The festival will feature a diverse gathering of leading novelists, short story writers, poets and crime writers.
Following the opening night where all participating writers make brief presentations at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, pairings of writers will engage each evening in readings and discussions that provide insight into their opinions, experiences and the creative processes that inform their work.
South African writers who will take part in discussions include Jassy Mackenzie, whose first novel Random Violence shortlisted for Best First Book in the Commonwealth Writers Prize, Africa region in 2009. Mackenzie, who has since written two further crime thrillers, is joined in a panel titled Crime Scene, by advocate and author Chris Marnewick. Marnewick's first attempt at creative writing culminated in Shepherds & Butchers, which earned him the K Sello Duiker Prize at the South African Literary Awards, and he has since produced three other works, and will launch his latest Clarence van Buuren: Die Man Agter die Donkerbril.
Winner of the 2010/2011 PanSALB Multilingualism Award, poet and prose writer David wa Maahlamela, writes mainly in Sepedi and English. His first novel Sejamoledi, is a Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature finalist. Also writing predominantly in his vernacular of isiZulu, is Dumisani Sibiya. Sibiya has published numerous novels, collections of short stories and poetry collections. His third novel, Ngiyolibala Ngifile was awarded the gold prize during the Sanlam Youth Literature Awards in 2010 and the K. Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award in 2011.
Music and song by Rick and Gill Andrew will precede the discussion Inner City Stories featuring Cynthia Jele and Kgebetli Moele. Jele's debut novel Happiness is Four-Letter Word earned her the Best First Book Commonwealth Writers Prize, and the 2011 MNet Literary Award in the film category, as the book that showed the greatest potential for translation onto screen. Moele's second book, The Book of the Dead, received the 2010 South African Literary Award.
In addition to the nightly showcases at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, a broad range of day activities in the form of seminars and workshops are formulated to promote a culture of reading, writing and creative expression. Another development component of the festival is the Schools Writing Competition which accepts entries in English, Zulu, and Afrikaans.
The full programme of activities, biographies, and photos of participants is available at www.cca.ukzn.ac.za.
