The themes on the table are as diverse as the authors who will be exploring them: from introspective self-reflection to the state of the ANC, from turning books into movies to the influence of cultural heritage on novel writing, from soccer to cooking, and much more.

Writing is a deeply personal experience, and top authors will be reflecting on this often cathartic journey from different perspectives in various events.

In My Life on Paper, Antjie Krog, Aher Arop Bol and Chris van Wyk talk about how writing their own stories have changed their lives. In Reflections, Michiel Heyns, Zukiswa Wanner and Deon Meyer discuss how their life experiences reflect in their writing. In I’m a Novelist – Get Me Out of Here, Niq Mhlongo, John van de Ruit, Kgebetli Moele and Imraan Coovadia talk about the unexpected aspects of being a novelist.

Well-known writers in conversation about new books include Ivan Vladislavic with Damon Galgut, Deon Meyer with Michiel Heyns, Mark Behr with Victor Dlamini, and bestselling French novelist Muriel Barbery with bestselling South African Marita van der Vyver. Christopher Hope and Jacob Dlamini will take on Rian Malan. Harry Garuba, who heads the Centre for African Studies at UCT, will discuss Writing Africa with Mandla Langa, Véronique Tadjo and Egyptian author Radwa Ashour.

A new novelist to look out for is Adam Schwartzman whose Eddie Signwriter is hot off the press in America and headed for world rights.

Events about books that become movies will star John Carlin (whose Playing the Enemy became Invictus), John van de Ruit (currently busy with the Spud movie), Mark Behr (Kings of the Water), Deon Meyer and film producer/novelist Jann Turner.

Of special interest to writers, editors and publishers are events covering short stories, editing, e-books, agents, small publishers, book shops and what can be done to improve reviewing in South Africa. Continental Drift will look at the problems a writer faces on leaving a home country.

Critically important debates about the current state of the nation will engage passionate educationists Jonathan Jansen, Mandla Langa and Graeme Bloch in a discussion on the state of the South African education system, chaired by Victor Dlamini. Jonathan Jansen appears again in Who’s Afraid of the ANC? exchanging views with Rhoda Kadalie, controversial cartoonist Zapiro and Allan Boesak about what’s really going on behind the scenes of SA’s ruling party.

In Amakwerekwere Aher Arop Bol, who has been on the move most of his life, Andrew Brown, who writes about Nigerian immigrants, and Time journalist Alex Perry talk to Paris Review editor Philip Gourevitch, who has written extensively about Rwanda, about the worldwide challenges of refugees and xenophobia.

Sport – <strong in particular soccer – will be tackled with gusto. Is Sport the New Politics? has a lineup of John Carlin, Tim Noakes, satirist Ndumiso Ngcobo and Jeremy Boraine, publisher at Jonathan Ball, who will put the boot into 2010, refereed by Chris Thurman whose new Sport Versus Art will be published in April. In The Beautiful Game informed insiders Tom Watt and John Carlin will exchange World Cup lore with Chris Thurman.

Crime writers Deon Meyer, Margie Orford, Wessel Ebersohn (back after twenty years), Angela Makholwa and Sue Rabie will have their magnifying glasses out discussing X-ratings and crime taboos. Food writers Marlene van der Westhuizen and Myrna Robins and restaurateur Mark Dendy-Young will present their new books. Authors Marida Fitzpatrick and Paige Nick will talk chick-lit with Angela Makholwa.

Laughing at Ourselves with Zapiro, Chris van Wyk and Ndumiso Ngcobo will be one of the events that wrap up the FLF on Sunday.

The experienced chairpeople who have helped to oil the wheels of FLF discussions over the past three years will all be here, along with many others from the wider book world: Victor Dlamini, Jenny Crwys-Williams, John Maytham, Karabo Kgoleng, Michele Magwood, Ann Donald, Toby Mundy, Mervyn Sloman, Corina van der Spoel, Rachelle Greeff, Louise Grantham, Basil van Rooyen, Marianne Thamm, Suzette Kotzé-Myburgh, Rebecca Servadio, Isobel Dixon, Colleen Higgs, Arthur Attwell, Nicky Stubbs, Ben Williams, Duncan Brown, Hugh Hodge and Donald Paul.

FLF favourites like the Off the Wall open-mic poetry evening, Maid in Franschhoek 2, by the much-acclaimed theatre production group Youth Affair, and the grand finale of the Franschhoek Schools Spelling Bee will also be back this year.

• Bookings for the 2010 FLF open on 12 March, and are available from www.webtickets.co.za. Unless otherwise indicated, ticket prices for the FLF are R60 per session (R20 for students), with a large part of the proceeds going to the FLF Literary Fund.

