It’s difficult to believe, but 2015 marks our fifth birthday!
What better way to celebrate than with some old friends…we are delighted that both Patrick Gale and Neel Mukherjee (thanks to the UCT Creative Writing Department) will be returning to the festival. 2011 was the last time we saw them in Cape Town and those of you who were lucky enough to be there know they are not to be missed!
Gale’s latest novel, A Place Called Winter, is due to hit shelves soon, and Mukherjee’s Man Booker shortlisted novel, The Lives of Others, came out in 2014.
Michiel Heyns, Patrick Gale, Neel Mukherjee & Damon Galgut at Open Book 2011
They will be joined by Karen Joy Fowler, whose most recent novel, We are all Completely Beside Ourselves, was also on the 2014 Man Booker shortlist. Saskia Goldschmidt, author of The Hormone Factory, is joining us thanks to the Dutch Institute for Literature. Okey Ndibe, author of Foreign Gods, Inc and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, author of Dust, will also be joining us.
Fowler, Goldschmidt, Ndibe & Owuor
Some good and some sad news… Toni Stuart, the amazing Curator of Poetica to date, is studying this year and so has stepped back from the position. The good news though is that we are very happy to welcome Siphokazi Jonas and Mbali Vilakazi to the Open Book team. Co-Curators of Poetica, they have started work on a powerful and engaging programme that includes workshops, discussions, readings and performances.
2015 is off to an amazing start and it’s only going to get better!
If you would like further details about the festival or events through the year, please contact Frankie (frankie@openbookfestival.co.za).
For further details regarding Poetica, please contact Mbali or Siphokazi.
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Open Book is organised in partnership with The Fugard Theatre, The District 6 Museum, The Townhouse Hotel, Equal Education, The Bookery, The Dutch Foundation for Literature, The French Institute, The Confucius Institute, Central Library, SA PEN, The Goethe Institute, UCT Creative Writing Department and sponsored by Leopard’s Leap, Pan Macmillan, NB Publishers, Jonathan Ball and Penguin Random House.