2025 Programme
Please note that this programme is subject to change without prior notice.
- 09:00
- - 11:00
- REUBEN’S RESTAURANT & BAR
If Trump can blackmail Canada and the EU, what hope do African states have of countering his threats on trade and aid? Will China or BRICS save us from ‘Uncle Scam’? Adriaan Basson decodes the chaos with conflict scholar Adekeye Adebajo (Global Africa), Bronwen Everill (Africonomics: A History of Western Ignorance) and David McWilliams (Money: A Story of Humanity).
- 10:00
- - 12:00
- FRANSCHHOEK LIBRARY
Join self-publishing expert and author Vanessa Wilson (Publish Like A Pro) for detailed knowledge on how to self-publish your book. Learn about the processes involved, how to find the right publishing partner if you want help, and what you can expect when going this route. Handouts will be provided, but bring a pen and notebook for your own notes.
- 10:00
- - 12:00
- HUGUENOT CHOCOLATE SHOP
Acclaimed crime writer Mike Nicol’s workshop locks down the fundamentals of the genre: from settings to dialogue, from red herrings to psychological depth, from plausible forensic processes to innovative plotting. Whether you’re polishing a manuscript or brewing an idea, you’ll find new weapons and motivations.
- 10:00
- - 12:00
- CHAPTER HOUSE
Novelist and professional screenwriter Peter-Adrian Altini lays out the core tools of the screenwriting game: arcs and cliff-hangers set pieces and exposition, dialogue, and POV. The workshop is aimed at both beginners and working screenwriters looking to refresh their craft.
- 11:30
- - 12:30
- NG CHURCH
The GNU is nearly a year old. Has this grumpy baby merely replaced strong parliamentary opposition with internal discord? Ann Bernstein looks into the belly of the beast with Oyama Mabandla (Soul of a Nation), Tony Leon (Being There) and Pieter du Toit (The Super Cadres).
Sponsored by News24
- 11:30
- - 12:30
- NEW SCHOOL HALL
Wildlife thriller maestro, Tony Park (The Protector) and bestselling naval yarn-spinner, Justin Fox (Hell Run Tobruk) let Nancy Richards in on their secrets to creating convincing and gripping action. How does one engulf the reader into the heat of each scene? And lace it all together with a watertight adventure plot?
- 11:30
- - 12:30
- OLD SCHOOL HALL
Africa Melane and Zelda La Grange (What Nelson Mandela Taught Me) explore life beyond the ‘rainbowism’ that defined her role as Mandela’s right-hand woman. Having apologised in 2015 for her angry tweets about Zuma’s attitude to white South Africans, have her views on Mandela’s legacy changed, and how?
- 11:30
- - 12:30
- CHURCH HALL
Danielle Weakley explores the dark side of female friendships with Nicky Greenwall (A Short Life) and Gail Schimmel (The Finish Line). Both books delve into hidden truths and moral dilemmas, and the fine lines between trust and betrayal.
- 11:30
- - 12:30
- CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Ingrid de Kok, in conversation with Antjie Krog, reflects on the strange sensations of loss – of beloved companions, national myths and linear narratives, in her new captivating new collection of poetry, Unleaving.
- 11:30
- - 12:30
- HOSPICE HALL
Bongani Kona talks to novelist and critic Elleke Boehmer about her trio of new books about the allegedly lower half of the globe (Ice Shock, Life Writing and the Southern Hemisphere; Southern Imagining). Do we southerners have a unique perspective on our planet’s future? Are we more pivotal than we — or the Northerners — think?
Sponsored by Pam Golding Properties
- 11:30
- - 12:30
- FRANSCHHOEK THEATRE
Hedley Twidle, co-editor of The Interpreters: South Africa’s New Nonfiction, takes us under the bonnet of great nonfiction writing. How and when does it become art and not just information? Why is autobiography so treacherous? Who’s changing and challenging this in SA? A class for readers and writers alike.
- 13:00
- - 14:00
- NG CHURCH
Simon Dingle prompts futurist Dion Chang (The Future) and Mark Nasila, FNB’s chief data and analytics officer, and author of African Artificial Intelligence, on the unfolding impact of AI in South Africa. What are their optimistic forecasts? And what policies might assuage the pessimists?
- 13:00
- - 14:00
- NEW SCHOOL HALL
How are courageous protagonists born and raised? Joy Watson grills three experts at creating characters in jeopardy: John Boyne (Air, Fire, Water, Earth), Abi Daré (And So I Roar) and Sven Axelrad (The Nicotine Gospel).
