New SA PEN literary award

JM Coetzee agrees to be final judge

The South African Centre of International PEN (SA PEN) is pleased to announce a new literary award in Africa to replace the HSBC / SA PEN Literary Award.

The new award for original short stories in English will be known as the PEN / STUDZINSKI Literary Award. John Studzinski, a global investment banker and philanthropist, has generously donated the prize money.

Nobel Laureate John Coetzee has agreed to be the final judge for the new award.

Award-winning author and SA PEN executive committee member, Shaun Johnson, has assumed leadership responsibility for the award. With Shaun’s guidance, the project will build on the momentum of the previous awards sponsored by HSBC Bank plc in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Johnson said he had agreed enthusiastically when asked to take on the task: ‘Having experienced myself how helpful and encouraging it is to a writer to have one’s work recognised in the form of literary awards, I’m delighted to be able to play a part in assisting other authors.’

His debut novel The Native Commissioner won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Africa, the MNet Literary Award, the Neilsen Booksellers’ Choice Award, was longlisted for the international Dublin/Impac prize, and shortlisted for the Sunday Times and University of Johannesburg awards.

In a sponsorship arrangement which makes the PEN / STUDZINSKI award one of the more financially rewarding literary competitions in Africa, the first, second and third prizes respectively will be £5 000, £3 000 and £2 000.

The award aims to encourage new creative writing in Africa and will offer talented writers an exciting opportunity to launch or develop a literary career.

The selected contributions of 86 writers to the earlier HSBC / SA PEN Literary Awards were published in a series of books of new creative writing, entitled AFRICAN COMPASS, AFRICAN ROAD and AFRICAN PENS. First prize winners of the HSBC / SA PEN Awards were Elizabeth Pienaar (2005), Sean O’Toole (2006) and Henrietta Rose-Innes (2007).

SA PEN authors shortlisted for 2008 Caine Prize

Three authors whose short stories were published in AFRICAN PENS in 2007 are on a shortlist of five for the 2008 Caine Prize. They are:

* Stanley Onjezani Kenani (Malawi) – For Honour
* Henrietta Rose-Innes (South Africa) – Poison
* Gill Schierhout (South Africa) – The day of the Surgical Colloquium hosted by the Far East Rand Hospital

Their stories were selected from more than 90 entries which came in from 17 African countries. “SA PEN’s purpose is to encourage creative writing and this is a remarkable achievement by these authors,” said SA PEN President, Anthony Fleischer.

Eight authors whose short stories were published in the SA PEN series are now fully-fledged authors. They are:

* Lauren Beukes – Maverick
* Maxine Case - All We Have Left Unsaid
* Ceridwen Dovey - Blood Kin
* Louis Greenberg - The Beggar’s Signwriter
* Byron Loker – New Swell
* Kirsten Miller – All is Fish
* Sean O’Toole – The Marquis of Mooikloof
* Alexandra Smith – Algeria’s Way

SA PEN has in the past published other collections of South African writing, with contributions from distinguished writers such as Nadine Gordimer, Oswald Joseph Mtshali and Zakes Mda.

International PEN, the literary organisation with which SA PEN is affiliated, was founded in 1921 to advance the cause of literature and defend free expression. International PEN has 145 centres throughout the world and has undertaken to publicise winning contributions to the PEN / STUDZINSKI award in its global journal, PEN International.

Writers who are citizens of African countries are encouraged to begin preparing short stories for submission. There is no age limit. Further information and detailed rules of entry will be posted on the SA PEN website, www.sapen.co.za.

For media enquiries, contact:

Lesley Lambert

Tel: +27 (0)83 326 2500

Email: lesley@wisenet.co.za

For administrative enquiries, contact:

Deborah Horn-Botha

Tel: +27 (0)21 701 8510

Email: rudebs@icon.co.za

Launch of Zebra Crossings: Tales from the Shaman's Record

Kalk Bay Books & Jacana Media invite you to join us at the launch of:

Zebra Crossings: Tales from the Shaman's Record
by Peter Merrington

When: Friday 23 May 2008
Where: Kalk Bay Books, 124 Main Road, Kalk Bay
Time: 6.30 for 7pm (please note starting time)
RSVP: books@kalkbaybooks.co.za or 021 788 2266 by Thursday 22 May
(NB: Please indicate numbers for catering purposes)

Kalk Bay Books' Open Book table to feature short stories

Because we hate it when books don't receive their due attention, and because as Samuel Butler once commented, 'The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them', we have created our Open Book table - a space where we can display books based on a theme, an author, or a category. Changed fortnightly, there is always something special to highlight, and a Bookseller's choice is offered at a reduced price. To find out more, click here... and see our current theme further down.

http://www.kalkbaybooks.co.za/open-book-detail.php?id=7

Launch of Whiplash, the much-anticipated debut novel by Tracey Farren

Kwela authors at The Franschhoek Literary Festival

Kwela Books is proud to present the following list of our authors featured at the Franschhoek Literary Festival, which takes place from 16 to 18 May. Please come and join our authors for these events:

The Style Council (Municipal Chambers)

You can’t buy style. It has to be hewn out of the language with the sweat of your brow. But what is it and how do writers come by theirs? Damon Galgut, The Good Doctor, Ingrid Winterbach, To Hell with Cronje, and Kgebetli Moele, Room 207, attempt to describe their style and that of others they admire. Chaired by Jeremy Boraine. Friday, 16 May, 13h00-14h00.


I Write What I Like (Hospice Hall)

Poet laureate, Keorapetse Kgositsile, This way I Salute You, and novelists Anne Landsman, The Rowing Lesson, Richard Ford, The Lay of the Land, and Siphiwo Mahala, When a Man Cries, discuss what they like to write and why they like to write what they write. Chaired by Victor Dlamini. Friday, 16 May, 14h30-15h30.

The Art of Review (Hospice Hall)

Poet Gabeba Baderoon, A Hundred Silences, novelist Etienne van Heerden, Asbesmiddag, playwright Mike van Graan and novelist Zukiswa Wanner, Behind Every Successful Man (out in June), talk to Jenny Hobbs about the state of reviewing in SA today. Friday, 16 May, 16h00-17h00.

A Writer’s Writer (Municipal Chambers)
Writers are often the most discriminating readers. Shaun Johnson, The Native Commissioner, Kopano Matlwa, Coconut, and Maxine Case, All I Have Left Unsaid, explain why certain authors make them warm with admiration while others make them burn with envy. Chaired by John Maytham. Friday, 16 May, 16h00-17h00.

Writing Home (Hospice Hall)

Christopher Hope, My Mother’s Lovers, Rayda Jacobs, Confessions of a Gambler, and Anne Landsman, The Devil’s Chimney, talk about the complexities of writing about SA from abroad. Chaired by Jeremy Boraine. Saturday, 17 May, 13h00-14h00.


Chic Lit vs Chick Lit (Hospice Hall)
Novelists Maxine Case, All I Have Left Unsaid, Zukiswa Wanner, Behind Every Successful Man (out in June), Kopano Matlwa, Coconut, and Bridget McNulty, Strange Nervous Laughter, chat to Jenny Crwys-Williams about the dividing line between chic and chick. Saturday, 17 May, 14h30-15h30.

Stranger than Fiction (Church Hall)
Strip away the veneer of fiction and you’ll find the true story. Kgebetli Moele, Room 207, Deon Meyer, Devil’s Peak, and Richard Ford, The Lay of the Land, reveal how they have altered the facts to fit the fiction. Chaired by Victor Dlamini. Saturday, 17 May, 16h00-17h00.

Confessions of a Gambler (Screening Room)
Rayda Jacobs presents the movie of her prize-winning novel, Confessions of a Gambler. Saturday, 17 May, 10h30.

Heartland (Municipal Chambers)
Three very different authors, the poet Gabeba Baderoon, A Hundred Silences, and novelists Zukiswa Wanner, Behind Every Successful Man (out in June), and Damon Galgut, The Good Doctor, talk about the place they call their heartland. Chaired by Jeremy Boraine. Sunday, 18 May, 10h00-11h00.

Family Affair (Hospice Hall)
Love them or loathe them we all have them, but what influence do relatives have on the work of an author? Novelists Maxine Case, All I have Left Unsaid, Imraan Coovadia, Green-Eyed Thieves, and Kgebetli Moele, Room 207, reveal all. Chaired by John Maytham. Sunday, 18 May, 11h30-12h30.

The Rowing Lesson (Municipal Chambers)
Anne Landsman, author of The Devils’s Chimney, talks to Helen Naudé about her life, her work and her new novel, The Rowing Lesson. Sunday, 18 May, 11h30-12h30.

Found in Translation (Hospice Hall)
Translation is a fundamental issue in a country with eleven official languages. Four authors, Etienne van Heerden, Asbesmiddag, Mhlobo Jadezwini, uTshepo Mde, Ingrid Winterbach, Die Boek van Toeval en Toeverlaat, and Thembelani Ngenelwa, The Day I Died/Ukuvuka Kwam Ekufeni come together to talk about the necessity, and process of, translation. Chaired by Victor Dlamini. Sunday, 18 May, 13h00-14h00.

All the above-mentioned authors’ titles will be on sale at the festival.

Jacana announces history, culture & pride celebration

Creative writing courses & workshops

Creative Writing Courses & Workshops - Call Wiida 079 875-3719 for queries
Writers Write 1(4 weeks):
Saturday Mornings: 08.30 - 12.30 17 May 2008
Tuesday & Thursday Mornings: 09:00 - 11:00 3 June 2008
Tuesday & Thursday Evenings: 17:30 - 20:00 13 May 2008
Writers Write 2 (4 weeks)
Tuesday Mornings: 09:00 13 May 2008
Write a screenplay (5 weeks)
Sunday mornings: 09:00 - 12:00 from 18th May 2008
Creative Writing One-day Workshops
How to write for Mills & Boon: Romancing the Dollar 24th May 2008
Plot LUCK: Learn how to plot a novel on Saturday 10th May 2008
How to write lyrics: Music & Lyrics on Saturday 31st May 2008

Meet the Commonwealth Writers' Prize finalists

Bookshop for South African & World Literature and the Commonwealth Foundation invite you to meet the finalists of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2008 at a coffee morning reading on Tuesday 13 May 2008, 10:00 for 10:30.

