The lineup for this year’s Time of the Writer Festival has been announced!

The 21st Time of the Writer will take place from 12-17 March at various venues around eThekwini, and at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

15 writers from across Africa and the world will visit Durban for the festival this year, under the theme ‘Changing the Narrative’.

The festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (CCA).

Acting Director of the CCA Chipo Zhou says: ‘Nelson Mandela once said: “The education I received was a British education, in which British ideas, British culture, British institutions, were automatically assumed to be superior. There was no such thing as African culture.” A very sad statement which to a great extent, even now, speaks the reality that is our education system in Africa.

‘A new generation of scholars is on the rise, demanding recognition of the African intellect and its contribution to literature, an “African Renaissance” if you will. We cannot rewrite history, but we can question and maybe alter it. And most definitely, we will write the future.

‘In the words of Kakwe Kasoma, it is time to correct this colonial hangover. As we celebrate Mandela’s centenary year, it is our hope that we can reflect fairly on this history and begin a new chapter as we own our stories and change the narrative.’

Time of the Writer consists of a day programme and an evening programme. The daytime events will be hosted in four community libraries, art centres and schools around eThekwini, where workshops will take place. In the evenings, panel discussions will be held at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College.

2018 Time of the Writer lineup

• Award winning author Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, from Nigeria
• Author, award-winning filmmaker, recording artist, and distinguished professor MK Asante, from the USA
• Professor of political economy Patrick Bond, from Johannesburg, South Africa, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
• Novelist, journalist, poet and academic Alain Mabanckou, born in Congo, based in France
• Author, politician, diplomat, poet, academic, journalist, and cultural activist Lindiwe Mabuza from Newcastle, South Africa
• Author of the UJ Prize-winning novel The Yearning Mohale Mashigo, from Soweto
• Bestselling author Refiloe Moahloli, from Mthatha
• Outspoken political commentator, scholar and musician Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, from Johannesburg
• Gritty and intense author Luka Mwango, from Zambia
• Dynamic author Kafula Mwila, from Zambia
• Award winning novelist and short story writer Yewande Omotoso, born in Barbados, raised in Nigeria and based in Johannesburg
• isiZulu, short story and children’s author Themba Qwabe from Durban
• Poet, performance master and author of 12 books Lesego Rampolokeng, from Johannesburg
• Unathi Slasha, who reimagines and subverts Nguni folklore to write the unlanguaged world that is South Africa today, from Port Elizabeth
• Experimental author Jennipher M Zulu, from Zambia

Keep an eye on The Reading List for the full programme, to be released soon. Tickets for the evening programme will be available on Computicket; daytime events are free.

Categories Africa Fiction International Non-fiction South Africa

Tags Alain Mabanckou Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀̀ Book events Book Festivals Centre for Creative Arts Durban Jennipher M Zulu Kafula Mwila Lesego Rampolokeng Lindiwe Mabuza Luka Mwango MK Asante Mohale Mashigo Patrick Bond Refiloe Moahloli Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh Themba Qwabe Time of the Writer Time of the Writer Festival Unathi Slasha Yewande Omotoso