For further information and the detailed programme schedule, please refer to the FLF website, www.flf.co.za, or email the helpline info@flf.co.za. For accommodation and general enquiries contact the Franschhoek Tourism office (021) 876 3603 or go to www.franschhoek.org.za.

Read and download the 2010 FLF programme

2010 Franschhoek Literary Festival Programme

We’re pleased to announce that Jacob Dlamini, author of Native Nostalgia, will attend this year’s Franschhoek Literary Festival. Robyn Cohen recently profiled his book:

When some black people say that the country has gone to the dogs, and that life was better under apartheid, some whites gloat, while the rest cringe.

Yes, of course, to say that life was better for blacks under apartheid is ridiculous, agrees Jacob Dlamini in his book Native Nostalgia (Jacana Media). But to trash everything that went on because you lived in that milieu of legislated racism is also absurd.

If you had an apartheid childhood, does that mean that you have to look back in anger at everything?

“Certainly one acknowledges that apartheid was a morally bankrupt system. This country’s history is scarred… but we did not all suffer in the same way. The challenge is to understand what people are saying when they make those kind of remarks.”

• Complete article at IOL Tonight

Book details

• Native Nostalgia by Jacob Dlamini
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9781770097551
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Press release

The Franschhoek Literary Festival is delighted to announce that the Sunday Times and Porcupine Ridge Wines (a label of the Boekenhoutskloof estate) have come on board to support the vision of the Festival.

Susan Russell, General Manager, Marketing for Avusa Media, says that involving the Sunday Times with the FLF is a natural extension of the newspaper’s ongoing commitment to South African writers and writing and school support projects, including ReadRight and preparation for Matric. The Sunday Times Storybook Campaign aims to donate a mother-tongue copy of Storytime, a book of 10 South African stories, to half a million children over the coming year.

Tim Rands of Boekenhoutskloof, the Franschhoek winery, says, “We believe that there is a very positive brand fit between the FLF and the Porcupine Ridge brand. People who enjoy drinking our wine tend to appreciate and enjoy reading books.”

FLF 2010, a celebration of books and writers, takes place for the fourth time in the Cape Winelands village from 14 – 16 May. The price of tickets remains the same: R60 per event, with concessions for students. Regular Festival participants know that the proceeds of ticket sales and donations go into the FLF Library Fund which supplies books to schools and crèches, with the long-term goal of achieving a new community library.

FLF Director and author Christopher Hope says, “The Sunday Times and Porcupine Ridge stand exactly for those things that the FLF and Franschhoek also celebrate, namely good writing and fine wine.”

“The FLF team warmly welcomes this new partnership that will bring enormous benefits over the next three years to the Festival, the Franschhoek valley and the Western Cape,” says Jenny Hobbs, author and FLF Literary Director. “In hosting a broad range of interesting, accessible writers and keen readers, we spread the message that reading is enjoyable – and what better way to encourage what our country so badly needs, a reading culture.”

Details will be up on the FLF homepage soon – www.flf.co.za – with the programme due towards the end of February.

Gourevitch, formerly the editor of the Paris Review, spends a lot of time in Rwanda and is doing a reconciliation follow-up to We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow we Will be Killed With Our Families. He also recently published Standard Operating Procedure about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq.

Ashour has published 7 novels, an autobiographical work, 2 collections of short stories and 5 criticism books. Part I of her Granada Trilogy won the Cairo International Book Fair “1994 Book of the Year Award”; the Trilogy won the First Prize of the First Arab Woman Book Fair (Cairo, Nov. 1995). The Granada Trilogy was translated into Spanish (Editiones del Oriente y del Mediterraneo); part I of the Trilogy was translated into English (Syracuse University Press and AUC Press, Cairo). Siraaj, An Arab Tale was published in English translation (The University of Texas Press), and Atyaaf was published in Italian (Ilisso Edizioni). Her short stories have been translated into English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Watch out for more big news from the FLF later this month!

Book details

• We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
  EAN: 9780330371216
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• A Cold Case by Philip Gourevitch
  EAN: 9780330485050
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• Standard Operating Procedure: A war story by Philip Gourevitch, Errol Morris
  EAN: 9780330452014
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• Granada: A novel by Radwa Ashour
  EAN: 9780815607656
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• Arab Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide, 1873-1999 edited by Ferial Ghazoul, Radwa Ashour
  EAN: 9789774161469
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

The Franschhoek Literary Festival: Fourth Edition will hit the streets of this Winelands village starting on Friday 14 May, with another gathering of writers, editors, publishers, readers and assorted book fans who will be deep in various conversations – sometimes to applause and laughter, occasionally escalating to hot argument – until sunset on Sunday 16 May.

