THE 18th Time of the Writer Festival starts on Monday with writers from South Africa and Africa set to engage under the theme: Writing For Our Lives.
The fest takes place in Durban between March 16 and 21. In an interview with Tonight, festival director, Tiny Mungwe, said the theme is inspired by the continued struggle of writers against issues like censorship.
“Globally, there have been a number of events around freedom of expression. More importantly, we want to recognise the importance of writers. They are the witnesses of the times and the people who speak to the conditions of our society and where we are in society. Writers write about our lives, but also they are writing for their own lives and for the freedom of expression of others,” she explained.
With a list of 20 invited writers – including NoViolet Bulawayo (pictured right) (Zim); Carol Campbell (South Africa); Imraan Coovadia (pictured above) (South Africa); Ousmane Diara (pictured left) (Mali); Dilman Dila (Uganda); Margaret Von Klemperer and Mzilikazi wa Afrika (pictured far right) (both South Africa) – Mungwe said visitors to the fest will be spoilt for choice: “I’m looking forward to the panel discussion with Jacob Dlamini and Mzilikazi wa Afrika. They’ve both written very controversial books that speak to and about power. I’m excited about a lot of KZN and Durban writers like Imraan Coovadia and a new writer who’ll be launching her first book at the festival, ZP Dala. Her work includes interesting stories about South African women. There is also Futhi Ntshingila who will be launching her new book after Shameless, which is Go Gently. But overall it’s a really exciting line-up, a lot of diversity of voices, but also of the landscape of South African literature.”
Commenting on some of the contributors from outside of the country, Mungwe said NoViolet Bulawayo from Zimbabwe is a writer that people will want to read.
“Her debut novel, We Need New Names was quite a big hit. She will be on a panel with Sue Nyathi, another Zimbabwean writer who is based in South Africa. Ousmane Diara is a Malian writer who writes in French and, interestingly enough, is going to be on a panel with Zulu writer MJ Mngadi whose novel has been translated in a project with the French Institute into French. So it will be a really interesting look at how writers can cross borders by getting their work translated.”
An all-day family and book day, New Book Day, will be held on March 21. “We’ll be combining our book launches and our publishing forum discussions into a day-long book celebration at Open Plan in Umgeni Road. We’ll be launching about eight books on that day which is really great and a way to support the publishing sector in KZN.
“Alongside that we’ve organised a children’s storytelling event with Gcinamasiko Arts and Heritage Trust, which is the organisation that Gcina Mhlophe runs to encourage reading among young people. So people can come and attend the workshops and book launches and bring their kids to enjoy storytelling throughout the day.”
Ticket prices are R25 for the evening sessions, R10 for students with a student card. Workshops, seminars and book launches are free. Book through Computicket.
For more information, contact the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, at 031 260 2506/1816.