Simon’s Town is set to host some of South Africa’s most celebrated writers at the inaugural Books on the Bay literary festival on 10 and 11 March 2023.
More than thirty writers, and winners of all major literary prizes in South Africa, will participate in the Books on the Bay programme, including Booker Prize-winner Damon Galgut, CNN’s African Journalist of the Year-winner Jacques Pauw and multiple award-winning poet Finuala Dowling.
The festival’s nineteen events range from readings and panel discussions to music and spoken word poetry. Among the highlights are a free session with Zeid Baker, Imam M. A. Baker’s son, on his father’s translation of Die Heilige Quran.
Other panels include a session with Mignonne Breier, who won the 2022 Sunday Times Literary Award for non-fiction for Bloody Sunday: The Nun, the Defiance Campaign and South Africa’s Secret Massacre; a panel with Max du Preez and André Odendaal discussing the foundations of South Africa’s constitution; a poetry reading by Ingrid de Kok and Gabeba Baderoon; and Futhi Ntshingila discussing loss and trauma, and love and reconciliation.
Tickets for individual sessions cost R60 and are available via Webtickets and Pick n Pay. There will also be several free events, including a meet and greet for local authors, and an open mic poetry evening.
More about the festival
According to organisers David Attwell, Karin Cronje and Darryl David, Books on the Bay is envisioned as an annual event. It will have an active outreach component, working with schools and libraries in Simon’s Town, Ocean View, and Masiphumelele. One outreach project will see the creation of a new media centre and reading library at Masiphumelele High School, in collaboration with the Atlas Foundation and the University of the Western Cape’s Faculty of Education. Books on the Bay will also partner with Phendulani Literacy Quiz, which promotes literacy in under-resourced primary schools in South Africa.
The festival is sponsored by Standard Bank, the University of the Western Cape, the Simon’s Town Civic Association, Simonstown.com, and Mooiplaas Wine Estate and Private Nature Reserve.
What: Books on the Bay literary festival
Where and when: Simon’s Town from 10 to 11 February 2023
Tickets: Webtickets and Pick n Pay
More information and programme: Books on the Bay literary festival website
WS
