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Book bites: 30 October 2016
Published in the Sunday Times Mister Memory Marcus Sedwick (Mulholland Books) Book fiend *** If you had perfect memory would everything you see be true? This is the question Sedwick explores in his...
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Authors are people too, a column by Jennifer Platt
Published in the Sunday Times Authors are people too. We tend to forget that. Plenty of them prefer to remain behind the scenes, insulating their creative souls from the glare of publicity, so they...
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Scandi colonialism: Rosa Lyster talks to Kim Leine about his book The...
Giant, icy Greenland is the setting for this absorbing novel, writes Rosa Lyster for the Sunday Times The Prophets of the Eternal Fjord Kim Leine (Atlantic Books) **** The protagonist of The Prophets...
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‘I have become a language warrior’– Ngugi wa Thiong’o receives the 2016 Pak...
Alert! Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o recently visited South Korea where he received the prestigious Pak Kyongni Prize, an international literary award established in 2011. With a cash prize of 100 million...
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Report from the first Bridge Book Festival: Books are incredible; access to...
Words by Thato Rossouw, most images by Purilarb Tommy Cherngphatthana “Books are incredible, but what is more incredible is access to books,” were writer Yewande Omotoso’s opening remarks as she sat...
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Book Bites: 6 November 2017
Britt-Marie Was Here Fredrik Backman (Hodder & Stoughton) Book hug **** After A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises, Swedish author Backman has completed a hat-trick...
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A very good view indeed: Neil Gaiman’s first ever non-fiction collection, The...
Neil Gaiman’s collection of essays is broad, deep and entertaining, writes Andrew Salomon for the Sunday Times The View from the Cheap Seats Neil Gaiman (Headline) **** This is the first-ever...
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2016 South African Literary Awards (SALAs) winners announced
Alert! The winners of this year’s South African Literary Awards (SALAs) have been announced. The SALAs were founded in 2005 by the wRite associates and the Department of Arts and Culture, to...
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Book Bites: 13 November 2016
Published in the Sunday Times Early One Sunday Morning I Decided To Step Out And Find South Africa Luke Alfred (Tafelberg) **** Known for his brainy sports writing, Alfred leaves the field in grand...
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Out of the mouths of unborn babies: Sue de Groot reviews Ian McEwan’s Nutshell
Ian McEwan’s new novel has an unexpected narrator. By Sue de Groot for the Sunday Times Nutshell Ian McEwan(Penguin Random House) **** You don’t have to be familiar with Shakespeare’s Hamlet to enjoy...
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Language is not a static, lifeless thing: Why we should refrain from frothing...
If language was static, we would still be flirting at actors before exploding them off the stage with a few well-aimed fiascos, writes Sue de Groot for the Sunday Times Groucho Marx said he’d never...
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‘Racism is an objective reality’– Watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie dominate a...
Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie hit the international headlines recently when she made some strong remarks about Donald Trump, racism and privilege on BBC Newsnight. The interview was...
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2016 Etisalat Prize for Literature longlist announced – South Africans...
Alert! The nine-book longlist for the 2016 Etisalat Prize for Literature has been announced, with South African authors dominating again. 2016 Etisalat Prize longlist: Mr. and Mrs. Doctor by Julie...
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2 South African authors win the 2016 Golden Baobab Prizes for African...
Alert! Golden Baobab has announced the winners of the 7th edition of the Golden Baobab Prize. Established in July 2008, the Golden Baobab Prize is often referred to as the “African Newbery Prize”,...
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Call for entries: University of Johannesburg Prize for South African Writing...
The University of Johannesburg Prize for South African Writing in English is now open for the submission of works published in 2016. The prize is open to works in any genre, in two categories:...
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No ordinary psychological thriller: Diane Awerbuck reviews The Apartment by...
By Diane Awerbuck for in the Sunday Times The Apartment SL Grey (Pan Macmillan) Horror is supposed to come in two kinds: the evil from somewhere else that attacks you for no reason (Dracula; The...
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Book Bites: 20 November 2016
Published in the Sunday Times Heroes of the Frontier Dave Eggers (Hamish Hamilton) Book Buff **** Egger’s latest book is an absorbing road trip novel, and in that genre’s best tradition it focuses on...
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Inside the Boss: Carlos Amato reviews Bruce Springsteen’s rollicking...
Springsteen gives fans a good hard look at himself, writes Carlos Amato for the Sunday Times Born to Run Bruce Springsteen (Simon & Schuster) **** He ain’t gonna bag a Nobel with his lyrical output...
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Paulo Coelho chats about his new novel The Spy – the story of the enigmatic...
Published in the Sunday Times Paulo Coelho The Spy (Penguin Random House) Why did you choose Mata Hari as the subject for your new novel? Mata Hari was one of the icons of the hippie generation – the...
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‘On noses you could call it a draw. On hair she won comprehensively.’– Read...
This Fiction Friday, dip into the latest Zadie Smith novel, Swing Time. Swing Time is Smith’s fifth novel, after White Teeth, The Autograph Man, On Beauty and NW. Swing Time moves from North West...
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