The Cape Winelands are home to some of South Africa’s top restaurants and can be thought of as the culinary epicentre of the country. The cuisine of the area has been influenced over hundreds of years by a mixture of cultures (Dutch, French Huguenot, Cape Malay) to form the rich gastronomic heritage which is celebrated in Cape Winelands Cuisine. Written by Hetta van Deventer, the culinary manager at wine estate La Motte’s award-winning Pierneef à la Motte restaurant, the book covers traditional and contemporary recipes from the Winelands, with a focus on Cape herbs and spices and cooking with wine.
Alert! The shortlists for the 2010 M-Net Literary Awards have been announced – including the lists for second annual film awards, given for works of fiction that are, erm, eminently filmmable.
Alert!Exclusive Books launches the 2010 edition of its Homebru promotion today in Johannesburg.
The campaign places a couple dozen “proudly South African” titles front and centre in Exclusive Books shops and online, aiming to present top titles from a mix of genres. Your Correspondent will be chatting with Homebru selectees Chris van Wyk (Eggs to Lay, Chickens to Hatch), Nechama Brodie (Inside Joburg), Zukiswa Wanner (Home Away (w00t)), Deon Meyer (Thirteen Hours) and Marita van der Vyver (It’s Just Dessert, Dear) at the Johannesburg kick-off later today. Very much looking forward to that!
As always, there’s room for debate about said list: where’s Antony Altbeker’s Fruit of a Poisoned Tree, for instance, or Lauren Beukes‘ Zoo City – ? And you’d think Fiona Snyckers would be in with a shout with Trinity on Air. (Last, how splendid would it be to see a Modjaji Books title in Homebru lights?) But that, perhaps, is a debate for a different day: today we congratulate those who’ve landed a place.
One item of interest: this year’s list includes a CD in addition to its standard fistful of reads, the Putumayo Africa and SA Legends Pack – a reminder that Exclus1ves.co.za isn’t just about books anymore.
Skrywers Rachelle Greeff (Alles behalwe die geheim van my whiskies) en Danie Marais (As almal ver is) het lesers van Rapport Boeke verlede week gegroet met hul laaste artikel. Anastacia de Vries sal voortaan by die paar oorneem.
Dis my en Danie Marais se finale Rapport Boeke en asof om die waarde van hierdie bylae te herbevestig kom Danie, bekroon as digter en gerespekteer as boekejoernalis, met een van die belangrikste plaaslike artikels nog oor poësie en ras sedert 1994.
By Danie het ek baie geleer. Die sagte antwoord keer die grimmigheid so effens af, dit was een. Maar sy vernaamste les hou hy vir laaste.
Alert! The shortlists for this year’s Jan Rabie Rapport and Via Afrika prizes have been announced. To reprint exactly what we said about the prizes last year:
The Jan Rabie/Rapport Prize is the most prestigious award in Afrikaans literature for first or early fiction, and open to all books, while the five Via Afrika awards are open only to titles from the Via Afrika group: NB Publishers, Jonathan Ball Publishers, Lux Verbi-BM, NVA and Van Schaik Publishers.
The good news is that, this year, Via Afrika has increased the prize money to from R30 00 to R35 000 per category. The ceremony, held in June last year, has been pushed to July in 2010 – doubtless so that it avoids the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It’s the richest awards night in SA Lit, and BOOK SA will certainly be there to cover it.
The WA Hofmeyr Prize – in its 48th year – goes to authors who could “potentially, through their outstanding writing, shift the boundaries of Afrikaans literature”:
The Recht Malan Prize “acknowledges excellence in the field of non-fiction books”:
Load Shedding, edited by Liz McGregor and Sarah Nuttall (Jonathan Ball Publishers) ‘n Vurk in die pad by Andre P. Brink (Human & Rousseau) Reisiger by Elsa Joubert (Tafelberg) Through my Lens by Alf Kumalo and and Tanya Farber (Tafelberg)
MER Prizes
The shortlist for the MER Prize for illustrated children’s books comprises:
Saam met die suidoosterwind waai daar jaarliks ‘n fees van kuns en kultuur die Kaap binne. Die Suidoosterfees, wat van 26 tot 31 Januarie by Artscape aangebied word, sluit ook ‘n hele aantal boekgeleenthede in. Lesers kan uitsien na die volgende:
Kom geniet ontbyt en ‘n bespreking van Anoescha von Meck se Annerkant die longdrop, Vaselinetjie, en die vertaling, My Name is Vaselinetjie. Die toneelstuk van hierdie boek is by die fees te sien en dit sal ook by die ontbyt bespreek word.