This is your chance to meet the finalists of this year's prize at BOEKEHUIS and listen to them read from their novels.

The Best Book and Best First Book winners of the 22nd Commonwealth Writers' Prize will be announced, this year in South Africa, on 18 May 2008.

In a unique aspect of the Prize, the regional winners are taking part in a week-long country-wide programme of readings, community activities and other public events alongside the final pan-Commonwealth judging. The eight finalists, a mix of established and new voices, come from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, India and Nigeria. The week's programme will culminate in the announcement of the overall Best Book and Best First Book winners in a special ceremony as part of the 2008 Franschhoek Literary Festival, on Sunday 18 May.

For further information about the Franschhoek Literary Festival visit http://www.flf.co.za/

Meet the authors @ BOEKEHUIS,

Cnr. Lothbury and Fawley streets, Auckland Park

When: Tuesday 13 May 2008 at 10:00 for 10:30am

Plenty of safe parking at Campus Square, from where it is a lovely and short walk to BOEKEHUIS

RSVP: by Friday 9/05/08 on

011 482 3609 or boekehuis@boekehuis.co.za

The 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize regional winners are:

AFRICA

Best Book: Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria) The Hangman's Game Peepal Tree Press

A young Guyanese woman sets out to write an historical novel based on the 1823 Demerara Slave Rebellion and the fate of an English missionary who is condemned to hang for his alleged part in the uprising, but who dies in prison before his execution. She has wanted to document historical fact through fiction, but the characters she invents make an altogether messier intrusion into her life with their conflicting interests and ambivalent motivations. As an African-Guyanese in a country where a Black ruling elite oppresses the population, she begins to wonder what lay behind her 'ancestral enslavement', why fellow Africans had 'exchanged silver for the likes of me'. As a committed Christian she also wonders why God has allowed slavery to happen. Beset by her unruly characters and these questions, the novel is stymied. In an attempt to unblock it she decides that she should take up a family contact to spend some time in Nigeria, to experience her African origins at first hand...

Best First Book: Sade Adeniran (Nigeria ) Imagine This SW Books

Imagine This is the story of a young girl's journey from childhood to adulthood. Lola Ogunwole leaves all that is familiar behind in London and is sent to live in a village in Nigeria. Dogged by events she has no control over Lola's journal is a compelling story about one girl's resilience against the odds, which culminates in the bittersweet fulfilment of a long held desire.

CANADA AND CARIBBEAN

Best Book: Lawrence Hill (Canada) The Book of Negroes HarperCollins Publishers

Abducted as an 11-year-old child from her village in West Africa and forced to walk for months to the sea in a coffle-a string of slaves- Aminata Diallo is sent to live as a slave in South Carolina. But years later, she forges her way to freedom, serving the British in the Revolutionary War and registering her name in the historic "Book of Negroes." This book, an actual document, provides a short but immensely revealing record of freed Loyalist slaves who requested permission to leave the US for resettlement in Nova Scotia, only to find that the haven they sought was steeped in an oppression all of its own. Aminata's eventual return to Sierra Leone-passing ships carrying thousands of slaves bound for America-is an engrossing account of an obscure but important chapter in history that saw 1,200 former slaves embark on a harrowing back-to-Africa odyssey.

Best First Book: C.S. Richardson (Canada) The End of the Alphabet Doubleday Canada

Meet Ambrose Zephyr: thought of by friends as better than some; by his wife Zipper as in need of no adjustment. On or about his fiftieth birthday, Ambrose discovers that he has one month to live. And so he and Zipper embark on a whirlwind expedition to the places he has most loved or longed to see, A through Z, Amsterdam to Zanzibar. But after Istanbul, their journey takes an unplanned turn when Ambrose seeks out the destination most fittingly called home.

EUROPE AND SOUTH ASIA

Best Book: Indra Sinha (India) Animal's People Simon and Schuster

Ever since That Night, the residents of Khaufpur have lived a perilous existence. The water they drink, the ground they walk on and the atmosphere they breathe is poisoned. Nobody has received compensation or help for the chemical leak, least of all Animal, as he is known, whose spine twisted at a young age, leaving him to walk on all fours. His mind is full of foul, insidious thoughts, but the bitterness is mixed with a longing to know human affection and, more urgently, sex. He inhabits a dark kind of half-life.

Best First Book: Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh) A Golden Age John Murray

It is spring 1971 in East Pakistan and the country is on the brink of a revolution. Rehana Haque is throwing a party for her children, Sohail and Maya, in the rose-filled garden of the house she has built, while beyond her doorstep the city is buzzing with excitement after recent elections. None of the guests at Rehana's party can foresee what will happen in the days and months that follow, and her family's life is about to change forever.

SOUTH EAST ASIA AND SOUTH PACIFIC

Best Book: Steven Carroll (Australia) The Time We Have Taken HarperCollins

'That exotic tribe was us. And the time we have taken, our moment.'
One summer morning in 1970, Peter van Rijn, proprietor of the television and wireless shop, pronounces his Melbourne suburb one hundred years old.
That same morning, Rita is awakened by a dream of her husband's snores, yet it is years since Vic moved north. Their son, Michael, has left for the city, and is entering the awkward terrain of first love.
As the suburb prepares to celebrate progress, Michael's friend Mulligan is commissioned to paint a mural of the area's history. But what vision of the past will his painting reveal?
Meanwhile, Rita's sometime friend Mrs Webster confronts the mystery of her husband's death. And Michael discovers that innocence can only be sustained for so long.

Best First Book: Karen Foxlee (Australia) The Anatomy of Wings University of Queensland Press

Jennifer Day tells the story in The Anatomy of Wings. She's a ten year old obsessed with birds, facts and great world catastrophes. And she is struggling to make sense of her teenage sister sudden death. In The Anatomy of Wings Jennifer recounts the final months of Beth's life, unravelling them like a mystery, while on her own journey to regain her singing voice. Through Jennifer's eyes we see one girl's failure to cross the threshold into adulthood and a family slowly falling apart.

What is the Commonwealth Writers' Prize?

The CWP, an increasingly valued and sought-after award for fiction, is presented annually by the Commonwealth Foundation. Now in its 22nd year, it aims to reward the best of Commonwealth fiction written in English, by both established and new writers, and to take their works to a global audience.

The outstanding literary talent exists in many parts of the Commonwealth is making a significant contribution to contemporary writing in English. To encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin, the Commonwealth Foundation established the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 1987.

Who is rewarded?

Every year, prizes are given for the Best Book and Best First Book, valued at £1,000, in each of the four Commonwealth Regions: Africa, Canada and the Caribbean, Europe and South Asia, South East Asia and the South Pacific. From these regions, the overall winner for the Best Book and Best First Book prizes are chosen.

How can you enter this competition?

Publishers are invited to make entries online or by completing an entry form and sending it with three copies of each book to the appropriate regional chairperson and one copy to the Commonwealth Foundation Awarded annually, this major prize for fiction is fully international in its character, administration and judging. The Prize covers the Commonwealth regions of Africa, the Caribbean and Canada, Europe and South Asia and South East Asia and the South Pacific.


The £10,000 Best Book Prize 2007 was awarded to New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones for Mister Pip. The Best First Book Prize 2007 of £5,000 went to Canadian writer D. Y. Béchard for Vandal Love.

Modjaji Books is proud to invite you to a poetry reading

Modjaji Books is proud to invite you to a poetry reading featuring
Megan Hall (Fourth Child)
and
Azila Talit Reisenberger (Life in Translation)
at the Franschoek Lit Fest

Saturday 17th May
10h30 am
Essence Coffee Shop, Franschoek - in the Main Road.
Unlike many of the events at the FLF this is a free event.
See you there!

PS...
Later on in the day Rustum Kozain, Gabeba Baderoon, Barbara Farihead and Jacques Coetzee will also be featured.

Porcupine by Jane Bennett launches at Kalk Bay Books

Kalk Bay Books would love to see you at the launch of

Porcupine by Jane Bennett

Our first delivery of Jane Bennett's collection of short stories, Porcupine, sold out in its first week. Published by Kwela, Porcupine is a collection of 12 short stories exploring maverick, impossible, and incredulous moments in South Africa and elsewhere. They are unpredictable, both in style and approach.

Join us at the Kalk Bay launch and find out more...

When: Friday 9 May 2008
Where: Kalk Bay Books, 124 Main Road, Kalk Bay
Time: 6.30 for 7pm (please note starting time)
RSVP: books@kalkbaybooks.co.za or 021 788 2266 by Thursday 8 May
(Please indicate numbers for catering purposes)

To find out more about what's happening at Kalk Bay Books, visit our website at www.kalkbaybooks.co.za

The Wall Street Journal takes another look at eBooks

You can enjoy a book on a mere cellphone

The book business is no longer booming.
Lee Gomes, Wall Street Journal
Wed Apr 16 04:40:43 GMT+02:00 2008

If life can be described as the process of making peace with things once considered unpleasant, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that one day I looked down at my BlackBerry only to find Ian McEwan...

See: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page94?oid=203544&sn=Detail

Think tank accepting submissions for annual Bastiat Prize for Journalism

For the seventh year, International Policy Network (IPN), a London-based think tank, is accepting submissions for its annual Bastiat Prize for Journalism.

The $15,000 prize fund will be divided among First, Second and Third placed authors. The Prize is open to writers anywhere in the world whose published articles eloquently and wittily explain, promote and defend the principles of the free society, including property rights, free markets, sound science, limited government and the rule of law.

Since 2002, the Prize has been inspired by the 19th-century French philosopher Frédéric Bastiat and his compelling defence of liberty. Bastiat's brilliant use of satire and allegory enabled him to relate complex economic issues to a general audience. In keeping with his legacy, Bastiat Prize entries are judged on intellectual content, the persuasiveness of the language used and the type of publication in which they appear.

Last year, the competition attracted over 280 entrants from more than 60 different countries.

Previous judges have included Lady Thatcher, James Buchanan and Milton Friedman. This year's panel includes the former British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Lawson of Blaby, and Amity Shlaes, syndicated Bloomberg columnist, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a previous Bastiat Prize winner.

