Time of the writer 2023

Time of the Writer 2023 guests revealed.

The guests of the Time of the Writer 2023 to be hosted in Durban, South Africa from March 16 -21, 2023 have been revealed.

Time of the Writer, organised by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts, has hosted some of the biggest names in African and world literature since 1996. The twenty-sixth edition will run in March with a range of live events & online webinars that will showcase both the creative juices of SA wordsmiths as well as their deep & critical insights into the state of the nation.

The festival for 2023 is curated by a four-women team of Nomthandazo Shandu, Sibahle Khwela, Nolwazi Nene, and Scout Fynn who are on a year-long Emerging Arts Managers internship programme at the University of Kwazulu Natal.

“Our young team of fresh new curators has compiled a programme that is inspiring, provocative, challenging, but, most of all, entertaining. Through a grant from the National Arts Council’s PESP Fund, we have mentored four young women graduates in festival management, and we have given them unfettered licence to curate this year’s programme,” said Dr Ismail Mahomed, the Director of UKZN’s Centre for Creative Arts.

The over 100 writers, poets, and wordsmiths who star include Nadia Sanger, Zen Mathe, Vangile Gantsho, Abby May, Angelo Fick, Barbara Boswell, Sipho Sithole, Ashanti Kunene, Zukiswa Wanner, Sihle Khumalo, Fred Khumalo, Niq Mhlongo, Shafinaaz Hassim, Yewande Omotoso, Phindile Dlamini, Siphiwo Mahala, Themba Qwabe,  Ziyanda Stuurma, Zikhona Valela, Ashley Moyo, Buntu Siwisa, Aretha Phiri, Dudu Busani Dube, Dana Williams, Hombakazi Mercy Nqandeka, Lebohang Masango, Makhosazana Xaba, Sue Nyathi, and loads more. Check out the whole list of attendants by clicking here.

Sindiwe Magona
Sindiwe Magona

The featured guest is Sindiwe Magona a teacher, civil servant, novelist, poet, playwright, and women’s activist who has numerous titles in her career. They include two autobiographies To My Children’s Children and Forced To Grow; two collections of short stories: Living Loving and Lying Awake at Night and Push-Push and Other Stories; and four novels: Mother to Mother, Beauty0027s Gift, Life is a Hard but Beautiful Thing, and Chasing Tails of My Father’s Cattle! Some of her awards have been a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to South African literature and the Mbokodo Award.

For more information on the scheduled programming of the festival please click here. If you are in that part of the world, I couldn’t recommend a better literary experience. Please attend.

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