Good food and drink, a relaxed atmosphere and breathtaking views of the Durban coastline – Moyo on the Pier has to be one of the most charming venues in Durban.
It was certainly the ideal setting for seasoned scribes and journalists to meet for the first time, break the ice, and begin the many dialogues that the Time of the Writer Festival hopes to engender.
Given the current events of so many African countries, this year’s theme appears to be almost prophetic in nature.
Stemming largely from South Africans having to grapple with the prospect of a media tribunal in the near future, the issue of Freedom of Expression has suddenly taken on added significance in the wider African context.
They say the unrest started with a vegetable vendor in Tunisia, who refused to be bullied any longer. In a fit of passion and the most heartbreaking form of expressing oneself, Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight in an effort to make himself heard.
Not only did Tunisians heed his call, so too did a number of other people in other African countries.
And in a wave of similar actions and protests, people found their voices and began making demands they never thought they would have the courage to do. Egypt, Mauritania, Libya – people are saying what they think. The revolution has begun.
It is in this context that 21 seasoned scribes from 12 countries have converged on Durban to engage with each other and the public in the six-day festival hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
The programme looks set to tackle some hard-core issues around freedom of expression.
We asked a few of the writers about their thoughts on the subject within the context of the festival.
Acclaimed South African author and academic, Professor Njabulo Ndebele, highlighted the importance of public participation in the festival: “For the public to come to such forums is an important act of citizenship. To be an engaged citizen in a democracy is to be involved in forums where different changes in a democracy are being explored.
“Seemingly citizens have taken a decision that change will occur through some person who comes by every four years to ask for their vote. It is a very dangerous; an incorrect perception. When opportunities are made, in a working democracy, thousands make an effort to be there. It is important that people from Durban and surrounds make the effort to be in these forums,” he said.
For Angolan writer, Ondjaki, the topic of freedom of expression is always important.
“We are living in a specific moment but it is important to discuss freedom of expression for the public and for ourselves (as writers),” he said.
And as for the festival? He said: “Let’s see how deep we can go. I’m not too sure if it will make a difference to society, but I hope it does.”
UK writer Caryl Phillips said the problem with freedom of expression was that there are some countries that assume they have it, when in fact they don’t.
“For example I grew up in Britain and in the 70s and 80s if you stood up and said the IRA (Irish Republican Army) was beautiful, you’d soon find out just how little freedom of expression there was… So I think it depends on where you are,” he said.
Ellen Banda Aaku of Zambia said for her there were two sides to the issue.
There were the enabling forces like the law and policies that allowed people to express themselves.
Then there was the side of equipping people to express themselves.
“If you are educated then you have the tools to empower yourself – your confidence grows,” she said, adding that in Africa, governments should put more effort into increasing access to education.
French writer, Marie Darriessecq, said while freedom of expression was essential for everyone, there were a lot of grey areas.
“For example in France we have a law that now prohibits people from saying that the Jewish Holocaust did not happen… because there has been this revival of the Nazis and fascists… so now if you say things like that you can go to jail. So in a way this inhibits their freedom of expression. But when it comes to writing, there are a lot of grey areas. But as writers we need to be free.
“If, for example, a character in a novel stands in the middle of a Bombay street and shouts ‘I want to eat cow’, this is different from a person doing that in reality.
“There are a lot of grey areas in freedom of expression but to a certain point we need them,” she explained.
The Time of the Writer Festival promises to offer a number of thought-provoking and interesting dialogues on an important theme.
In a host of presentations, talks and workshops writers and the public will tease out these issues and more.
And as blogging grows in appeal and popularity around the world, so too has it taken its place in the festival as, this year, it becomes an important part of the programme.