Franschhoek Literary Festival 2010: Bookings

Press Release

Press Release
Franschhoek Literary Festival Announces Two New Partners
Embargoed until 8pm on 13 February 2010

The Franschhoek Literary Festival announced this week that the Sunday Times and Porcupine Ridge Wines have come on board to support the vision of the Festival.

Susan Russell, General Marketing Manager for Avusa Media, says that involving the Sunday Times with the FLF is a natural extension of the newspaper’s ongoing commitment to South African writers and writing and school support projects, including ReadRight and preparation for Matric. The Storybook Campaign aims to donate a mother-tongue copy of Storytime, a book of 10 South African stories, to half a million children over the coming year.

Tim Rands of Boekenhoutskloof, the Franschhoek winery, says, “We believe that there is a very positive brand fit between the FLF and the Porcupine Ridge brand. People who enjoy drinking our wine tend to appreciate and enjoy reading books.”

FLF 2010, a celebration of books and writers, takes place for the fourth time in the Cape Winelands village from 14 – 16 May. The price of tickets remains the same: R60 per event, with concessions for students. Regular Festival participants know that the proceeds of ticket sales and donations go into the FLF Library Fund which supplies books to schools and crèches, with the long-term goal of achieving a new community library.

FLF Director and author Christopher Hope writes, “The Sunday Times and Porcupine Ridge stand exactly for those things that the FLF and Franschhoek also celebrate, namely good writing and fine wine.”

“The FLF team warmly welcomes this new partnership that will bring enormous benefits over the next three years to the Festival, the Franschhoek valley and the Western Cape,” says Jenny Hobbs, author and FLF Literary Director. “In hosting a broad range of interesting, accessible writers and keen readers, we spread the message that reading is enjoyable – and what better way to encourage what our country so badly needs, a reading culture.”
Details will be up on the website soon – www.flf.co.za – with the programme due towards the end of February.

Note to editors

About the Franschhoek Literary Festival

In three years the FLF has gained an international reputation as a respected celebration of books and writers, with the focus on promoting South African writing and reading, and well supported by the Franschhoek community. After hosting more than
3 000 visitors and 56 authors, poets and chairpeople in 2009, the FLF organisers are getting ready for another buzzing book weekend, from 14 – 16 May 2010.

About Porcupine Ridge

Porcupine Ridge wines from Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek are proud to be one of the associates of the Franschhoek Literary Festival. Porcupine Ridge wines were launched in 1996 and have grown to be one of the most recognized wine brands in South Africa. Being located in the Franschhoek valley, Porcupine Ridge has always taken a keen interest in the development of the town, and so it made perfect sense to support the Franschhoek Literary Festival when the opportunity arose.

Boekenhoutskloof is also helping to fund a study by Christy Bragg, a PhD student at the University of Cape Town. Her four-year project on porcupines specifically investigates the effect that porcupine foraging has on different Cape ecosystems.

For more information visit www.boekenhoutskloof.co.za

About the Sunday Times

The Sunday Times, as part of the Avusa Pty. (Ltd) group, is South Africa's biggest-selling national newspaper. It includes the Sunday Times Magazine, Lifestyle, Business Times and Metro sections. The paper is printed around the country in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, with a readership of approximately 4 million.

The Sunday Times launched the ReadRight initiative in 1999, aimed at teachers and parents who are encouraged to involve themselves in assisting learners with the variety of activities ReadRight offers. ReadRight is a weekly feature in the Sunday Times Magazine during public school terms. In addition to this, two million free copies are distributed to both urban and rural schools around the country yearly.

The Sunday Times is also the patron of the prestigious Alan Paton Prize for literature.

Visit www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes

Ends

ISSUED BY             :       THE FAMOUS IDEA TRADING CC
ON BEHALF OF        :       THE FRANSCHHOEK LITERARY FESTIVAL
CONTACT               :       GILLY HEMPHILL
TEL                        :       021 886 4900
CELL                      :       082 820 8584
EMAIL                    :       gilly@thefamousidea.co.za