2010 Festival Wrap-Up
15 - 17 May 2009
The Franschhoek Literary Festival : Fourth Edition will hit the streets of this Winelands village starting on Friday 14 May, with another gathering of writers, editors, publishers, readers and assorted book fans who will be deep in various conversations until sunset on Sunday 16 May.
The FLF is a celebration of books and writers with the focus on promoting South African writing and reading, run largely by volunteers and well supported by the Franschhoek community.
Writers coming from overseas:
- From Japan: bestselling French author Muriel Barbery, courtesy of the French Institute of South Africa.
- From Spain: John Carlin, author of the book about Madiba and the 1995 Rugby World Cup that Clint Eastwood turned into movie Invictus
- From the UK, sponsored by the British Council: TV personality Tom Watt, Arsenal fanatic and author of The Beautiful Game, a book of soccer heroes
- From Turkey: South African writer Adam Schwartzman with his novel Eddie Signwriter, newly published in the USA
South African authors who have taken part in previous festivals include FLF Director Christopher Hope, Andrew Brown, Chris van Wyk, Damon Galgut, Deon Meyer, Imraan Coovadia, Ivan Vladislavić, John van de Ruit, Kgebetli Moele, Margie Orford, Michiel Heyns, Niq Mhlongo, Rian Malan, Sindiwe Magona, Tim Noakes, Zukiswa Wanner and cartoonist Zapiro.
This year we look forward to welcoming Aher Arap Bol, Alex Perry, Alistair Morgan, Allan Boesak, Angela Makholwa, Antjie Krog, Chris Thurman, Christi van der Westhuizen, Graeme Bloch, Harry Garuba, Isobel Dixon, Jacob Dlamini, Kader Asmal, Mandla Langa, Marida Fitzpatrick, Marita van der Vyver, Mark Behr, Mulenga Kapwepwe, Ndumiso Ngcobo, Paige Nick, Pieter Haasbroek, Philip Gourevitch, Rhoda Kadalie, Sue Rabie, Véronique Tadjo and Wessel Ebersohn.
There will also be a cookbook discussion on Friday 14 May with three Ms of local cuisine: Marlene van der Westhuizen, Mark Dendy-Young and Myrna Robins.
Among the chairpeople, publishers and book world personalities are: Ann Donald, Arthur Attwell, Basil van Rooyen, Ben Williams, Colleen Higgs, Corina van der Spoel, Donald Paul, Duncan Brown, Hugh Hodge, Jann Turner, Jenny Crwys-Williams, Jeremy Boraine, John Maytham, Karabo Kgoleng, Louise Grantham, Lynda Gilfillan, Marianne Thamm, Mervyn Sloman, Michele Magwood, Nicky Stubbs, Rachelle Greeff, Suzette Kotzé-Myburgh, Toby Mundy and Victor Dlamini.
The judges of FLF’s annual Voices of our Valley Poetry Competition are Ari Sitas (English), John van Zyl (Afrikaans) and Mhlobo Jadezwini (isiXhosa).
The price of FLF tickets remains the same: R60 per event, with a concession for students. Regular festival participants know that the proceeds of ticket sales and donations go towards the FLF Library Fund which puts exciting new books into schools and crèches to encourage reading, with the long-term goal of achieving an easily accessible community library in our valley. In three years the FLF has raised over R415 000 for the Fund.Your enjoyment of FLF 2010 from 14 to 16 May will help us to work towards this essential objective.
For further information, or general enquiries about the Festival,
please send an email to Sheenagh Tyler at the following address: help@flf.co.za
For accommodation queries and local information,
contact the Franschhoek Wine Valley & Tourist Association
Read news about the Festival
at the FLF Blog, hosted by BookSA
The generous support of the Delta Trust from 2007-2009 allowed the Franschhoek Literary Festival to give a substantial amount of money to the FLF Library Fund, helping us to achieve our aim of making books in local languages available to everyone. Click here for more information about our sponsors.
Read
about the sell-out 2007 Franschhoek Literary Festival
2009 Festival Wrap-Up
What a weekend it was! Howling wind and 100mm of rain, swiftly-running gutters, mud everywhere – aptly renamed “book weather”. In three short years the FLF has grown into a respected celebration of books and writers with an international reputation. Click here to read more about it.
The winner of the inaugural Wine Writers Prize is Joanne Gibson. Click here to read more about her and the winning entry.
- Poet and TV personality Lebo Mashile, author of In a Ribbon of Rhythm and Flying Above the Sky
- Best-selling author Vikas Swarup, Deputy High Commissioner for India in Pretoria (Q & A and Six Suspects)
- Multi-talented author and broadcaster Jenny Crwys-Williams, who recently brought out her third Penguin Dictionary of South African Quotations
- Veteran activist Sindiwe Magona (Beauty’s Gift)
- Max du Preez, controversial journalist and editor (Of Tricksters, Tyrants and Turncoats)
- The team that worked on and contributed to the late Bob Woolmer’s last work, The Art & Science of Cricket: leading sports scientist Tim Noakes, writer and poet Helen Moffett and humorist and novelist Tom Eaton (The Wading)
- Justin Cartwright, South African/English author (The Song Before it is Sung and a new book out next April), coming from the UK
- Afrikaans author Eben Venter (Trencherman), coming from Australia
- South African English authorities Elwyn Jenkins and Rajend Mesthrie
- Playwright Mike van Graan, who will be bringing a third stand-up première: Bafana Republic : Penalty Shootout
- Ace broadcasters John Maytham and Karabo Kgoleng, podcaster Victor Dlamini and editor Phakama Mbonambi, all of whom will chair sessions along with Jenny Crwys-Williams and Ben Williams of Book SA
- Toby Mundy, publisher of the MAN Booker-winning White Tiger, from London
2008 Festival Wrap-Up
‘Bigger and better,’ people are saying of the 2008 Franschhoek Literary Festival, which took place over the weekend 16 – 18 May. The village buzzed with writers, festival-goers, publishers, booksellers, book agents and musicians during three days of discussions and debates, insights into writers’ lives and problems, spoken poetry, impassioned outbursts, storytelling, singing, glorious music and laughter.
