A wonderful concoction of some of the country’s top writers
The annual Midlands Literary Festival saw as many as twenty authors come together to listen to each other speak on their books.
The annual Midlands Literary Festival held over weekend hosted approximately twenty authors over a course of two days in Howick.
Festival organizer Darryl Earl David described it as ‘a wonderful concoction of some of the country’s top writers.” But this year, David said he planned to stretch the geographic boundaries of the festival to include a grand opening night at Ike’s Bookshop in Durban.
“Durban does not really have a literary festival of note, a festival that captures the imagination”, says David. “So I decided to host an evening at probably the greatest bookshop in all of SA, Ike’s in trendy Florida Road. The theme for the evening is Alice in Wonderland. Bibliophile’s are encouraged to come dressed as the Mad Hatter or one of the characters from this perennial classic which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. One of the most colourful characters on the literary scene, Ashwin Desai, should bring the house down with a talk entitled “Alice in Nkandlaland,” explained David.
Other speakers for the night were Carol Campbell, with her follow up novel to “My children have faces”, entitled Esther’s House. Carol scored a major coup this year with the filming rights to both her books being bought. Acclaimed Indian photographer Ranjit Kally spoke on his recent photographic book with a most beautiful title Memory Against Forgetting. “And I just could not resist inviting Zainub Priya Dala to talk about her debut novel Where is Meera, much of which was penned on the balcony of Ike’s Bookshop”, says David.
Dala emphasized that her book brings out the small villages and communities that many people in South Africa don’t know about. Rounding off what should be a thoroughly enjoyable evening was a book you must read before you die: Vernon Head’s In Search of the Rarest Bird in the World.
“I thought I slept with her every night,” quips David. Athol Fugard, South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director, describes Head’s book as “truly enthralling.” This major best seller in South Africa will be launched in New York in March 2016 and is now also being translated into a foreign language. It is also listed for the Alan Paton Prize for literature.
Ted Collins, author of Bull by the Horns, said that his book is a series of short stories and is based on his life as a veterinarian. “The book recently won the Richmond book festival,” said Collins.
There was, however, a tinge of sadness to this year’s event,” says David. It was be the first festival in six years in which Dr Ian Player did not speak. Thus, to celebrate the life of a great man, Roger de la Harpe presented the inaugural Ian Player Memorial Lecture at the festival. Roger spoke on his magnificent new book African Icons.
Other highlights were Chris Nicholson’s book on the first multiracial cricket club in SA, the Aurora Cricket Club in Pietermaritzburg; Mary Kleinenberg’s book on the Black Sash of KZN which has just shot to the bestseller list; Zuleikha Mayat, the lady behind that classic Indian Delights spoke on her lyrical letter correspondence with Ahmed Kathrada as well as her latest travel memoir; Vernon Head’s masterpiece on birds; Robert Caldwell and Tod Collin’s fascinating talks. “And Ashwin Desai’s book on Gandhi. It might just win the 2016 Alan Paton Prize!” said David
