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Monday – 23rd October 2017

A good city for writing – Henrietta Rose-Innes on her home town, Cape Town

Henrietta Rose-Innes has written a piece for The Literary Sofa on Cape Town, the ‘old colonial outpost at the southern tip of a continent, with its complex history and glorious views’.

Hillary Clinton calls Donald Trump a ‘creep’ who made her ‘skin crawl’ in her new memoir What Happened

For the first time, in her new book Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was feeling during one of the most controversial presidential elections in history.

For the first time a Sepedi poem wins the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award

Moses Seletisha’s Sepedi poem ‘Mahlalerwa’ has won the 2017 Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award – the first time a poem in a language other than English has won the prize.

Birds of a Feather – an endless search for an angel in a society of crooks

Anjawo, the illicit brew vendor, her family, the entire Nyakonja village are involved in an endless tussle, bickering over who deserves disciplinary action but ends up in frustrations.

Don’t miss a book discussion with Angela Makholwa at African Flavour Books

The Literary Alliance will be hosting a launch event for Angela Makholwa’s new book The Blessed Girl at African Flavour Books.

Friday – 20th October 2017

Nelson Mandela’s Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years launched in Johannesburg

Dare Not Linger is the sequel to Long Walk to Freedom, the story of Nelson Mandela’s presidential years, drawing on the memoir he began to write but was unable to finish.

Sisonke Msimang on the difficulty of writing about sexual assault in her new book Always Another Country

Sisonke Msimang’s much anticipated memoir, Always Another Country, was launched this week in South Africa. 

Jacana Pocket Series: Informative, insightful, important reads

The Jacana Pocket Series is meant for those who are looking for a brief but lively introduction to a wide range of topics on South African history, politics and biography.

New novel by SJ Naudé to be published in the UK

Following on the United Kingdom edition of his critically acclaimed short stories, SJ Naudé’s novel The Third Reel by will be published in the UK in April 2018 by Salt Publishing.

The Sunset Honeymoon-Literary fiction on HIV/Aids versus culture

The story unfolds in Akondo’s homestead, inside a grass thatched kitchen used by village girls as their sleeping place.

Thursday – 19th October 2017

Angela Makholwa chats about researching the ‘blesser phenomenon’ for her new novel, The Blessed Girl

What does the ‘blesser phenomenon’ say about us as South Africans?

Listen to an excerpt from George Saunders’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo

George Saunders’s became the second American to win the Man Booker Prize this week.

African Flavour Books in Braamfontein packed out for the launch of Chwayita Ngamlana’s If I Stay Right Here

BlackBird Books hosted a launch for Chwayita Ngamlana’s If I Stay Right Here at the new African Flavour Books store in Braamfontein last night.

Wednesday – 18th October 2017

Madiba preferred to write longhand – Zelda la Grange chats about Nelson Mandela’s writing process

Dare Not Linger, the sequel to Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, is out from Pan Macmillan South Africa in October.

Join Sisonke Msimang for a coffee morning at Love Books to launch Always Another Country

Literary rockstar Sisonke Msimang is in South Africa to launch her memoir, Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home.

Celebrating black female writers

Xarra Books and BlackBird Books cordially invite you to a book launch celebrating young black female writers. 

Win a signed copy of Tom Hanks’s new book of short stories, Uncommon Type

Penguin Random House South Africa is giving away five SIGNED copies of Tom Hanks’s first work of fiction, Uncommon Type!

Tuesday – 17th October 2017

The Wren Hunt, the new book by Mary Watson, out from Bloomsbury in February 2018

Mary Watson’s new novel The Wren Hunt will be published by Bloomsbury in February 2018.

Dates and venues announced for the second Abantu Book Festival

The Abantu Book Festival organisers have revealed the first poster for the event, as December approaches.

Thursday – 12th October 2017

Sisonke Msimang to launch Always Another Country at The Troyeville Hotel

Jonathan Ball Publishers and The Troyeville Hotel invite you to the launch of Always Another Country by Sisonke Msimang.