Submissions – in English – will be accepted from 1 April until 30 June 2008. (Postal entries must be postmarked 30 June or before). Submissions must be in the form of up to three articles totalling no more than 4,500 words, published between 1 July 2007 and 30 June 2008 in recognized news publications. Finalists will be invited to a ceremony in New York in October 2008, where winners will be announced.

Last year’s Bastiat Prize winner was Amit Varma, an editorial columnist for Mint (a joint venture between the Wall Street Journal and India’s Hindustan Times). Second and third prizes went to Clive Crook, senior editor of the Atlantic Monthly, and Jonah Goldberg, Contributing Editor to National Review and a syndicated columnist. Previous winners include Robert Guest of The Economist, Brian Carney of The Wall Street Journal and Sauvik Chakraverti of the Economic Times (India).

An online submission form, rules, judging criteria, and articles written by previous winners can be found at IPN's Bastiat Prize website: www.bastiatprize.org/.

Queries to Marc Sidwell, Bastiat Prize Administrator

Invitation: Launch of Mike Nicol's Payback

Kalk Bay Books and Umuzi look forward to a thrilling evening to which you are invited:
the launch of a new novel by renowned Cape Town author Mike Nicol

Payback

Payback is about crime in the true sense - a fictive world where the pervading social order is criminal. The protagonists are streetwise, fast talkers who, in contrast to the heroes of other local crime writers, are not there to solve crimes so much as to provide a thin shield against a violent world.

When: Saturday, 19 April 2008 Where: Kalk Bay Books, 124 Main Road, Kalk Bay Time: 6.30 for 7pm (please note new starting time)
RSVP: books@kalkbaybooks.co.za or 021 788 2266 by Friday 18 April (Please indicate numbers for catering purposes)

International PEN Poem Relay arrives in South Africa on Sunday 13th April

The Poem Relay seeks to raise awareness about freedom of expression in China in a uniquely PEN way – through poetry and translation.

PEN Centres have been invited to translate and record a short poem, June (Liuyue) by the Chinese poet, journalist and PEN member, Shi Tao, into as many languages as possible. Shi Tao is serving ten years in prison on the charge of "revealing state secrets abroad".

Via a website with a map of the world and a relay itinerary (similar to the Olympic Torch Relay itinerary), the poem will virtually “travel” around the world, from centre to centre, language to language, adding new translations as it goes, and ending in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. Visitors to the website will be able to track the poem’s progress and read and hear new translations of the poem as it arrives at each new centre. As there are more PEN centres than there are destinations for the Olympic Torch, the Poem Relay Itinerary will be different from that for the Olympic Torch, but it is hoped it will intersect with it (unofficially) when it can.

The Poem Relay draws together several aspects of PEN -- freedom of expression, translation and linguistic diversity -- to send the world a message that only PEN can send:

• It supports Freedom of Expression. The poem is by an imprisoned writer, a main case of PEN, and is itself about a forbidden, censored topic.

• It celebrates Poetry and Linguistic Diversity. The translation and "relay" demonstrate the diversity of languages, literatures, and writers in the world, while at the same time demonstrating International PEN's diversity and global reach.

The Poem Relay is one of a number of actions organised as part of International PEN’s 2008 China Campaign in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics. The Relay will be managed by a Relay Team on behalf of International PEN and its China Campaign. The team consists of: PEN Sydney (Chip Rolley), Independent Chinese PEN Centre (Zhang Yu) and Swiss German PEN Centre (Kristin T. Schnider).

The following SA PEN members kindly agreed to participate in the project and have submitted their translations:

Dr. Azila Reisenberger – Hebrew

Stanley Onjezani Kenani – Chichewa

D.M. Bin Ngulu Kabemba - French, Lingala and Swahili

June "arrived" at the PEN Club Hellenique in Athens, Greece, on the 30th March. On the 31st March the poem “arrived” at the Austrian, German-speaking Writers Abroad and Polish PEN Centres. June will arrive in South Africa on the 13th April so diarise to visit www.penpoemrelay.org on this date! Click on the yellow flag on South Africa on the map of the world. You will be able to see and hear Azila, Stanley and Kabemba’s translations.

Modjaji Books calls for short story submissions by women

Modjaji Books, the exciting new publisher for women in Southern Africa, is inviting submissions for its upcoming short story anthology. We want innovative stories that define the world from a woman’s perspective.

The topic for the anthology is “BED”. What does it mean to you? Memories of cosy bedtime stories, sterile beds in hospitals, or that sexy bed where a lover waits…

You tell us! We’re waiting to hear from you!

Send us your best, unpublished story before 31st July, 2008 to modjaj@gmail.com

For more information about Modjaji Books check out http://modjaji.book.co.za

RULES

1. Stories should be between 3000 and 5000 words.

2. Stories should be unpublished.

3. The story should somehow involve the theme of BED.

4. All entrants must be women and citizens of a Southern African country (countries include: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Moçambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe)

5. Entries should be sent by email only to modjaj@gmail.com.

6. The entry should have page numbers and the title of the story on each page.

7. The following details should be at the end of the story:

Full name of writer

Postal address

Email address

Telephone number

Short biography of not more than 300 words

8. Writers of selected stories will receive royalties and five author copies of the book.

9. Confirmation of receipt of story will be sent to all entrants.

Photo competition: literature and Africa

The eighth international literature festival berlin (24.9. – 4.10.2008), with the focus on “Africa”, is organizing the photo competition 'Literature in Africa. All submissions of analogue or digital photos (300dpi) in black / white or colour are welcome: photos of book shops with their owners, libraries, children reading, youth and adults, or other motifs that are associated with the theme.

These photos, as far as possible, will be displayed in an exhibition that will take place during the festival. The 'best' photo to be selected by the jury as the main motif for the festival, which among other things will grace the festival poster and website, will be awarded with US$500. The final submission date is 30.5.2008. Additional information required: name of the photographer, contact details, place where and date when the picture was taken.

Address: international literature festival berlin, Photo Competition, Chausseestr. 5, 10115 Berlin, Germany; or:

foto_competition@literaturfestival.com. Our website: www.literaturfestival.com

The international literature festival berlin

Experiencing literary diversity in times of globalisation: it’s possible here.

Arab poets will meet with American short-story writers, South Korean poets with their Russian colleagues and South African novelists with young, budding Albanian authors.

The most interesting, newly discovered authors still stand equally beside literature’s most established and respected talents. During the twelve days and approximately 300 events of the festival, 100 authors will introduce both new and more traditional developments to the world of contemporary literature; differences will appear and similarities become noticeable.

Prose, lyric poetry, conversations with authors and political discussions, literature for children and young people, film versions of literary works – the ilb is a lively, polyglot forum by and for literature enthusiasts, as well as for those who wish to become one.

Finnish/Nordic & African writers

----- Original Message -----
From: dahl@mappi.helsinki.fi Subject: Fwd: finnish/nordic & african writers

dear recipients,

I am vice-president of Finnish PEN, and I write to you because I look for couple of (young) African authors for a co-project between Finnish/nordic & african authors. I would like to hear from you as soon as possible.

What would it be concretely?

It would be written dialogue through e-mail on certain theme/topic as an aim a common text - the correspondence would be released partially at a blog also so that the public can follow its' proceeding.

the translator would translate finnish authors'answers into english. in the end of the project this "correspondence" would be published a printed anthology. this would be in year 2009.

Possibly there will be a workshop in the end of the whole project, where African and Finnish authors meet, but this realizes only if I manage to find the funding. Blog and anthology are however already sure & combined things:
they will be realized.

First we make the selection of Africans included:

1. Could you please suggest me somebody suitable for this project and send his/her contact details so that I can contact him/her asking their willingness to participate. Note, that I only look for about 4-5 people.
They should have already released something, proved their "professionality", and they have to live in Africa still. We also prefer them being younger authors.

2. i would like to know also what themes do you consider important in this cultural exchange kind of project? what themes would you like to discuss with finnish authors?

finns have proposed following themes:

-black and white reality - black and white signify different things in different cultures, also
-black and white north and south
-childhood
-gods
-my africa - presentations of africa that affect in my mind, the reality, possible changing of these (re)presentations
-death in our cultures

yours sincerely,

Rita Dahl

Chimurenga 12/13: Dr Satan's Echo Chamber launch

How animal go know-say dem no born me as slave?
How animal go know say slave trade don pass?
And, dey wan dash us human rights
Animal must talk to human beings
Give dem human rights

I beg oh, make you hear me well-u well
I beg oh, make you hear me very well

Human rights na my property
So therefore, you can’t dash me my property

Fela Anikulapo Kuti (Beasts of No Nation)

We launch the double issue Chimurenga 12/13, Dr. Satan's Echo Chamber, on Sharpeville Day (Human Rights Day), March 21, 2008 at Distrix Cafe. An all-improv session of sound and visuals featuring: Robbie Jansen; Kesivan Naidoo; Moreira Chonguica; Kyla Rose Smith; Teba the OSW; The General S'bu; Helder Gonzaga; Toni Paco; Stacy Hardy; Jazzart Dance Theatre; Buddy Wells; Fong Kong Bantu Soundsystem and Neo Muyanga. We called it African Space Program, after the man who runs the school of sevens next door. (view the flier)

The thing itself, Chimurenga 12/13: Dr. Satan's Echo Chamber

12 is an all-faxion issue on black technologies no longer secret, featuring words and images by Allan “Botsotso” Kolsky, Koffi Kwahule, Joao Barreiros, Olufemi Terry, Doreen Baigaina, Stacy Hardy, Akin Adesokan, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, JG Ballard, Emmanuel Dongala, Blank du Blanc, Jean Malaquais, Liesl Jobson, Peter Kalu, Dominique Malaquais, Basim Magdy, Jean Lamore, Femi “Rage” Dawkins, James Sey, Minette Vari, Teju Cole and Rana Dasgupta

13 documents the (un)making of: Dr. Satan's Echo Chamber (Louis Chude-Sokei; Victor Gama); Mannenberg (John Edwin Mason; Abdullah Ibrahim); The Last Angel of History (John Akomfrah and Edward George and BAFC); Les Saignates (Jean-Pierre Bekolo Obama); Les Saignantes 2 (Lionel Manga), SAPE (Baudouin Mouanda); a painting (Pume Bylex); Julumbu (Abu Bakarr Mansaray); Palestinian Walls (Eyal Weizman); Beaubourg (Luca Frei) and Slackers like Nkrumah and Sartre (Shirana Shahbazi, Tirdad Zolghadr and Faouzi Rouissi)

Stephen Simm launches Miss Kwa Kwa "II"

See http://www.jacana.co.za/Mailers/invites/kwakwabraai

A new novel by columnist and satirist Tom Eaton

KALK BAY BOOKS AND PENGUIN SA invite you to join them at the launch of THE WADING

On the beautiful island of Cape Formosa, the days still pass in heat and wind and silence. Separated from the ravaged Mainland by a shallow channel known as the Wading, the Cape seems a tropical idyll, intact and at peace. But when the regular supply aircraft is crippled in a storm, stranding the pilot and his granddaughter Claudette on the island, the dreamy calm of the Cape is broken, and a long-delayed confrontation between two of its most enigmatic figures can no longer be avoided.