Saterdag 30 Januarie om 09:00
Koste: R90.00
Die toneelstuk word op hierdie dae opgevoer:
Vrydag 29 Januarie om 15:30
Saterdag 30 Januarie om 13:30
Sondag 31 Januarie om 10:00
Katvoet
Riana Scheepers sal haar nuwe bundel kortverhale, Katvoet, bespreek.
Saterdag 30 Januarie om 12:00
Koste: Gratis!
Moenie dat die grootmense hoor nie
Francois Bloemhof gesels met Rudi Venter oor sy nuwe jeugbundel, Moenie dat die grootmense hoor nie, en ook oor al die ander genres wat hy aanpak.
Saterdag 30 Januarie om15:30
Koste: Gratis!
Brandkuiken
Kom hoor hoe klink Brand Blixum se gedigte. Dehon Joubert doen ‘n gedramatiseerde voorlesing uit Blixum se debuutbundel, Brandkuiken.
Saterdag 30 Januarie om 19:00
Koste: Gratis!
Tango met Amanda Strydom en Jeanne Els
Jeanne Els gaan voorlees uit haar boek Tango en die koningin van kabaret, Amanda Strydom, sal die gehoor met sang vermaak.
Sondag 31 Januarie om 10:30
Koste: R90.00
Die verhaal van Elandskloof
Tobie Wiese se nuwe boek, Die Verhaal van Elandskloof, kom onder die loep in hierdie bespreking. Heindrich Wyngaard gesels met die skrywer.
Sondag 31 Januarie om 11:45
Koste: Gratis!
Prinsloo Versus
Adriaan Meyer praat oor sy debuutdrama, Prinsloo versus, wat by Protea Boekhuis uitgegee is en wat al verskeie suksesvolle opvoerings geniet het.
Mail & Guardian readers well know to look out for Jane Rosenthal book reviews and features, which unerringly provide good critiques and much food for thought. It’s Xmas time and Rosenthal followers are in for a special treat with her 2009 gift book list – comprising many works of SA Lit. BOOK SA members Anne Landsman and Finuala Dowling make the cut, as does Henrietta Rose-Innes‘ short story in Work in Progress:
Whichever way one prefers, both Summertime and Landsman’s The Rowing Lesson (Kwela, 2008) are wonderful reads (reviewed earlier this year); any serious reader and collector of South African literature should have them.
The Rowing Lesson is a fictional reconstruction of the life of Harry Klein, a country doctor, based on Landsman’s own father. Warm, fast, funny and heartbreaking, it describes an era in the southern Cape that is long gone.
In Summertime, Coetzee has his early 20s and 30s narrated by women and a friend who knew him then. They are rather disparaging and one has to laugh, in the end, at Coetzee’s dry take, not only on himself but also on the women and on the delusions and issues that beset us in the 1970s.
Work in Progress and Other Stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2009 by The Caine Prize For African Writing Book homepage
EAN: 9781770097506 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
The novel was published in France by Phébus as Cette vie; it appeared on French bookshelves in January.
First published in 1995, it won the Herzog Prize for prose. It was republished in a “classics” edition by Human & Rousseau in 2003. Here’s the blurb:
Hierdie lewe is a beautifully written, evocative account of the life of a woman who lived in the Roggeveld in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
On her deathbed she recalls a life of isolation and loneliness, her role that of a witness. Witness to the events in her family – the effect of her mother’s increasingly overbearing behaviour; the relationship between her two brothers and the young woman they both loved.
The woman’s hesitant, faltering reminiscing is an attempt to understand the injustices (e.g. the eviction of “coloureds” from land they had occupied for generations), and to unravel the secrets behind the events which led to the death of one of her brothers. The novel is a delicate and subtle web of emotions, a narrative of almost hypnotic power which draws the reader into “this life”.
The Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger is 61 years old this year (I think), but not much else is forthcoming on it online – such as who gives it and whether it’s accompanied by a cash prize. Readers, if you’ve got the skinny, please augment this post with your information in the comments section below.
Alert! Open the Xmas floodgates! Today, Exclusive Books announces its selections for “The List” 2009 – “68 of the best books to give or receive this festive season”.
Zapiro’s here, as is Chris Hani and John van de Ruit; Julius Malema, Jacob Dlamini and Moeletsi Mbeki make strange bedfellows; there’s Nelson Mandela in several guises; Wilbur Smith, Zakes Mda, Deon Meyer and Dana Snyman compare notes; Koos Kombuis hangs out with Alan Knott-Craig (who’d of thought?); Marlene van der Westhuizen swops recipes with Nataniël, Emilia le Roux and Justin Bonello; two big men of Africa (for different reasons), Kingsley Holgate and John Smit, share a pint; the kiddies get theirs with the Nuwe Kinderverseboek; and Sue Williamson and Alf Kumalo visit the galleries together.