The FLF is a celebration of books and writers with the focus on promoting South African writing and reading. It is run largely by volunteers, well supported by the Franschhoek community.

The programme and the list of visiting writers have not yet been finalised, though we can disclose some of the overseas writers:

• From Japan: bestselling French author Muriel Barbery (The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Gourmet Rhapsody), courtesy of the Alliance Francaise

• From Spain: John Carlin who wrote Playing the Enemy / Invictus, the book about Madiba’s involvement in our 1995 Rugby World Cup win that became the Clint Eastwood starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon

• From the UK: sponsored by the British Council: TV personality Tom Watt, Arsenal fanatic and author of The Beautiful Game, a book of soccer heroes with a joyous young South African player on the cover.

The starting lineup of South African authors include former FLF stars Ivan Vladislavić (Portrait With Keys, Flashback Hotel), Deon Meyer (Blood Safari, 13e Uur), John van de Ruit (the Spud books), Rian Malan (Resident Alien), Chris van Wyk (Shirley, Goodness & Mercy and the children’s Long Walk to Freedom), Niq Mhlongo (After Tears) and Imraan Coovadia (High Low In Between). This year we look forward to welcoming Jonathan Jansen (Knowledge in the Blood), Mandla Langa (The Lost Colours of the Chameleon), Jacob Dlamini (Native Nostalgia), Michiel Heyns (Bodies Politic), Véronique Tadjo (Queen Pokou), Ndumiso Ngcobo (Some of my Best Friends are White, Is it ‘Cos I’m Black?), Mark Behr (The Smell of Apples, Kings of Water), Pieter Haasbroek (Kruispunt), Aher Arop Bol (The Lost Boy) and Angela Makholwa (The 30th Candle). Of special interest will be Wessell Ebersohn, pioneer writer of SA thrillers who dropped out of sight for nearly twenty years and is now back with a new Yudel Gordon book, The October Killings.

As with FLF 2009, there will be a cookbook event on the morning of Friday 14 May with three Ms of local cuisine: Marlene van der Westhuizen (Sumptuous), Mark Dendy-Young (La Petite Ferme Cookbook) and Myrna Robins (Franschhoek Food).

The price of FLF tickets remains the same: R60 per event, with concessions for students. Regular festival participants know that the proceeds of ticket sales and donations go into the FLF Library Fund which puts books into schools and crèches, with the long-term goal of achieving a new library to serve all communities in our valley. In three years the FLF has raised over R415 000 for the Fund, attracted a full-stocked container children’s library and helped to organise school and prison writing workshops, an annual poetry competition, a spelling bee and many writer visits to local schools and the Groot Drakenstein prison.

‘The people shall read’ is our mantra, starting with children. Your enjoyment of FLF 2010 from 14 to 16 May will help us to work towards this essential objective.

Details will be up on our website soon – www.flf.co.za – with the programme due towards the end of February. Be advised to book early via Webtickets, specially for events in the smaller venues.

For accommodation bookings: www.franschhoek.org.za or email info@franschhoek.org.za

Ends

Book details

• Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery
  EAN: 9781933372952
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Image courtesy Times Union

Franschhoek Literary Festival

It’s a street party with a difference – a place where you come, not just to meet authors of your favourite reads, but also to gather with the rest of the literary world – publishers, satirists, poets and fellow book lovers. Carte Blanche reads between the lines.
Presenter: Jenny Crwys-Williams
Producer: Diana Lucas

The show is also set to have segments on US comedian/singer Wayne Brady, the Takalani home for the mentally disabled in Soweto and a modelling scam.

After the show has been aired, the transcript may become available on the Carte Blanche website – click here to post a comment.

The recent Franschhoek Literary Festival (FLF) saw ticket sales up by approximately 50%, and about 3 000 visitors despite the pouring rain.

And what a weekend it was! Howling wind and 100mm of rain, swiftly-running gutters, mud everywhere – aptly renamed “book weather”.

There were 42 events and 56 writers, poets and chair people. Over 3 400 tickets were sold, with approximately 1 000 more tickets sold than last year. A bevy of publishers watched, listened and held candlelit dinners. Journalists clamoured for media seats. Cameras flashed everywhere.

In three short years the FLF has grown into a respected celebration of books and writers with an international reputation. This is made possible by a large annual donation by the Delta Trust, the generosity of local guest house owners who give accommodation for the visiting writers, a huge amount of hard work by the FLF Committee, and a squad of willing volunteers over the weekend.

