GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The one-day KarooBook Literary Festival to be held in Umasizakhe in November is just an introduction to what author, filmmaker and former diplomat Mzuvukile Maqetuka hopes to become a feast of Literary Festivals across the Eastern Cape in years to come.
This year's festival, to be held on 10 November in the Umasizakhe Town Hall, will feature five authors giving readings from books they have written, mostly about the Camdeboo area, and promises to be of great interest. They will also discuss the books, and answer questions from the audience.
Maqetuka is originally from Graaff-Reinet but now lives in Jeffreys Bay. He was inspired to set up the event after he was invited to participate in the Franschoek Literary Festival earlier this year. His vision, which is backed by a team of experts in various fields, is to make the Graaff-Reinet festival one of three main festivals in the area, with others in Port Elizabeth and St Francis Bay.
He sees the benefits that the festival will bring to the town as two-fold: firstly, to generate interest, especially amongst young people, in reading and writing; and secondly, to bring an increase in tourism to the town.
Next year's festival, to which he aims to attract between twenty and thirty writers from Sub-Saharan Africa, will be the real testing ground, with an official launch in the second half of next year. No date has yet been finalised, as he sees it as very important not to overlap any other literary events in the country so that the very best authors whom he plans to invite would not have any conflict of dates.
A whole team of people is involved in the organisation and promotion of this year's "trial" event, with expertise in varied fields at a senior level. The inaugural meeting of the KarooBook Literary Festival committee was held on 31 August at Thembalesizwe Primary School in Umasizakhe, with David McNaughton, Thabiso Oliphant, Frank Nunan, Nune Mgoduka, Dr. Muki Moeng, Twiggs Xiphu, and Ambassador Mzuvukile Maqetuka
The majority of the organising committee are from the Graaff-Reinet area (although some are currently based elsewhere), with others from St Francis Bay and Port Elizabeth. This group will be arriving in Graaff-Reinet the day before the festival, in time to visit the sights of the town with local tour guide and bookshop owner David McNaughton
The authors who will be appearing at this year's one-day festival are Maqetuka himself, Thandi Lujabe-Rankoe, Monde Nkasawe, Bartle Logie and Madoda Ndlakuse.
Maqetuka will be reading from his best- known work, Camdeboo Stories, which was first published in October 2012. The first edition went to the London Book Fair, Mexico, New York, Frankfurt and Beijing last year, and was very well received. According to Amazon, while Camdeboo Stories is unique in style and content, the tales are somewhat reminiscent of Herman Charles Bosman's storytelling style and are considered to be valuable additions to the stories of the South African platteland.
Lujabe-Rankoe's book, A Dream Fulfilled, is sub-titled Memoirs of an African Diplomat. First published in 2006, the book outlines "the journey taken from the cauldron of apartheid, through various postings in exile to a triumphant though demanding return to her native land".
Monde Nkasawe, who was born and educated in the rural area of Cofimvaba, has been awarded two master's degrees in the fields of history and management. His novel Liziwe is set in the end of the seventies, a harrowing account of the survival of siblings in a rural village following the simultaneous death of parents. Nkasawe has wonderfully woven together a complex story that gives hope and which honours some of the best values of humanity, especially of lending a helping hand even to a stranger.
Bartle Logie, who lives in St Francis Bay, will be reading from his travel book Sundays - Tales from a Winding River. Together with his wife Caryl he undertakes a fascinating and informative journey along the course of the Sundays River, from its sources in the mountains north of Graaff-Reinet to the sea.
With an abiding love of history and archaeology developed in his childhood, spending more than 40 years in Eastern Cape, and a family history in the province that dates back to the mid-nineteenth century, this retired teacher and former headmaster was inspired to write about the region.
Madoda Ndlakuse will be reading from the delightful children's book uMtshato weNtlanzi neNkukhu, which was created at Book Dash Grahamstown in November 2016 in conjunction with an illustrator and a designer. Hailing from Port Elizabeth, he is a writer, poet, interpreter, and reading initiatives activist. His dream is to help primary school children with expertise in poetry, theatre, and storytelling to spark their love for reading.
The event will run from 09:00 till 16:00 on Saturday, 10 November at the Umasizahke Town Hall. The entrance fee is R40 for adults, and R20 for learners.
The organising committee members and founders: David McNaughton, Thabiso Oliphant, Frank Nunan, Nune Mgoduka, Dr. Muki Moeng, Twiggs Xiphu and Ambassador Mzuvukile Maqetuka.
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