer, actor, director, stage manager, and poet. She is a passionate advocate for the arts and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her experience tutoring drama and performance studies at the university makes her the perfect candidate to harness the creativity of the many young people who eagerly attend the programme, which extends beyond the confines of the city.

Nomthandazo Shandu is no stranger to the festival and is a much-loved MC and poet. She is a UKZN graduate with a bachelor’s degree in drama, performance studies, and political science, and an honours degree in drama and performance studies. She is a stage actor, a compelling storyteller, and represented the centre and the country when she participated alongside colleague Andisa Mpisi at the Bergen International Literary Festival in Norway in 2024. She oversees the centre’s outreach programmes to schools for all of the festivals and draws on the festival's archives to develop resources for schoolteachers.

Andisa Mpisi’s expertise in theatre making, film programme management, guest relations, and production design comes to the fore in her role at the festival. Her steady control of the logistics, administration, and coordinating guests has earned her the title of ‘writer-wrangler,’ no mean feat. Andisa uses her experience gained at the National Arts Council of South Africa, Business & Art South Africa, Stained Glass Productions, and Rhythm World Productions to ensure that the wheels of the festival run smoothly. 

(Left: Siphindile Hlongwa) 

Siphindile Hlongwa is the senior administrator at the centre and joined the centre in 2011 after working for the Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre Company and Eager Artists Productions as a performing artist and art administrator. Her Bachelor of Technology degree in business administration and diploma in drama studies enable her to balance the administration and curatorial roles at the centre.

Assisted by Sthembile Mlambo, a recent UKZN graduate with a Bachelor of Administration in Public Administration and Human Resources and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, her blend of academic knowledge and real-world insight is vital to the festival.

Ensuring that word of the festival spreads far and wide is Owethu Dlamini. An AFDA alumnus with a BA honours in motion picture, majoring in writing and directing, she is the marketing & communications emerging arts manager at the centre and is responsible for maintaining the high profile of the centre. She combines a keen artistic vision with a relentless work ethic, consistently striving for excellence. Dedicated to supporting and showcasing talent in the creative sector, she is committed to enhancing audience engagement and fostering partnerships within the arts community. 

The energy and expertise of the women behind the scenes is matched by the many women who feature in this year’s programme. Author, anthologist, poet, short story writer, and translator Makhosazana Xaba will feature on opening night when Shafinaaz presents her curatorial statement. Among Xaba’s acclaimed endeavours is her translation of Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth as Izimpabanga Zomhlaba in isiZulu. Our Words, Our Worlds: Writing on Black South African Women Poets, 2000 - 2018 which she edited in 2019, became an “instant classic” and was a co-winner of the Human Social Sciences Award.

There are too many award-winning female authors to include them all here, and they will be joining us from different parts of the world online and in Durban, in person. Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, whose bestselling The Theory of Flight won the 2019 Sunday Times Fiction Prize and The History of Man, the prestigious Windham Campbell prize, appears on the fiction panel, Fiction as Narrative Mirror.

Recently announced on the 2025 long list for the highly coveted Women’s Prize for Fiction for her novel, Crooked Seeds, Karen Jennings was previously longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2021 for The Island. She has received the K Sello Duiker Memorial Award, won the Africa Region Prize of the Commonwealth Short Story Competition, and her first novel, Finding Soutbek, was shortlisted for the Etisalat Prize. 

Nominated five times for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and 2020 winner of the South African Literary Award and the NIHSS Humanities Award for best novel for Lacuna, Fiona Snyckers will join Karen Jennings, Zukiswa Wanner, and Marina Auer to discuss crime fiction on the panel, A Crime for our Times: shaping violence through story lives in Johannesburg with her family.

2020 Goethe Medalist, 2021 Time of the Writer keynote speaker, juror for the Etisalat Prize for Literature, Commonwealth Prize, and the inaugural Grand Pan African Prize for Literature in 2022, Zukiswa Wanner will also participate in the panel Writing Women: Intimate Narratives and Misogyny. She will be joined by director of Bukhwa Media and Publishing (Pty), Busisekile Khumalo and Yuliia Iliukha. Yuliia is a poet, prose writer, and journalist from Kharkiv in Ukraine. Winner of several literary prizes, including the Oles Honchar International Ukrainian German Literary Prize, her collection of short prose, My Women, about the archetypal images of women living amid the throes of war, was the BBC Book of the Year in 2024.

These are a handful of the almost 50 women who will be participating in the festival where their words amplify their work and courage made visible. Join us at the celebration of women, words, and writers. 

 

About the Centre for Creative Arts

The Centre for Creative Arts is a vibrant hub within the School of Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, renowned for its commitment to promoting cultural diversity and artistic excellence. The Centre is the producer of some of South Africa’s leading arts festivals, including Time of the Writer (28 years), Poetry Africa (29 years), JOMBA! Contemporary Dance (27 years), Artfluence (5 years), and the Durban International Film Festival (46 years).

In 2026, the Centre will host the fifth annual World Slam Poetry Competition, bringing together slam poets from over 40 nations.

 

About the Time of the Writer Festival

The Time of the Writer festival, presented by the Centre for Creative Arts, is one of South Africa’s premier literary festivals. Featuring 80 to 100 authors each year, it serves as a dynamic platform for writers, publishers, and readers to engage with diverse themes across fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and other creative writing forms. The 28th edition of the festival will be hosted at Alliance Française de Durban in Morningside and other venues in Durban, with several events online to allow for broad participation.

 

More details can be found on our website: https://tow.ukzn.ac.za/

 

To link to the Centre for Creative Arts website, click on the advert logo to the right of this article.