Tom Eaton's eagerly-awaited literary novel promises something new from this highly-accomplished writer. Don't miss it...

Where: Kalk Bay Books, 124 Main Road, Kalk Bay
When: Saturday 8 March 2006
Time: 6 for 6.30pm
RSVP: books@kalkbaybooks.co.za or 021 788 2266 by 6 March
(please indicate number of people who will attend)

Drinks and snacks will be served

Join us for a reading introducing poets and poetry

Johannesburg Poets @ BOEKEHUIS Saterdag 23 Februarie @ 12:30 Andries Bezuidenhout lees uit sy debuutbundel, Retoer

Phillippa Yaa de Villiers reads from her book, Taller than Buildings When: Saturday 23 February 2008 At 12:30

Where: BOEKEHUIS, cnr Lothbury & Fawley Streets, Auckland Park RSVP: by 21 Feb 08 boekehuis@boekehuis.co.za or 011 482 3609

Oor die digter:
Andries Bezuidenhout het veral bekendheid verwerf as lid van die rockgroep Brixton Moord en Roof Orkes en vir sy rubrieke op LitNet en in Rapport. Hy is dosent in Sosiologie aan die Universiteit van die Witwatersrand.

About the poet:
Phillippa Yaa de Villiers

After winning the runner-up best writer award and the audience appreciation award in the Pansa Festival of Contemporary Theatre Readings in 2005, Phillippa Yaa de Villiers started exploring her poetic voice. Last year she performed at the Jozi Spoken Word Festival, Word Power Festival of Black Literature and Book Fair in the UK, as well as Poetry Africa, and represented South Africa at the 12th International Poetry Festival in Havana, Cuba. In 2007 she wrote her one-woman show Original Skin and performed in Bloemfontein and Cape Town. It will appear in May and June at the Market Theatre. After winning a grant from the Centre for the Book in November 2006, she published her first volume of poetry, Taller than Buildings, which is now in its second edition.

She writes for television, magazines and newspapers. Find an interview with Phillippa by Victor Dlamini at

http://victordlamini.book.co.za/2008/02/08/podcast-with-wordsmith-phillippa-yaa-de-villiers/#more-106

Find the audio recordings of poets reading their work at The Poetry Archive

The Poetry Archive is the world's premier online collection of recordings of poets reading their work.

You can enjoy listening here, free of charge, to the voices of contemporary English-language poets and of poets from the past.

Appeal for worldwide reading on anniversary of the political lie on March 20, 2008

For the third time the Peter Weiss Foundation for Art and Politics calls upon cultural institutions, radio stations, theatres and interested individuals to join in a worldwide reading on March 20th, the anniversary of the political lie. The essay “In Memory of the Forgotten” by the Chinese writer Lu Xun (1881-1936) will be read.

It is especially meaningful now, right before the Olympic Games (August 8-24, 2008 in Beijing), to draw attention to the censorship, the silence decreed on matters related to China’s most recent history, Tibet, the enormously high number of death sentences, the collaboration with the regime in Sudan and, not least, the imprisonment of civil rights activists. As recently as three weeks ago the 34 year-old activist Hu Jia, known for his commitment to human rights and rights for those infected by HIV, was put in prison after a six-month house arrest.

China is a country without any memory when it comes to certain issues. The majority of those who grew up in China in the nineties have no clear notion of what happened during the massacre in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Research into the Cultural Revolution is forbidden. Public commemoration of the 500,000 intellectuals who were imprisoned or sent to labour camps during the Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956-57 is also not allowed. The regime preaches harmony. Because he continually called upon the Chinese to remember their past, the regime slowly grew suspicious of Lu Xun, who had always been presented as a strong supporter of the Revolution.

In the summer of 2007, after Lu Xun’s work vanished from the reading lists of a few American universities, China’s minister of education ordered certain of his texts, those that had been read out on June 4, 1989, to be struck from schoolbooks and substituted by the feudal sagas of Jin Yong. Lu Xun was already threatened by censorship during his lifetime. Even after 1949 his work and photos were edited and reinterpreted due to political circumstances.

The aim of our events and activities is to raise awareness of the form and content of political communication. Since lies belong to the equipment of political groups at the start of the twenty-first century, it is crucial that the strength of those who protest against them is not weakened.

On occasion of the third anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, the Peter Weiss Foundation initiated for the first time a worldwide reading on March 20, 2006. On this “anniversary of the political lie” Eliot Weinberger’s text “What I Heard about Iraq” was read at events and over the radio. On March 20, 2007 over 1.2 million people listened to two reportages by Anna Politkovskaya.

The text by Lu Xun in all universal languages is available through the Peter Weiss Foundation for Art and Politics.

The first authors, who signed this appeal, are Yuri Andrukhovych, Paul Auster, Nuruddin Farah, Siri Hustvedt, Laszlo Krasznahorkai, Bahman Nirumand.

To sign up for this reading on the third anniversary of the political lie please contact: info@peterweissstiftung.de This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or visit the website www.peter-weiss-stiftung.de

KZN Literary Tourism

KZN Literary Tourism has hit the ground running in 2008. We aim to have the Cato Manor Writers Trail published by the end of this month and have plans to develop three more trails. These are the Albert Luthuli/Benedict Vilakazi Trail, the Midlands Writers Trail (including John van de Ruit) and the Indanda Writers Trail (focusing on Ghandi and his descendants). Contact us for more information on these trails. Here are the latest additions to our website.

Reviews

Fanie Fourie’s Lobola by Nape ‘a Motana

Fanie Fourie’s Lobola is, without doubt, unlike any book I’ve ever read. And not only because it’s written from an Afrikaner’s perspective (by a Sepedi man). Not only because it tackles the subject of inter-racial relationships with humour and candour. But because it is filled with the richness of an African traditional storyteller, only told in English.

This is most likely because it was originally written in Sepedi, and then translated into English by the author, Nape ‘a Motana, who retained much of the original colour and flavour in the language usage. What does this mean? Flowery descriptions, emotions bordering on melodrama and plenty of emphasis on ‘this beauty whom the gods of Afrika had undoubtedly blessed with splendid dimples.’ But somehow, it isn’t distracting, and simply adds to the book’s appeal.
Read more...

Ja, No, Man by Richard Poplak

Take the nostalgia bred from having spent sixteen years growing up in South Africa, and then sixteen years out of it, and combine it with a lot of thought around the responsibility of white South Africans during Apartheid, and you have Ja, No, Man in a nutshell.

Described as ‘a memoir of pop culture, girls, suburbia*. and Apartheid’, Ja, No, Man is Richard Poplak’s story of the first sixteen years of his life, which is special because (as he says), ‘What makes my experience remarkable and my perspective unique is that I lived in South Africa only under the Apartheid regime* My South Africa, the universe I inhabited as a boy, died three months after I left it.’
Read more...

Podcasts

A conversation with Lindy Stiebel

Lindy Stiebel discusses literary tourism, the KZN Literary Tourism project and literary trails in KwaZulu-Natal.

Lindy Stiebel is project leader of KZN Literary Tourism. She is also Professor in English Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Stieble is the author of Imagining Africa: landscape in H.Rider Haggard's African romances (Greenwood Press 2001), Thomas Baines and the 'Great Map' (Campbell Collections 2001), and co-editor of Still Beating the Drum: Critical Perspectives on Lewis Nkosi (Rodapi and Wits University Press 2006). She has published articles on South African literature, spatial discourse and literary tourism.

A conversation with Bridget McNulty

Bridget McNulty discusses her novel Strange Nervous Laughter, the connection between place and writing, and her hometown of Durban.

Bridget was born and grew up in Durban, a city she is still strongly attached to - in real life and literary. After finishing high school, she went to America to study Creative Writing and Theatre at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She returned to Durban after graduating in 2005, and spent a year writing at home, soaking up the sounds and smells and vibrancy of the city of Durban, and transforming them into text for her novel, Strange Nervous Laughter.

A conversation with Peter Machen

Peter Machen talks to Niall McNulty about his book Durban - A Paradise and its People, the city of Durban and how it influences his writing.

Durban - A Paradise and its People is a unique guide to the city from the perspective of those who live here. Writer and designer Peter Machen uses minimal text and rich, vibrant photographs to display the diversity of everything from architecture, music, fashion, art, dance and theatre, to film, museums and sport. For the serious minded, there are views on city government and sustainability. Published by eThekwini Municipality, the book has had rave reviews in the local and national media.

Tribute

Mynhardt verlang na Patrick -Byebye, Bethulie Boy, Byebye

At the beginning of 2004, whilst registering students at UKZN, I happened to find myself next to the head of the Drama Department. I tell him about my PhD on Literary Tourism. He tells me that he has heard that Patrick Mynhardt, the Bard of the Bosveld, has stacks of paraphernalia that he doesn't know what to do with. Ever the optimist. I decide to try 1023. " Do you have the number of a Patrick Mynhardt", I ask Yes, they tell me. I dial the number waiting to hear that I have the wrong Patrick Mynhardt.

Photographs Required

We are looking for two photographs for our Cato Manor Writers Trail - one is of the playwright Kessie Govender and the other is of the Indian community (market gardens, shops, homes) in Cato Manor. If you could assist us, please contact me at niall@literarytourism.co.za

Book Launch

Penguin Books and Exclusive Books takes pleasure in inviting you to the official launch of Durban in a Word, Contrast and Colours in eThekwini, edited by Dianne Stewart. This collection of contemporary writings by contributors who have a strong connection to Durban/KwaZulu-Natal captures the essence of Durban. Di Stewart, Greg Ash (NOAH), John van de Ruit and Devi Rajab will be saying a few words.