“We are delighted with the results achieved this year and encouraged by the support that the authors and writers give us”, said Jenny Hobbs author and organiser.

“What an extraordinary four days I had in Franschhoek,” said Jenny Crwys-Williams of 702 Radio. “When I spoke to locals, they were all quite proprietary and proud about the Festival. They’d watched it grow and could see the advantages to having it for the village. Just wonderful and serious brownie points to everyone concerned.”

Some of the highlights of a weekend of spirited debates included the lively discussion in the packed School Hall with charismatic Vikas Swarup, author of Q&A that became the Oscar grabbing movie, Slumdog Millionaire, a rush on the ticket sales table when Zapiro joined the programme line-up, and a hint that André P. Brink’s next book might be set partly in Franschhoek.

The first South African Wine Writers Prize, including a unique “certificate” (artwork) designed by Pippa Skotnes, was handed over to Joanne Gibson, the winner. Many of the authors visited local schools on the Friday morning to do writing workshops; others visited the local prison.

“From the first night at La Brasserie, when I had to pinch myself looking around at the cast of literary stars, to the hilarious last bus trip with Lebo Mashile in fine voice, it was brilliant – unquestionably the highlight of the SA literary year. It was an absolute privilege to be part of it,” said literary journalist Michele Magwood.

Planning begins shortly after each festival ends with decisions being made about which writers to ask the following year, based on information from publishers about forthcoming books. The accent is on the enjoyment and encouragement of reading, and the festival seeks to include a broad spectrum of good approachable writers with recently published books in the programme.

With its growing reputation, the FLF is approaching additional donors to be able to ask more writers and attract young people from diverse backgrounds – though does not intend to get too much bigger, because this is a village festival with a unique character.

“We have had great feedback on the selection of authors and the programme. The festival is a real literary landmark, and such a good thing for the whole of Franschhoek,” said Jenny Prinsloo, CEO of Franschhoek Tourism.

Susan Huxter of Le Quartier Francais, who heads the list of donors who accommodate visiting authors, said: “Franschhoek really benefits from the festival across the board.”

The long-term goals of the FLF are to excite children about reading and writing, and to generate funds for a new community library. To date, R250 000 has been raised through ticket sales and donations (R100 000 from the Commonwealth Foundation last year), more than half of which has been spent on new books housed in box libraries in local classrooms and book trunks in crèches.

“It really was a world class event,” said Barry Phillips, editor of the local newspaper, Franschhoek Tatler. “It became a destination where people stayed rather than a destination for day trippers.”

The next FLF is planned for 14 – 16 May 2010.

This is André Brink’s thought on the signigicance of killing off a character for a novelist.

Brink, Sindiwe Magona (Beauty’s Gift) and Justin Cartwright (The Song Before it is Sung) spoke to Shaun Johnson (The Native Commissioner) about the death of characters at a session entitled “Sending them off Gracefully” during the Franschhoek Literary Festival.

Brink said the ending of a book symbolises death, whether you kill off a character or not. “But a story also does not necessarily end when the text stops, and that is reassuring.”

Magona agreed with Brink. Her new novel is aobut a woman who dies of AIDS. “Her death is an ending, but if the book does the work I want it to do, it will be a beginning.”

Cartwright said he killed off characters without thinking in the past, but now that he is getting older, he also takes it more seriously. He said it was the work of a writer to scrutinise all aspects of life…even death.

This is what Pippa Green, the author of Choice, Not Fate – the Life and Times of Trevor Manuel, said during the discussion entitled “The Lives of Others” at the Franschhoek Literary Festival. Green, Jeremy Gordin (Zuma) and Zubeida Jaffer (Love in the Time of Treason) spoke to Jenny Crwys-Williams about the precarious relationship between biographer and subject.

Green tried to gain Manuel’s trust by not misquoting him and by checking her facts. It was important for her to get his permission to write the book. She also conducted about 20 interviews with him saying that “without his voice the biography would have been flat.”

Gordin started to write Zuma’s biography without getting his permission. When next he saw Zuma, he told him about it. “I don’t think he was deliriously happy. He wants to write his own book and he is weary of journalists.” According to Gordin they now have a good relationship.

Jaffer started out as a friend of Ayesha Dawood, the subject of Love in the time of treason. She was instrumental in bringing Dawood back from exile and used to regularly visit her and her husband. “I had the opportunity to collect details over the years” said Jaffer. Although the couple was very conservative, they trusted Jaffer enough to open up to her and allow her to write their love story.

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