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
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
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 .
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 .
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
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'.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
