Search

Jenna Cato Bass is a South African filmmaker and writer. Their films include the features Love The One You Love (2014), High Fantasy (Toronto Film Festival, 2017), Flatland (Berlinale, 2019) and Mlungu Wam (Good Madam) (Toronto Film Festival [...]

Samantha Waligo is an avid reader who shares her passion through her dedicated book page on Instagram, @sammikoalareads. Whether she’s hosting cozy online readalongs, organizing in-person bookish meetups around Cape Town, or simply engaging in [...]

Helené Coetzee is a professional bookworm with over 11 years’ experience in the local book industry. When she’s not promoting books as a publicist at NB Publishers, she’s consuming content about books or debating them [...]

Nosiphiwo Makalima is part of the Nal’ibali storytelling team. She loves children and is a mother of 3 (2 boys and 1 girl). She is definitely a people’s person!

Amy Brown Hendrickse is a tri-continental descendent of munificent medicine women and Islamic craftsmen. Brown grew up imagining in the Fynbos surrounding a seaside lobe of the Cape Flats called Strandfontein. The queer storyteller’s voice [...]

Naidene Lottering is a Spoken Word Artist born in Elsies River, Cape Town. Her spoken word artistry is a powerful vehicle for raising awareness and fostering empathy. She is also a member of the Mengelmoes [...]

Youth fest13 – 20 MARCH The Open Book year kicks off with Youth Fest.Check out who we’re going to be taking to schools and libraries next month! We are excited to share the latest developments at Open [...]

Carol Titus joined the Nal’ibali family in 2022 as the Western Cape Provincial Coordinator. She has been actively involved in outreach to children in Southern Africa for over 20 years and her desire is to [...]

Chanel Joseph is a qualified social worker and a community outreach worker – but her favourite job is being a mother to her one-year-old daughter, Khai. In 2019 she graduated with a Master’s degree in [...]

Zandile Ndhlovu is a Freediving Instructor and the founder of The Black Mermaid Foundation, an organization seeking to create diverse representation in the ocean arena. Zandile’s work centers around creating the first encounter that exposes [...]

Lisa Julie is a writer, performer, and literary scholar. She is a Mellon Mays fellow, has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of the Western Cape, and is currently completing a PhD on [...]

Makazi Nomabali, The Aunt Who Tells Stories, is a South African storyteller. She reads English and isiXhosa books and tells stories written by various authors for children ages 4-10. Makazi Nomabali believes in the power [...]

OPEN BOOK FESTIVAL 8 – 10 SEPTEMBER The Festival kicks off a week from today! If you haven’t booked yet, check out the programme here. We can’t believe that this time next week we’ll be gathering at [...]

Brydon Bolton is an accomplished performer and composer. He has toured extensively and has composed music for many award winning plays, documentaries and dance works. His influences are diverse and cover everything from world and [...]

Xitha Makgeta Is a Pretoria born and based writer. He’s the author of poetry chapbooks “Bits & Pieces”(2010) and “Pen Still Inking”(2021). He’s read and performed his poetry on different platforms including the National Arts Festival [...]

Tara Rose weaves Zen Coaching, Family Constellations, Sacred Sexuality and Tantra together to create sacred containers where people can become curious adventurers of their inner and outer world. She has presented at international online Tantra [...]

Elton Goslett is an accomplished versatile guitar player whose style is at the meeting point of jazz, blues & soul. While his first love has always been the blues he is an accomplished jazz guitarist [...]

June Knight is a member of the Cape Cultural Collective Steering Committee and was one of the project managers of the Beyond Truth’s Edge anthology. An activist since her student days she has a keen interest [...]

Sinelizwi Ncaluka is a journalism graduate from Cape Peninsula University of Technology. This coffee-snob extraordinaire carries a deep passion for a world where freedom truly knows no bounds. Born in the 90s, Sinelizwe rejects the [...]

Irvin Kinnes H.D.E.(UWC), M.Sc. in Criminology (LSE), PhD in Criminology (UCT), former Policing Programme Manager and Board member of the Centre for Conflict Resolution. Irvin is a former Chief Director for Policy and Research at [...]