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.