Date: Wednesday 27 February 2008
Time: 5:30 for 6:00pm
At: Exclusive Books Pavilion, Westville

Tours

Grey Street Writers Trails

Just a reminder, we run regular tours based on our popular Grey Street Writers trail. These tours are open to tourists and Durban residents alike and we encourage as many people as possible to join us. For more on the tour, see Grey Street Literary Trail.

Lindy Stiebel and Niall McNulty
niall@literarytourism.co.za

Wordsworth's author choice evening

Guest author is Susan Mann, author of Quarter Tones.

Date: Wednesday, 20 February 2008 Time: 17h30 for 18h00 Venue: WORDSWORTH BOOKS, Shop 7103, Victoria Wharf, V&A Waterfront.

Susan will be discussing what inspires and motivates her to write, as well as sharing some of her favourite books and authors.

RSVP before Monday, 19 February 2008 Tel: (021) 425-6880 Email: waterfront@wordsworth.co.za Quarter Tones will be available at a 20% discount.
Snacks & drinks will be served.

Quarter Tones The most important things are hardest to find words for, her father once said. That's why people make music.

When Ana returns to the ramshackle cottage of her youth in the seaside village of Noordhoek, near Cape Town, she does so with the intention of sorting out her father's affairs. It soon becomes clear that more is at stake. After a decade in London, where she has failed to find work as a musician, her return to South Africa puts further distance into an already strained marriage, not only because she is out of reach, but because Michael, her husband, has lost faith in the country.

Quick to welcome her is her neighbour, Franz van der Veer, an architect searching for redemption. This is further complicated by the arrival of his eccentric brother, Daniel. Against a tangle of childhood memories, scarred histories and renewed hope, Ana finally starts to confront the death of Sam, her Irish luthier father, and with it, questions of guilt and belonging.

Lyrical and beautifully told, Quarter Tones is a story about music and love and loss.

About the author Susan Mann was born in Durban in 1967. She has worked in the media and taught at the University of Cape Town. She is currently doing research in France.

Inaugural Book Lounge poetry evening

Inaugural Book Lounge poetry evening with Ingrid de Kok and Jeremy Cronin reading from their latest collections:

Seasonal Fires and More Than A Casual Contact

Monday 18th February, 5.30pm Corner Buitenkant & Roeland Street

Please RSVP on 021 462 2425 or booklounge@gmail.com

Lunch hour with author @ 12:30 on Friday 8 Feb '08

Lunch hour with author @ 12:30 on Friday 8 Feb '08
@ BOEKEHUIS Bookshop for South African and World Literature

BOEKEHUIS cordially invites you to a short talk by former World Bank official, Robert Calderisi author of, The Trouble with Africa Why foreign aid isn't working

Where: BOEKEHUIS, Cnr. Lothbury and Fawley streets, Auckland Park
When: Friday 8 February 2008, at 12:30 RSVP:: by Thurs 7/02/2008 on
011 482 3609 or boekehuis@boekehuis.co.za Drinks & sandwiches available

About the author:

Robert Calderisi.has had a thirty-year career in international development, principally at the World Bank, where between 1997 and 2000 he was the Bank's international spokesperson on Africa. He studied at the Universities of Montreal, Oxford, Sussex and London.

About the book:

In the introduction to Calderisi's The Trouble with Africa, he reminds us that Africa is the only continent that has grown steadily poorer over the last thirty years and the only part of the globe where population growth has been out of control. It's the only region of the world where savage wars break out on a regular basis and it's no accident that two thirds of the world's AIDS cases are in Africa but where African government have largely ignored the problem.

Drawing on many years of first-hand experience, The Trouble with Africa highlights issues which have been ignored by Africa's leaders but have long worried ordinary Africans, diplomats, academics, business leaders, aid workers, volunteers and missionaries. It ripples with stories which only someone who has talked directly to African farmers - and heads of state - could recount.

Calderisi argues that Africa is now responsible for most of its own problems and that outsiders can help only if they are more direct and demanding in their dealings with the continent. It's time to move beyond the hand-wringing and politeness that dominate most discussions of Africa and to suggest concrete steps that Africa and the world can take to liberate talent and enterprise on the continent.

Quotes:

".. a blast of fresh air over a continent that has for decades been suffocating under a blanket of well-meant concern, ineffectual at best, and harmful at worst." -
Michael Holman, former Africa Editor, Financial Times

Have you a book or author in need of a media platform?

Wordfest is an independent festival within the national arts festival in Grahamstown that provides just such a platform in June/July each year.

Authors and publishers who appear on our programme may benefit from some or all of the following:

an interview broadcast by Safm that reaches about 100 000 people an interview with other language radio services on the SABC that reaches about 10 million people overall an interview and review published in WordStock a daily newspaper dedicated to Wordfest that reaches about 20 000 festinos a free listing in the National Arts Festival Souvenir Brochure that is distributed nationwide prior to the festival and is on sale during the festival a chance to retail the book through Exclusive Books in the outlet set up in the venue a free venue in a prime festival centre - with catering facilities, the Readers’ and Writers’ Restaurant, exhibitions, lecture halls, the Winter School, a retail book outlet (Exclusive Books) and the editorial office of Wordstock on the same floor


Please note that Wordfest provides the media with access to writers and publishers. The media staffers and not Wordfest chooses who will appear on radio or in the print-media.

In addition to the above publishers can take out low cost ads in WordStock. They can also brand the venue they use for no charge and rent display space at a nominal charge.

As Wordfest aims to help promote a culture of reading and writing in South Africa and as we receive public funds we are able to offer these services for little or no charge for a limited period only.

The catering costs of a launch, sending out the invitations and hosting the event are the responsibility of the publisher. Book early to ensure you have a favourable slot in the programme.

Book launches also require a press kit comprising the following:

a copy of the book cover in jpeg a photo of the author in jpeg a synopsis of the book a brief cv of the author and contact details for the reviewers

Wordfest 2008 runs from Saturday 28 June to Saturday 5 July. Please let me know by 10 February 2008 whether you would like to take up this invitation.

Dr Chris Mann Convenor Wordfest, ISEA, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140 phone: +27 (0)46 603 8335 direct, 622 6093 reception fax: +27 (0)46 603 8566 email: c.mann@ru.ac.za

Rustum Kozain winner of 2007 Olive Schreiner Prize

Rustum Kozain is the winner of the 2007 Olive Schreiner Prize for his poetry collection 'This Carting Life' published in 2005 by Kwela Books & Snailpress. The judges noted that Kozain’s ‘imagery and his use of poetic lines are of an extremely sophisticated nature’, and he is to be ‘heartily congratulated on a very fine, beautiful and evocative collection that challenges and pleases in equal measure’.

Chris Thurman was chosen as the winner of the 2007 Thomas Pringle Award for Reviews for a portfolio of work that appeared in The Weekender. The adjudicators noted that ‘it is Thurman’s ability to synchronise separate elements into coherent structured response that marks his excellence as a reviewer’.

Chris Mann’s ‘Seahorse’ (published in New Contrast, Vol. 33 No 2 Winter 2005) was chosen as the winning poem of the 2007 Thomas Pringle Award for Poetry. The panel felt that Chris Mann’s poetry ’sweetens and expands our existence by evoking the beauty and holiness of life in the vast emptiness of the universe’.

Ambrose Chimbganda’s ‘Profiling the “native speaker” of English: myths and implications for ESL learning and teaching’ (published in the SAALT Journal for Language Teaching, Vol. 39, No 1 June 2005) is the winning article of the 2007 Thomas Pringle Award for articles on English Education. The committee agreed that ‘the research presented by Ambrose Chimbganda is significant in that it explores the role of English in southern African education, and identifies challenges to English language education and usage in the region’.

Award ceremonies for the winners will be held later in the year.

For more information, please contact Naomi Nkealah on 011 717 9339 (on weekdays 09:00-12:00) or at englishacademy@societies.wits.ac.za .

Ellen Banda-Aaku wins 2007 Commonwealth Short Story Competition

Ellen Banda-Aaku, a Crossing Borders participant from Zambia, won the 2007 Commonwealth Short Story Competition for her story 'Sozi's Box', about the thoughts of a young girl at her brother's funeral. The prize was established 11 years ago with the aim of increasing appreciation between different Commonwealth cultures. It is proving to be a nursery for star young writers, including the bestselling Nigerian Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of Half of a Yellow Sun. This year's runners-up are Catherine Palmer (New Zealand),Sarah Totton (Canada), Hema S. Raman (India) and Emily Pedder (UK). Wame Molefhe, a Crossing Borders' participant from Botswana was Highly Commended for her story 'Six Pack'.

Invitation to launch of new collection of poems by Azila Talit Reisenberger

Modjaji Books is proud to invite you to the launch of a new collection of poems, Life in Translation, by well known feminist Bible scholar Azila Talit Reisenberger.
The poems are mostly in English, a few are in Hebrew.

The launch will be on Wednesday 30th January, 17h30 for 18h00, at the Centre for the Book, 62 Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town.

Wine, water, snacks and a reading are on offer… Copies of Life in Translation will be on sale.

RSVP cdhiggs@gmail.com
0727743546 sms

Life in Translation is full of wry humour, longing, bitterness, sweetness, playfulness, and subversions of traditional meanings and texts – a delightful book that charms and surprises anew with each reading.

Tenderly and candidly these poems lay bare the experiences of a woman who feels herself an ousider, in between two lives, two countries, two languages. Mostly translated from the original Hebrew, these fresh moments of insight and nostalgia make an important contribution to the multi-lingual nature of South African poetry.
– Marcia Leveson

Not to be heard. Not to be understood. Azila Reisenberger's poetry makes us overwhelmingly aware how often we have to translate ourselves in order to mattter.
– Antjie Krog

More about the author:

Azila Talit Reisenberger is an award winning author who has had poetry and short stories published in Israel, the USA, UK, Germany and South Africa. Two of her plays: "Adam's Apple" and "The loving father", were staged at the Grahamstown Festival. She is a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Jewish Studies in the School of Languages and Literatures at the University of Cape Town, and renowned for her passionate lectures and articles on gender issues and feminist theology in the Bible. For the past 18 years she has served as the Spiritual Leader of Temple Hillel, a progressive Jewish community in East London. She lives in Cape Town with her husband and three children.

