Suzy Bell
Durban is hosting the first South African festival, The Time of the Writer, at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, University of Natal from March 2 to 7, to honour local and international writers.
The six-day conference, organised by The Centre for Creative Arts in conjunction with the French Institute and with assistance from the Alliance Franaise, has attracted writers such as Wole Soyinke (Nigeria), Edouard Glissant (France) and Barbara Trapido (Britain), Tierno Monenembo (Guinea), Abdelkader Djemai (Algeria ), Yvonne Vera (Zimbabwe), and South Africans such as Zakes Mda, Farida Karodia, and Breyten Breytenbach.
The daily programme runs from 7.30pm to 9.30 pm, beginning on Tuesday March 3, with a discussion on “Writing from a Female Space”. Other discussions include talks about writing from exile, from a “post-colonial space”, and from a “post-revolutionary space”. Saturday night is the closing night, with Breytenbach and Glissant reading and holding a discussion.
Thierry Vergon of the French Institute says the concept began last year in Djibouti, where the institute had organised a festival for African writers. Five South Africans were invited to Djibouti, “so this year we chose Durban, as it’s an African city and it we felt the link with the Indian Ocean was an important one. We aim to create good relations between French-speaking and English-speaking writers and to expose our talented South African writers.”
Vergon says the festival is an exciting opportunity to listen to the invited novelists reading from their works and allowing the audience to participate in interviews and discussions. Two workshops are planned for the public.
There will also be a short-story-writing competition for schools and three art exhibitions. Festival tickets will be available at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from March 2.