Festival tickets are being snapped up
Tickets to this year’s 80+ sessions have been selling like hotcakes in the two weeks since booking opened.
News flash!
Due to high demand, we have added the following sessions:
THE STORY OF YOU – Memoir writing workshop with Melinda Ferguson sold out in a week. A second session has been added on Friday, 19 May (10:00-12:00). You can find it here (numbered 1b).
Both screenings of I AM HERE, the remarkable life story of Holocaust survivor Ella Blumenthal and the first screening of BLIND AMBITION have sold out. To meet demand we have scheduled a second screening of BLIND AMBITION, a feelgood documentary about four refugees who conquered the odds to become South Africa’s top sommeliers. Showing on Friday, 19 May (16:30-17:30).
Be sure to get your tickets for these and other fantastic sessions today.
More than 15 sessions and events are sold-out, or close to being sold-out. These include: News24 Breakfast: THE NEXT NEW SOUTH AFRICA?, BENEATH OUR FEET, WALKING WITH ELEPHANTS, NOVEL IDEAS, NO FURTHER, SAFARI SO GOOD, THE TILLS ARE ALIVE, THE UNDERWORLD CUP, THE SENIOR MOMENT, UNCHARTED, GETTING IT DOWN, HERD IMPUNITY, POWER CORRUPTS
Hot off the press!
Three established authors will be showing their latest books to the world for the first time during our festival.
Jonny Steinberg with Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage, one of the most anticipated books of 2023 and described as a “shattering, revelatory account of a relationship that shaped SA’s journey to freedom”. The book will be launched on 19 May in the US and UK, and Jonny will be in Franschhoek discussing the book. What a first!
Gail Schimmel has published six novels, most recently Never Tell a Lie (2021) and The Accident (2020). Gail will be at the festival discussing her new novel, Little Secrets. Advanced copies of the book will be printed for the FLF. Get it here first.
Andrew Harding, the Emmy-winning journalist and BBC Correspondent will be discussing his new book A Small, Stubborn Town: Life, death and defiance in Ukraine, an immersive work of nonfiction which tells the story of how a small band of Ukrainian fighters and civilians, many with no experience of warfare, won a key strategic victory against the Russians in the farming town of Voznesensk. Andrew’s book will be released in July. Pre-order your copy at the festival.
We’re also proud to be the setting for a discussion with debut author Laila Manack about Sisters of the Circus. Laila will take part in Raised Voices (session 19) on Friday (14h30) to talk about her debut novel – a vivid tale of the power of sister- and womanhood, trust and self-worth, flying and falling and getting up again.
FLF Book Week for Young Readers has been invigorated and will feature four reading festivals at the FLF supported primary schools in the Valley. The reading festivals, in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa, will precede the Literary Festival and run from 15 -19 May. The schools will come alive with book mascots, theatre, storytellers, children’s authors and word games.. The week of lighthearted pleasure culminates in the Phendulani Quiz – a fun and engaging school-based event that features teams of 6 learners who, between them, have to read and remember key details of a set of 12 books provided by FLF. More of this later.
Kudos to our sponsors
We are grateful to our sponsors who play a significant role in ensuring a festival experience to remember.
* Porcupine Ridge is the founding sponsor of the FLF. You can find them on the festival lawn outside the Town Hall with their pulled pork and delicious, everyday wines.
* Exclusive Books is our official bookseller and will have a beautiful bookstore in the Town Hall featuring all the titles on our programme and many more. Look out for the dedicated FLF online bookstore on the Exclusive Books website. You’ll be able to buy books directly from the FLF website, so get your advance copies before the festival. Watch this space!
* News24 has been the platinum sponsor of the FLF since 2022 and is also the host of this year’s sold-out News24 Breakfast: THE NEXT NEW SOUTH AFRICA?, taking place at Reuben’s Restaurant and Bar. They will also be keeping you up-to-date with festival information and news as we head towards May.
We thank our venue sponsors Pam Golding (Hospice festival venue) and Ninety One SA (NG Church festival venue), publishers Pan Macmillan, Jonathan Ball and NB Publishers, and Yellowwoods Social Investments NPC and Discovery.