Talk by Bibi Bakare-Yusuf at the C-Factory

You're invited to a talk by Bibi Bakare-Yusuf at the C-Factory on Wednesday 28 November, from 6:30pm. Bibi Bakare-Yusuf is a feminist scholar and the publisher of Cassava Republic Press based in Abuja, Nigeria (www.cassavarepublic.biz). She'll present a piece titled "Fanon Can't Dance".

Fanon Can’t Dance: Antiphonies of the Gaze

The Chimurenga Factory is at: 3rd floor, The Pan African Market, 76 Long st, Cape Town. Cash bar.

Chimurenga 12: Satan's Echo Chamber - www.chimurenga.co.za

SA Writers' College short story competition

SA Writers' College announces a short story competition, open to anyone who has not been previously published in the commercial press. (Letters to the editor, church news bulletins etc don't count as published.)

Prize money:

First prize R2000
Second prize R500

Free to enter, by e-mail only as a Word Attachment.
Address entries to Nichola@sawriterscollege.co.za

2000 words, Theme: Unfinished Business.

Deadline March 31 2008

One entry per writer

Cover page must include Your name, email address, title of story, word count

Each page to be numbered

The writer's name must not appear on any page as judging will be done blind

Invitation to launch of The Book Lounge - Cape Town's new bookshop experience

Shimmer Chinodya wins Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 2007

The Noma Award for Publishing in Africa announces that Shimmer Chinodya has won the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 2007 for his novel Strife. The book was published in 2006 by Weaver Press, Zimbabwe.

The Jury’s citation reads:

“The brilliance of this powerful and haunting story, in notably innovative form, brings a new dimension to African writing. The novelist reverses the traditional relationship between family and nation, concentrating on the social energies in an African family, rather than the individual or the nation. Powerful and haunting, with memorable portraits of individuals, the story is driven by a deep and distinctive sense of the tragic. The novelist’s psychological sensitivity illuminates the dominant themes of disease and death; and the constant tension between the pull of the past and the aspiration of modernity is expressed in a prose that makes everything original and new, recasting old themes.”

Shimmer Chinodya is a Zimbabwean writer, who has published eight novels, children’s books, educational texts, radio and film scripts, and has contributed to numerous anthologies. He has won many awards, including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Africa region). He seeks primarily to present an African worldview, but wants his literature to speak to the world as a whole. He describes his works as “experiments on the effects of time and change on humans, and human relationships tangled in the eternal quest for happiness and fulfilment”.

The Noma Award, under the auspices of UNESCO, will be presented to Shimmer Chinodya at a special ceremony details of which will be announced later.

107 titles, from 66 African publishers, in 12 countries, in 5 languages, were submitted for the 2007 competition. The Jury singled out a further four titles for Honourable Mention:

(alphabetical by publisher):

Le Lièvre et la Pintade by Gina Dick
Illustrated by Mossoun Ernest Teki
Abidjan: CEDA & Les Nouvelles Editions Ivoiriennes, 2006
An enchanting children’s story, beautifully illustrated in colour,
and published to a high standard in hardback. The story tells how the
animals lived in harmony, until the drought struck. The wicked hare
breaks ranks and behaves selfishly, until he is finally outwitted by the
guinea fowl. Rich in language, the story illustrates the importance and
values of loyalty.

Room 207 by Kgebetli Moele
Cape Town: Kwela Books, 2006
Set in a dilapidated building in Hillbrow, the notorious suburb of
Johannesburg, this novel is preoccupied with the theme of a new South
Africa trying to cope with the burden of its past and its ambivalent
presence in Africa. The tone is of celebration and mourning, and the
writing is very strong, poetic, vivid, and often moving.

Readers’ Theatre: Twelve Plays for Young People by Mabel Segun
(Lagos: Maybelline Publications, 2006)
Twelve short plays for children, with clear objectives and excellent
presentation, both educational and entertaining. The plays for the
youngest are based on folktales, and for the older children on heroes
and heroines, both legendary and historical. Some clever narrative
devices are employed, with a real awareness of the voice of children and
their skill as performers.

At Her Feet by Nadia Davids
(Johannesburg: Oshun Books, 2006)
Created for a one-woman performance, the play is an exceptional piece
of work: probing, acutely perceptive, with a superb ear for individual
characters’ speech patterns. Dealing with the relationship between
women and Islam specifically in the South African context, the material
is thought provoking and moving, and the writing distinctive and often
poetic.

The Noma Award Jury is chaired by Walter Bgoya from Tanzania, one of Africa’s most distinguished publishers, with wide knowledge of both African and international publishing. The other members of the Jury in 2007 were: Professor Simon Gikandi, Professor of English at Princeton University; Professor Peter Katjavivi, Ambassador of the Republic of Namibia to the Federal Republic of Germany and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Namibia; and Mary Jay, Secretary to the Managing Committee (the Jury). The Award is sponsored by Kodansha Ltd, Japan.

For further information about the Award, please contact:
Mary Jay, Secretary to the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, PO Box
128, Witney, Oxon OX8 5XU, UK. Tel: +44-(0)1993-775235 Fax:
+44-(0)1993-709265 Email: maryljay@aol.com www.nomaaward.org

Johannesburg Literary Festival

http://www.joburg.org.za/literary_fest/index.stm

JoLiFe 2008

The City of Johannesburg Library and Information Services in partnership with Write Associates held the first Johannesburg Literary Festival in March 2006. It was named JoLiFe. The first two years of the event were well received and attended. A few ideas were tested and the City has decided that from 2008 the development of the art of writing as well as the promotion of indigenous languages should become the focus areas of the festival. Communities and especially the youth should be encouraged to read, to learn, and to talk and write about our literary icons and heroes as well as to develop their own skills in the art of writing. The festival will also help enhance the stature of the city in South Africa's literary calendar.

Objectives

* To celebrate and promote literature, literary icons both past and present in a manner that advances literary excellence and national identity.
* To become a major source of celebration and critical appraisal of African, South African and in particular Johannesburg seasoned and aspirant writers.
* To highlight the role played by Public Libraries in making literature more accessible to communities
* To promote literature in indigenous languages

*New* poetry: To my father, flutist of all time by Ajumeze Henry

Ajumeze Henry was born in Delta State of Nigeria and holds a BA (theatre arts) from the University of Calabar in Nigeria. His poems have been published in the arts pages of most Nigerian newspapers and in such anthologies as FOR KEN, FOR NIGERIA, edited by E.C Osundu, an anthology put together in the heydays of arrest and execution of Nigerian environmentalist and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa. This poems is from an unpublished collection, In the beginning, was Anioma. Ajumeze Henry currently lives in Senegal.

To my father, flutist of all time - Ajumeze Henry

*New* poetry: 8 poems by Olu Tolu-Omole

Olu Tolu-Omole is a Nigerian born in Lagos. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the Federal University of Technology in Akure, Nigeria. He has been writing for fifteen years and has self-published a collection of poetry entitled Why? with Trafford Publishing in Canada. Presently he resides in Abuja.

8 poems - Olu Tolu-Omole

*New* short fiction: Demoina by Travis Lyle

Durban-based writer, event promoter, DJ and standalone whisky filter, Travis Lyle has been published in a variety of music magazines, books, newspapers and websites, and is now scribbling for his supper as a copywriter:
Blows smoke rings like a seasoned pro.
Prone to outbursts of cynicism and/or mirth.
Natural habitat - east coast tidal zone.
Lubricate regularly with Walker brand scotch for best results.
Good with red meat, poultry, seafood and Radiohead.

Demoina - Travis Lyle

The Centre for the Book’s 'must read' South African books

In response to an informal poll run by the Centre for the Book, in collaboration with the Cape Town International Book Fair, the Centre for the Book has compiled a list of great books written by South Africans.

‘This is a great way to show that South Africans are reading books written by South Africans,’ said Vanessa Badroodien, Managing Director of the Cape Town Book Fair. ‘And not only that, but that South African books are equal to any book out there.’

The final list of ‘Must Read’ books - 25 (& 5):

A change of tongue -- Antjie Krog, RANDOM HOUSE SA (also as 'n Ander Tongval -TAFELBERG )
African Salad - a portrait of South Africans at home -- Tamsen de Beer and Stan Engelbrecht, DAYONE PUBLISHERS
Agaat -- Marlene van Niekerk, JONATHAN BALL
Coldsleep Lullaby -- Andrew Brown, ZEBRA PRESS (STRUIK)
Confessions of a Gambler -- Rayda Jacobs, KWELA
Die Aandag Van Jou Oe: Gedigte Vir Die Liefde -- Petra Muller, TAFELBERG
Disgrace -- JM Coetzee, VINTAGE RANDOM HOUSE IMPRINT
Dog Eat Dog -- Niq Mhlongo, KWELA
Green-eyed Thieves -- Imraan Coovadia, UMUZI
I remember King Kong (The Boxer) -- Denis Hirson, JACANA
Jamela’s Dress -- Nicky Daly, TAFELBERG
Karoo Boy -- Troy Blacklaws, DOUBLE STOREY
Orion -- Deon Meyer, TAFELBERG
People who have stolen from me - David Cohen, PICADOR AFRICA (PAN MACMILLAN)
Portrait with Keys -- Ivan Vladislavic, UMUZI
Seasonal Fires -- Ingrid de Kok, UMUZI
Shirley, Goodness and Mercy -- Chris van Wyk, PICADOR AFRICA (PAN MACMILLAN)
Skyline -- Patricia Schonstein Pinnock, DAVID PHILLIP
Some Afrikaners Revisited -- David Goldblatt, UMUZI
Song Trials -- Mxolisi Nyezwa, UKNZ PRESS (THE UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS - originally a Gecko Press publication)
Spud -- John van der Ruit, PENGUIN
The Abundant Herd -- Marguerite Poland and Leigh Voight, FERNWOOD PRESS
The Children's Day Michiel Heyns JONATHAN BALL, (also as Verkeerdespruit HUMAN & ROUSSEAU)
The Good Cemetery Guide - Consuelo Roland, DOUBLE STOREY
The Native Commissioner -- Shaun Johnson, PENGUIN
The Quiet Violence of Dreams -- K Sello Duiker, KWELA
The Whale Caller -- Zakes Mda, PENGUIN
Touch my Blood --- Fred Khumalo, UMUZI
Welcome to my Hillbrow -- Phaswane Mpe, UKNZ PRESS (THE UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS)
ZAPIRO, The Zuma Code -- DOUBLE STOREY

Launch of The Light Echo and Other Poems by Stephen Watson

Kalk Bay Books and Penguin SA invite you to the launch of

The Light Echo and Other Poems by Stephen Watson

Culminating in a series of meditations on the nature of poetry itself, this is a collection which, in its limpidity of style, its power to stimulate the mind and emotions at once, as well as its ability to give life to the imperceptible, has not been excelled in South African poetry. It is Stephen Watson's finest collection to date.