- 13:00
- - 14:00
- OLD SCHOOL HALL
Erin Bates digs deep with mafia-busting cop André Lincoln and Caryn Dolley, who wrote his new biography, Man Alone. How has the legacy of apartheid policing shielded SA’s mobsters and rotten politicians? What kind of intelligence revolution can break their chokehold on justice?
- 13:00
- - 14:00
- CHURCH HALL
Koketso Sachane talks to Gavin Evans about his powerful memoir of estrangement and reconciliation, Son of a Preacher Man. His father was Bruce Evans, the Jewish-born Bishop of Port Elizabeth, who steeped his kids in fervent evangelical faith – until Gavin broke ranks to throw himself into the liberation struggle.
- 13:00
- - 14:00
- CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
How can we support a loved one in a mental health crisis? And what if you’re the one in need of help? Alma-Nalisha Cele walks some fine lines with Lesedi Molefi (Patient 12A), Nikki Bower (Memoirs of a Bi-Polar Bear) and author psychologist Onke Mazibuko (The Canary).
- 13:00
- - 14:00
- COUNCIL CHAMBERS
Agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo (The Uncomfortable Truth about South Africa’s Agriculture) talks to Bronwen Everill, whose polemic Africonomics skewers bossy Western delusions about the African economic arena. How can the continent break the cycle of ‘whatever doesn’t work’?
- 13:00
- - 14:00
- HOSPICE HALL
How does creative work change one’s mind? Is the act of writing the chicken or the egg of curiosity? Sally Ann Murray, editor of The Creative Arts: On Practice, Making and Meaning looks under the hood with contributors Wamuwi Mbao, Liesl Jobson and Uhuru Portia Phalafala.
- 13:00
- - 14:00
- FRANSCHHOEK THEATRE
Podcaster and writer Nicole Engelbrecht (Killer Stories) examines the bones of great true-crime writing: from ethics to research, from legalities to storytelling craft. How does one tell an arresting story without crossing lines that protect victims, families and suspects?
- 14:00
- - 16:00
- FRANSCHHOEK LIBRARY
Join bestselling publisher and author Melinda Ferguson for a 2-hour live-writing memoir workshop. Identify what makes your story distinctive, and learn what processes will improve your personal writing. Also get invaluable insights into the publishing scene in South Africa. Bring a notebook and a pen. Space is limited.
- 14:00
- - 16:00
- HUGUENOT CHOCOLATE SHOP
Grasp the basics of building a novel – plotting, characterisation and driving story – with writing coach and agent Sarah Bullen. Together, you’ll be unpacking the key conventions writers must grasp in order to construct a strong story in various genres (thriller, crime novel, new adult, young adult, romance).
- 14:00
- - 16:00
- CHAPTER HOUSE
Award-winning travel writer Justin Fox (Place) reveals some secret routes through a deceptively tricky genre. Topics will include finding a new angle on a destination, avoiding itineraries, and how to weave the past into the present.
- 14:30
- - 15:30
- NG CHURCH
Dennis Davis explores the present turbulence of diasporic Jewish identity with Steven Friedman (Good Jew, Bad Jew) and Milton Shain, historian of antisemitism. Has one of the casualties of the October 7 and Gaza atrocities been the Jewish intellectual traditions of dissidence, tolerance, humanism and universalism? Can Jewish Zionists and anti-Zionists hear each other at all?
- 14:30
- - 15:30
- NEW SCHOOL HALL
Novels once helped to spark revolutions. But can fiction be resistance in a democracy? Do subversive books still change lives beyond their readerships? Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane weighs the weaponry of words with Elleke Boehmer (Ice Shock) and Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (The Creation of Half-Broken People).
- 14:30
- - 15:30
- OLD SCHOOL HALL
Annie Olivier asks Bun Booyens (Troep) and James Whyle (We Two From Heaven) about the impact of conscripted military service on a generation of white South African men. Trauma, depression and silence still haunt those weaponised in apartheid’s wars. Can the hidden wounds heal?
- 14:30
- - 15:30
- CHURCH HALL
Indigenous garden guru Elsa Pooley (Indigenous Garden Plants – the Gardener’s Guide) shares how to choose, plant, and care for South African flora – and design pleasing spaces that save water while attracting wildlife. Whether you’re a grizzled green thumb or a budding rookie, this class is bound to seed some bright ideas.
