We had a great time liveblogging the 2013 Franschhoek Literary Festival – thanks for tuning in! Our regular coverage of all things SA Lit resumes tomorrow.
If you missed our coverage of the festival, catch up here:
Wijtske Sijbrandi was 32 years old when she left her home in Kampen, in the Netherlands, in a group of 259 Dutch teachers recruited to “contribute to the development of a national education in the South African Republic” in 1899. She was given a teaching post in the dusty town of Lichtenburg, in the Transvaal. Sijbrandi hadn’t been in South Africa long, however, before the Anglo-Boer War broke out and the school was converted into a hospital. The teacher was promptly trained (by the local doctor) to care for the wounded and sick, and, within months of arriving in South Africa, joined an ambulance party headed for Kimberley.
Novelist, playwright, curator and cultural critic Jane Taylor will discuss the creative process behind her research and staging of the play After Cardenio, at the Anatomy Lecture Theatre on Hiddingh Campus, on Thursday 9 May 2013 as part of GIPCA’s Great Texts public lecture series.
Rachel Zadok’s novel Gem Squash Tokoloshe was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, and longlisted for the IMPAC award. Her new book, Sister-Sister, is out now.
I’m a book glutton. I have three on the go, but I need to ration fiction while working on my own or I’d lie on the couch reading all day. I’ve found that poetry sharpens my mind for writing while satisfying the reading urge.
I’m reading Cathy Park Hong’s Dance Dance Revolution. It’s a dystopian narrative poem sequence written in the voices of a desert guide and an historian. Hong invented a Pidgin English for the guide that blows my mind.
I am also reading Hilary Mantel’s Bring up the Bodies, on Kindle. I can’t read it in the bath, so last night I reread Haidee Kruger’s The Reckless Sleeper. Her poetry is sharp, clever and witty.
Times Media LIVE is the online publisher of many Times Media Group titles.
Purpose of Job:
To assist with the sourcing and placement of editorial books content, including news stories, reviews, interviews, and features, for various Times Media print and digital publications.
To work to develop and maintain Times Media books projects generally, including book events, book social networks and clubs, and book publishing and ecommerce initiatives.
Main Responsibilities/Outcomes:
General
Liaise with publishers about new and forthcoming releases
Maintain a digest and calendar of incoming book information
Commission books content, including news stories, reviews, interviews and features
Manage in-house and freelance contributors
Monitor news sources for developing books stories
Write and edit books-related content
Assist the Books LIVE team with books information management
Other
Help build Books LIVE network by creating/helping manage Books LIVE author pages
Assist with the organisation of the Sunday Times Literary Awards and other events
Project manage newsletters, book clubs and other outreach projects
Project manage publishing and books ecommerce initiatives
Assist with the general management of the books unit, including light personal assistant-style work and other incidental administrative tasks
Skills and Attributes:
Knowledge and experience of the South African trade book and publishing industry is essential
Experience with digital platforms and common content management systems like WordPress
Works well both within teams and to brief; self-motivating; good communication skills
Availability: As soon as possible
Qualification and Experience:
Previous experience in the book publishing or book selling industry is essential
Previous experience in a website environment is desirable
Editorial experience will be an advantage, but not essential
Today, on World Book and Copyright Day 2013, Books LIVE celebrates its sixth year of existence! Happy birthday to us! And thanks to everyone who had a hand in helping us to achieve this milestone, including contributors, community members, publishers and, of course, our readers.
More on how you can win follows, but first, let’s have a look at some of the steps Books LIVE has taken since it was started as BOOK SA by our Publishing Editor, Ben Williams, in 2006:
Now, to stand a chance to win the enticing hamper mentioned above, simply wish us happy birthday – creatively if you like – in the comments section below.
Contrary: Critical Responses to the Novels of Andre Brink edited by Karina Magdalena Szczurek, Willie Burger
EAN: 9781869198466 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
Chimurenga’s Pan-African quarterly gazette, The Chronic, is now out. Contributors include Binyanvanga Wainaina, Niq Mhlongo, Mahmood Mamdani and Andile Mngxitama. Have a look at their list of stockists to see where you can pick up this 48 page paper, which comes with a 40 page books review magazine.
A 48-page newspaper and 40-page stand-alone books review magazine featuring writing, art and photography inflected by the workings of innovation, creativity and resistance.
Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Binyanvanga Wainaina, Dominique Malaquais, Mahmood Mamdani, Andile Mngxitama, Gwen Ansell, Patrice Nganang, Achal Prabhala, Rustum Kostain, Karen Press, Niq Mhlongo, Paula Akugizibwe, Tolu Ogunlesi, Sean Jacobs, Harmony Holiday, Howard French, Billy Kahora are a few of its many contributors from around the world.
Access to Knowledge in Africa: The Role of Copyright edited by Chris Armstrong, Jeremy de Beer, Dick Kawooya, Achal Prabhala, Tobias Schonwetter Book homepage
EAN: 9781919895451 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
African Cities Reader II: Mobilities and Fixtures by Edgar Pieterse, edited by Ntone Edjabe
EAN: 9780981427348 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
Biko Lives!: Contesting the Legacies of Steve Biko edited by Andile Mngxitama, Amanda Alexander
EAN: 9780230606494 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
You are invited to the launch of Johannesburg: Architecture and Heritage, a photographic collection by Patrick de Mervelec, accompanied by texts by architect and acclaimed author, Clive Chipkin.
The event will be held at Exclusive Books Hyde Park on Thursday 18 April and will start at 6 PM for 6:30 PM.
PAUL Weinberg, one of South Africa’s top photographers, belongs to an established struggle family with roots going deep into South Africa’s modern history. In Dear Edward, in which he presents himself in one of those ornate oval frames with fadeouts along the edges of the black and white picture, he goes back on those tracks in writing and images.
The result is a fascinating journey into a history that shows itself to be as alive today as it ever was, and into a geography that has been well trodden by artists and writers, but is shown in a sparkling new light by both Weinberg’s photos and his sober, underwhelmed reportage.