Guest speaker: Peter Knox-Shaw

When: Saturday 17 November 2007
Time: 6 for 6.30pm
Where: Kalk Bay Books,
124 Main Road Kalk Bay
RSVP: books@kalkbaybooks.co.za
or 021 788 2266 by Friday 16 November
indicate number attending for catering purposes)

Drinks and snacks will be served

*New* poetry: The home coming by Thamsanqa N. Ncube

Thamsanqa Never Ncube was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where he attended school at Luveve as well as Founders High Schools. After completing his Accounting Management Studies at the Bulawayo Polytechnic College, Mr. Ncube immigrated to South Africa, where he lectured in Business studies at various colleges, before opening his own Business Training College, which he successfully managed for 3 years. He lives in Pretoria with his wife and son. This poem is extracted from his book Mureza … In the Shadow of the Flag.

The home coming - Thamsanqa N. Ncube

Talking About Books at UCT

Conveners: Gail Fincham (UCT) & Barbara Basel (English Academy) Speakers: Peter Anderson, Sandra Dodson, Gail Fincham & Stephen Watson.

All four books to be discussed have either just come out or are about to be published.

Award winners: Russel Brownlee, Michiel Heyns, Ken Barris & David Schalkwyk.

Date: Saturday, 3 November 2007
Time: 09:45 (registration)
Venue: UCT Arts Building 100

PROGRAMME

Talking About Books

09:45-10:25 Registration
10:25-10:30 Welcome Barbara Basel (President)
10:30-11:00 Foundling’s Island (Collection of poetry) Peter Anderson
11:00-11:30 Water to Land: A Collection of Birth Stories (Biography) Sandra Dodson
11:30-11:45 Tea
11:45-12:15 Literary Landscapes: from Modernism to Postcolonialism (Criticism) Gail Fincham
12:15-12:45 The Light Echo (Collection of poetry) Stephen Watson
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:00 Presentation of Awards
15:00 Closing remarks Gail Fincham

Awards to be presented

Olive Schreiner Prize 2006
Prose:
Russel Brownlee
Garden of the Plagues (Human & Rousseau, 2005)

Thomas Pringle Awards 2006
Reviews:
Michiel Heyns
Reviews in the Sunday Independent

Short Story:
Ken Barris
‘The Quick Brown Fox’ (New Contrast, 31 (2))

Literary Article:
David Schalkwyk
‘Race, Body and Language in Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Plays’ (English Studies in Africa, 47 (2))

Registration fee (inclusive of morning tea and lunch)
English Academy members R120
Non-members R130
Pensioners R100
Full-time students R80

*payment can be made at the door

Venue
UCT Arts Building, Lecture theatre 100
(Lunch is at the UCT Staff Club)

Secure parking is available in the parking lot above the Kramer Building on Middle campus

RSVP
For catering purposes, please rsvp before 31 October to:
Naomi Nkealah
Tel/Fax: 011 717 9339
(Weekdays 09:00-12:00)
englishacademy@societies.wits.ac.za
or
Gail Fincham
E-mail: Gail.Fincham@uct.ac.za

Launch of Willemien de Villiers' The Virgin in the Treehouse

Jacana Media and WORDSWORTH BOOKS take great pleasure in inviting you to the launch of Willemien de Villiers' book, The Virgin in the Treehouse.

Date: Thursday, 25 October 2007

Time: 17h30 for 18h00.

Venue: WORDSWORTH BOOKS, Shop 7, Gardens Centre, Mill Street, Gardens.

Snacks & drinks will be served.

We look forward to seeing you there.

RSVP:

Tel: (021) 461-8464 or email: gardens@wordsworth.co.za
by Wednesday 24 October 2007.

The Virgin in the Treehouse

A young woman with an unshakeable faith in the Immaculate Conception awaits celestial instruction while living in a treehouse at the back of a friend's home. A failed artist whose deepest desires are only ever revealed to her in the dreams which she never remembers. A wise woman who lives in a red car. A domestic worker whose daily atrocity forms the fabric of her life. And the King whose chest is home to a bird of paradise. These are some of the unforgettable characters in Willemien de Villiers' new novel, The Virgin in the Treehouse. Her delicate touch and sensual flair for storytelling is both thought-provoking and timely.

About the author

Willemien de Villiers is an artist and writer. A Fine Arts graduate, she manipulates slip-cast commercial greenware to create unique clay narratives.She has published two novels - Kitchen Casualties, Jacana 2003; The Virgin in the Treehouse, Jacana 2007 - as well as several short stories in various collections. She lives in Cape Town with her family, below Muizenberg Peak at the start of Peck's Valley.

Sunday Times looking for Books Editor

Permanent skilled level position in the Media sector at SUNDAY TIMES in Rosebank in South Africa (Gauteng). Benefits: Medical Aid, Pension Fund.

Purpose of the Job:

To write a weekly book column, provide feature content on books and to manage book-related projects for the Sunday Times Main Responsibilities:

*To generate story ideas and produce reviews, feature and news stories on books
*To attend and report on book-related events and launches
*To source, commission and edit book-related content
*To build and maintain a wide range of contacts in the book world
*To generate ideas and feature stories for a books website
*To coordinate the Sunday Times Book Awards and other related events Requirements:

*A university degree, preferably a post-graduate degree in the humanities
*Five years of relevant experience in journalism
*Experience in feature writing and editing
*Valid driver's licence and own vehicle essential Knowledge:

*Informed and knowledgeable about current affairs
*Computer literacy Skills:
*Feature writing
*Communication
*Team player
*Problem solving
*Planning
*Negotiation
*Strategic thinking Attitudes:
*Deadline driven
*Attention to detail
*Not tied to the clock
*Outgoing
*Ability to work under pressure We are an Employment Equity employer and as such, preference will be given to candidates who add to the diversity of our organization.

Apply online before 24/10/2007.
Please note that recruiters can expire or delete jobs at any time.

Shenaaz Moola Phone Number: +27 11 280 3027 Fax Number: +27 11 280 3034 Email Address: moolas@johncom.co.za

Lauri Kubuitsile wins BTA/Anglo Platinum Short Story Competition 2007

The 13th BTA/Anglo Platinum short story competition announced on Thursday night that Botswana national, Lauri Kubuitsile had won first prize for her story “The Christmas Wedding”. Kubuitsile (43), a published author and winner of a number of writing competitions, was awarded her first-prize cheque of R25 000 at the prize giving ceremony in Auckland Park. Lauri’s story, about a woman who realises on the morning of her wedding day that her groom might have been complicit in the death of his ex lover, was also awarded the platinum prize for Creativity. The competition, with the highest submission of any writing competition in the world, has been very successful in raising awareness about writing and reading. The prize money for the competition, totalling R65 000 is among the highest for any short story writing competition.

Commenting on her achievement Lauri Kubuitsile couldn’t yet quite believe that she has won both first place as well as the creativity prize. "Winning the creativity prize was a wonderful honour. As a full time writer, it’s incredible to win a fiction competition with such wonderful prize money. I have a writers’ group of four women and we encourage each other to keep on writing. They will all be thrilled to hear about this prize!"

The second-place prize of R15 000 was awarded to Trevor Crisp, a 76 year old retired Johannesburg resident who never managed to finish high school. His winning story, ‘The Landscape’ was the first piece of writing he had ever entered in a competition. Trevor said he felt elated at having won a prize: “Even now I cannot grasp that I was successful in reaching the finals! I draw inspiration for my stories from situations and characters I have encountered throughout my life and travels in Africa, and this particular story was an amalgamation of many of these experiences. I’d like to convey my heartfelt thanks to Beulah and the competition organisers”.

In third place was “The Wordsmith” written by Jenny Robson, who has previously won a number of awards for youth literature. Fourth place was awarded to 23 year old Capetonian Tsireledzo Mushoma for “A New Beginning”. Fifth place was awarded to Lourens Erasmus for “Soccer Farm”. Lourens, also a first time competition entrant, achieved double success when a member of South African production company Creative Media International optioned Soccer Farm for film rights.

The competition, managed by reading activist Beulah Thumbadoo, has helped to give voice to thousands of ordinary South Africans and promoted a wealth of local writing. More than 14000 stories have been sent in from throughout Southern Africa since its inception. “Every other development item on our national agenda is meaningless if we don't get reading right. Literacy is crucial - we need to become a nation of readers and writers, and Africa needs books if this is to become a reality,” said Minister Mosibudi Mangena when delivering the keynote address.

Entrants were asked to write a gripping and original story of between 4500 to 5000 words. The competition is unique in that it focuses on content over form, understanding that many entrants will be writing in their second or third language. Story quality and creativity are the key criteria and entrants are not penalized for imperfect grammar and spelling. As such, and evidenced by this year’s list of winners, stories are submitted from all walks of life throughout Southern Africa.


Eric Miyeni, successful author and a member of the 2007 competition panel of judges commented: “I am proud to have been involved with this competition, which is an incredible tool in cultivating a writing, and more importantly, a reading culture in South Africa and the entire African continent. This year saw a very high calibre of submissions.

Congratulations to all who submitted their stories, and particularly the winners.”