- 14:30
- - 15:30
- CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
The Interpreters collects the best local non-fiction of this century, compiled by Sean Christie and Hedley Twidle. Christie will interview contributors Anna Hartford, Bongani Kona and Julie Nxadi about the wildest corners of South African reality: from zama-zamas to zoos, and from stick fighters to mermaids…
- 14:30
- - 15:30
- COUNCIL CHAMBERS
Siyakha Mguni meets artist-storyteller Pippa Skotnes (When the World Was) and folklorist José Manuel de Prada-Samper (Fading Footprints). The duo bring to life the tales of the |Xam, exploring their beauty and relevance as the mysterious traces of a culture and a language are all but lost.
- 14:30
- - 15:30
- HOSPICE HALL
Dion Chang (The Future) – a death doula when he’s not a futurist – explores the weight and power of bereavement with Malika Ndlovu (Grief Seeds). Joined by Karina Szczurek, they explore how the “stone in your pocket” evolves over time and transforms the person who carries it.
- 14:30
- - 15:30
- FRANSCHHOEK THEATRE
Ashanti Kunene joins Siphokazi Jonas on her poetic voyage through the linguistic and cultural alienation experienced as a black learner in former Model C schools during the 1990s and early 2000s. She will read from her collection, Weeping Becomes A River.
- 16:00
- - 17:00
- NG CHURCH
Rebecca Davis shoots the gale with two surgically incisive satirists: cartoonist Zapiro (Have I Got GNUs for You) and columnist Tom Eaton. With all the great powers now under authoritarian rule, and hate speech exploding, is political satire outgunned?
- 16:00
- - 17:00
- NEW SCHOOL HALL
Pippa Hudson explores the power of time leaps in historical fiction with Kate Mosse (The Map of Bones) and Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (The Creation of Half-Broken People). Switching between eras and generations is a potent device in both their novels, linked also by a bond of female defiance.
- 16:00
- - 17:00
- OLD SCHOOL HALL
Wandile Sihlobo (The Uncomfortable Truth about South Africa’s Agriculture) and globally renowned economist David McWilliams (Money) zoom out to explore the broader economic forces reshaping the value of agriculture. In the age of Trumpian resource poker, how should SA play its strong agricultural hand?
- 16:00
- - 17:00
- CHURCH HALL
It’s a staple of TV crime drama, but how does forensic psychology identify real-life serial killers? Nicole Engelbrecht and Brin Hodgskiss, co-authors of Killer Stories, discuss the elusive inner worlds of murderers — and the clues they leave behind.
- 16:00
- - 17:00
- CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Tony Leon (Being There) speaks to Karen Horn about Prisoners of Jan Smuts, her fascinating account of the Italian POWs incarcerated in SA during the Second World War. Who were these men put to work on massive infrastructure projects? What made some attempt dramatic escapes, while others stayed behind, among them sculptor Eduardo Villa and ice-cream mogul Aurelio Gatti?
- 16:00
- - 17:00
- COUNCIL CHAMBERS
Mike Nicol talks to Onke Mazibuko (Canary) and Mary Watson (The Cleaner) about their two thrillers, which both expose the forces lurking beneath the surface of power, privilege, and performed morality. What makes morally complex, transgressive characters so seductive to writers and readers?
- 16:00
- - 17:00
- HOSPICE HALL
Sewela Langeni meets three writers who have just burst onto the SA literary scene: Jon Keevy (The Unwoven Warrior), Nicky Greenwall (A Short Life), and Juliette Mnqeta (If the Dead Could Talk). What did it take to cross the chasm from idea to book and get it published? How do you stand out amid the stampede of aspiring authors? And what’s next?
Sponsored by Pam Golding Properties
- 16:00
- - 17:00
- FRANSCHHOEK THEATRE
Inspired by true life events, The Last Ranger tells the goosebump-inducing story in isiXhosa of a young and wild Litha (Liyabona Mroqoza) and her life-changing journey through a game reserve with the last remaining ranger, Khuseka (Avumile Qongqo). The film, directed by Cindy Lee, earned a 2025 Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short Film.
- 17:30
- - 18:30
- CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Journey with poet and curator Malika Ndlovu and fellow South African poets Antjie Krog, Ingrid de Kok and Siphokazi Jonas into evocative explorations of land, the elements, space, and transition. Together they offer an experience of poetry connecting us to the deeply entangled rhythms of nature and the human experience.
- 19:00
- - 22:30
- FRANSCHHOEK CELLER
Join us for a fun-filled evening of music and dance at Franschhoek Cellar to raise much-needed funds for the Franschhoek Schools Reading Programme operating in under-resourced schools in the valley. Franschhoek’s very own Uncorked will play immortal hits from ABBA to Coldplay. Food and drinks billed separately.
Only FLF 2025 Patrons can view
Members and public can view from 20 March 2025