Oh, and there’s a whole bunch of non-SA Lit, too, wink-wink. Here are all “The List” 2009 books, save for three titles for which we couldn’t find covers – Dr Seuss Favourites by Dr Seuss, Great White, Eminent Grey by Chris Fallow and the New Scientist Box Set by Mick O’Hare – plus the official Exclusive Books press release at the bottom of the post. Happy holiday gift-book hunting!
Warren Buffet’s Management Secrets: Proven Tools for Personal and Business Success by David Clark, Mary Buffet
EAN: 9781847376923 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
Superfrekonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D Levitt, Stephen J Dubner
EAN: 9780713999907 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy and Commitment by Steve Harvey
EAN: 9780061917431 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
The most riveting, langverwagte, visionary, superbly-penned, audacious, eye popping genius-infused List of books is about to hit our shelves, because the countdown has begun to the official announcement on 23 October, of the Exclusive Books bumper selection of 68 of the best books to give or get this festive season.
The List, offers the choice books of 2009 in one place. Lovingly compiled by the Exclusive Books managers, bibliophiles can look forward to an A-Z of fabulous reading from Afrikaans, biographies, collectable box sets and business books, to children’s titles, cookery, current affairs, fiction, humour, inspiration, lifestyle, nature, reference, sci-fi, and of course, books for sports lovers.
“The development of The List is a labour of love on the part of our staff and we believe that it reflects the very best books available,” says Jaco Nel, marketing manager of Exclusive Books.
“We cater for a broad spectrum of tastes with our Festive Season selection and look for special books that make memorable gifts. People often find it hard to find the right book and The List is the result of years of customers asking for help with gift books.”
“Exclusive Books is always right on top of trends in bookselling and The List reflects this insight.”
Afrikaans features real culture in a “Smullekker” cookbook from Emila le Roux and Francois Smuts, a range of “stoepstories” from Deon Meyer in Karoonag en Ander Verhale and Dana Snyman’s Op die Toneel: stories,reise,stemme, and the “skreeusnaaks” memoirs of Koos Kombuis in Die Tyd van die Kombi’s.
Larger than life heroes feature strongly in the biographies, from a poignant tribute to Chris Hani, to Barack Obama’s journey to power, to the wild adventures of intrepid explorers Kingsley Holgate and Ranulph Fiennes.
Business inspiration comes from investment guru Warren Buffet’s Management Secrets to Alan Knott-Craig’s Second is Nothing, the riveting account of his involvement in building Vodacom, to the suprising collaboration between 50 cent and Robert Greene in The 50th Law.
Current affairs cover a contentious kaleidoscope of politics and history from Dinosaurs, Diamonds and Democracy by Francis Wilson to The World according to Julius Malema by Max du Preez and Mandy Roussouw, to the megapopular Superfreakonomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner.
Cookery reflects a strong return to home cooking and African influences in books such as A Farm in my Heart: From the Yard to the Table and Pantry by Emelia le Roux and Francois Smuts to Cooked in Africa by BBC presenter Justin Bonello, with a touch of decadence added by Marlene van der Westhuizen’s gorgeous book on French cooking, Sumptuous.
Nataniel’s Gatherings: A year of Invitations offers an opulent but informal peek into get-togethers in his home.
Fiction focuses on the hits of 2009, including the Twilight series by Stepheni Meyer, Stieg Larsen’s trilogy and bestsellers, such as Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna, Wilbur Smith’s Assegai and Marian Keyes The Brightest Star in the Sky.
Inspiration focuses on the core issues of conquering fear and finding faith, hope and love.
Best seller The Shack by William P Young features as does the must-read Act like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey.
On a lighter note Zapiro returns with Don’t mess with the Presidents’ Head while John Farndon Offers the odd yet challenging read, Do you think you’re Clever?
The QI Book of the Dead by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson continues the quirky theme with a biographical dictionary full of hilarious facts and details about famous and obscure people, now dead.
Two predators, lions and sharks feature in the nature genre, with Part of the Pride by Kevin Richardson and Great white and Eminent Grey by Chris Fallows, offering new understanding of these magnificent creatures.
Science takes on creationists and looks at the wonders in the everyday world, while legendary sci-fi writer Eoin Colfer offers his sixth novel in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series with And Another Thing….
Sport scores bit hits with Captain in the Cauldron – The John Smit Story and the Big Book of Top Gear 2010.
Verdict: carrot
Apr