This is the eighth year that Anglo Platinum has sponsored the competition. Anglo Platinum is committed to supporting the development of education in South Africa and does much towards building schools and infrastructure. The short story competition is a special creative project: “We are very pleased to be associated with this noble project, which is all about promoting reading and writing in our society. As part of our corporate social responsibility and commitment to promoting adult basic education and training (ABET) within our company and society in general, we believe our association with BTA is crucial and has, thus far, contributed immensely to promoting reading among the young and old." said Anglo Platinum.

www.angloplatshortstory.com

Biography: Lauri Kubuitsile Lauri Kubuitsile, a 43 year old woman living in Botswana, is an award winning author of many short stories and three published novels, two of which are novellas in the Detective Kate Gomolemo series. The first novel in the series, The Fatal Payout, is on the list of prescribed books for junior secondary libraries in Botswana. Murder for profit, the second in the series, is due for release in October 2007.

Some of Lauri’s more notable writing achievements include her first place award in the Bessie Head Memorial Prize Competition in 1999, and her nomination for the Botswana Writer of the Year Award in 2005.

The BTA/Anglo Platinum Short Story Competition is now in its 13th year.

The prize money for the competition, totalling R65 000 (with R25 000 for first prize), is among the highest for any short story competition.

*New* short fiction: Six Millions Ways to Die by Mbonisi P. Ncube

Mbonisi P. Ncube is a Zimbabwean short story writer, poet and playwright. He is currently working on his first novel, The Munhumutapa Candidate.

Six Millions Ways to Die - Mbonisi P. Ncube

Centre for the Book’s Community Publishing Project finalist for ACT Cultural Development Award

The Centre for the Book’s Community Publishing Project is a finalist for the ACT Cultural Development Award 2007 sponsored by Distell, the other finalists are Art Bank Joburg and Art for Humanity.

The Community Publishing Project (CPP) Based at the Centre for the Book, the CPP provides advice, funding and technical support to writers and writers’ groups in South Africa, to help them develop publishing skills and to undertake the publishing and marketing of works produced in their communities. The Centre for the Book is a specialist unit of the National Library of South Africa.

Over a six year period 29 books have been published with grants from the CPP. Writers and writers’ groups from all regions and working in a range of indigenous South African languages have received grants and have independently published books.

The Community Publishing Project is currently funded by Nasou Via Afrika, it was started with an initial donation over three years from Via Afrika and NB Publishers. It has also received funding from the MAPPP Seta and the Mpumalanga Provincial Library Service.

Colleen Higgs, who has managed this project since its inception says, “I am delighted that the Community Publishing Project has been recognized in this way. It has been my privilege to manage the project and to see each book take shape at its own pace. I have traveled to remote corners of South Africa and have met writers in all these places. The Community Publishing Project gives people a foot in the door of the big world of publishing. It demystifies publishing and the book world for grantees and has created wonderful opportunities for many of the people who have participated in the project."

For more information go to www.bdf.org.za and www.nlsa.ac.za

The annual Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) Awards are presented by Nedbank and celebrate andrecognise outstanding individuals, organisations or agencies that have played an integral role in the development and promotion of arts, culture and creativity in South Africa. TheACT Awards 2007 is supported by CLASSICfeel Magazine, the Cape Town radio partner is Fine Music Radio 101.3 and the Gauteng radio partner is 102.7 Classic fM.

According to Ismail Mahomed, convenor of the 2007 Awards adjudication panel, “the finalists for 2007 reflect the extremely high calibre of people who champion the advancement of the arts. These finalists stand high amongst a broad range of individuals and organizations nominated by the public. Short-listing these finalists from amongst a group of people who each deserve an accolade for their commitment to the advancement of the arts was no easy task.”

For more information - www.act.org.za

*New* poetry: tlhokomeliso by Rethabile Masilo

Rethabile Masilo is a native of Lesotho living and working in Paris, France. Mr. Masilo enjoys reading and writing poetry. He runs two blogs, Poéfrika http://poefrika.blogspot.com and Sotho http://sotho.blogsome.com , and is also co-editor of a literary magazine, Canopic Jar http://canopicjar.com . He is married and has two children.

tlhokomeliso - Rethabile Masilo

Kalk Bay Books and Jacana invitation to Love and Courage reading

Kalk Bay Books and Jacana invite you to a reading from

Love and Courage by author Pregs Govender

As a struggle activist and ANC MP in South Africa's first
democratic Parliament, Pregs Govender has made her
mark as a woman and politician with integrity and guts.
In Love and Courage she shares her life story and her experiences as an "insubordinate" woman.

DATE: Saturday 6 October
TIME: 6:00 for 6:30pm
PLACE: 124 Main Road, Kalk Bay
RSVP by Friday 5 October to
books@kalkbaybooks.co.za or 021 788 2266.

Drinks and snacks will be served.

Invitation to launch of After Tears by Niq Mhlongo

International poetry prize Castello Di Duino

International Poetry Prize Castello Di Duino

Deadline January 6 2008

Organized by the volunteer Association “Poesia e Solidarietà” Trieste

Rules of participation:

Ø The competition is open to young people under 30 years of age.

Ø The participation is free.

Ø Participants have to send only one unpublished , never prized poem (maximum 50 lines).

Ø The general theme of the Edition 2008 is: Vocies / Silence

Ø Poems will be accepted in the mother tongue of the authors. A translation into English and /or Italian is required.

Ø A jury composed by poets and literary critics with different linguistic competences will evaluate the poems as much as possible in their original language.

Ø Poems must arrive before : 2008 January 6.

a) preferably by E-Mail (E-Mail to Valera@units.it).

Please, send the complete Application Form (see below) in the message and the poem attached to the message in Format Word or rft.

b) or by regular mail to Prof. Gabriella Valera Gruber, Via Matteotti 21, 34138, Trieste (Italy).

As far as the deadline is concerned, we will take into consideration the postmark, but no poem will be taken into consideration, which arrives after the jury has started its evaluation process (soon after the deadline)

In both cases the competitors must insert their anagraphic data and statements in the following application form.

Name, Surname, Birth Date, Nationality, Address, City, Country, Phone, E-Mail, Title of the poem, Statements:

I declare that the poem…. (Title)….is my original work, has never been prized and is unpublished.

I give my permission to its possible publication and presentation to the general audience.

I declare that I have not / I have (please choose one or the other option) subscribed to SIAE nor to any other similar Societies, which protect copyrights.

Prizes:

Ø The jury will designate three winners and reserves the right of selecting other poems of special worth. The three winners will be awarded a prize of € 500 each.

Ø In accordance with the aim of the competition to combine solidarity and poetry, the winners will choose a humanitarian cause (possibly in their own country) to which they will devote a part of the prize (€200).

Ø The poems of the winners and a selection of the best poems will be published by “Ibiskos Editrice di Antonietta Risolo” (Empoli, Italy) (Sponsor of the Competition), hopefully in both the Italian and English version together with a CD in the original languages. The proceeds of the sales will be devoted to Luchetta-Ota-D’Angelo-Hrovatin Foundation for children war victims (www.fondazioneluchetta.org ).

* Special prizes for the best poems of people “under 16”.
* Special prizes for the three best Schools that compete with groups of pupils.
* Not awarded people may ask for free publication of their poem in the webpage of the competition.



Contact: Prof. Gabriella Valera Gruber, Via Matteotti 21, 34138 Trieste - Tel. 040 638787

E-Mail valera@units.it or go to the website www.castellodiduinopoesia.it

Poetry workshop with Finuala Dowling

A poetry workshop with Finuala Dowling will be held on Saturday 6 October in Claremont (Cape Town) from 16h00 - 17h30. Cost R80. Please write to nuala@gem to book and collect the exercises.

Romance writing workshop - Joburg and Cape Town

"I loved Mr. Darcy far more than any of my own husbands."~ Rumer Godden

Not that cynical? Then join: Romancing the Dollar!

Anthony Ehlers, author of 10 romances, will be running a Romance Writing workshop.
Date: 22 September
Time: 09:00 - 15:00

Two Writers Write graduates have had their first romances accepted.
Congratulations!

Which is the ideal genre for you?

Blaze?
Tender?
Modern?
Intrigue?
Medical?

Understand the Mills & Boon and Silhouette imprints.

Craft a story

Acquire the techniques to finish a romance
Learn the rules of the genre
Develop believable romantic characters
Understand techniques to move your plot along

Have the satisfaction of finishing a book.

Have fun.

When: Saturday 22 September 2007

Time: 8.30a.m. - 2.30 p.m.

How much: R1 975, 00 Ex VAT

Where: Block D, Coachman's Crossing Office Park, Brian Road, Off Peter
Place, Bryanston, Sandton

To Book: info@thewriteco.co.za

Johannesburg:

Tel: 011 706-4021
Fax: 011 252-8890
NLA, Suite D, Block D, Coachman's Crossing Office Park, Brian Road,
Off Peter Place, Bryanston, Sandton

Cape Town:
Tel: 021 462 7580
Fax: 086 6173046
20 Dunkley Mews, Dunkley Square, Gardens

A novel course by Jo-Anne Richards and Jann Turner

Two highly experienced, internationally-published South African novelists are jointly presenting a new interactive, four-week writing course this October.

Jo-Anne Richards (The Innocence of Roast Chicken, Sad at the Edges) and Jann Turner (Heartland, Southern Cross) will help you turn your great idea for a novel into a reality.

Taking place over four Saturday mornings from 9am - 1pm at Sasani Studios, Highlands North, Johannesburg, this intensive but accessible four week interactive course will cover all you need to know about getting started, polishing and completing your manuscript and getting it from page to print. Write a novel is ideal for both complete beginners and those who want to finally finish the first draft that's been lurking on their desk for months. Numbers are limited, to ensure individual attention.

The course will also include a "meet the publishers" session, where you can hear directly from publishers what they look for in a novel, how to present your manuscript and how they approach and market fiction in South Africa.

Both tutors have just delivered their fourth novel to their publishers, ensuring those attending the write a novel course will get the benefit of both years of accumulated experience and up-to-the-minute industry insights.

A course overview, tutor biogs and registration details can be found on www.creativeindustry.co.za.

Venue

Date: 06 October 2008 to 27 October 2007
Location: Sasani Studios, Highlands North, Johannesburg
Cost: R3000

Contact: Fiona Walsh
Company name: Creative Industry
Telephone number: 072 298 7736
Email address fiona@creativeindustry.co.za