Shaun de Waal: CDs of the week Someone of an older generation once told me he felt quite upset that so few younger people would ever fully appreciate the joys of Mozart. I’m afraid I’m one of them, but I feel the same way as he did when it comes to jazz,particularly its greatest practitioners […]

Bill Buford: GRAFFITI The literary news in New York has been of acquisitions. The most noteworthy, of course, is the acquisition of Random House by Bertelman’s. The Pierpont Morgan library has just been given a gift of rare “American literary properties” collected by Carter Burden, a New York businessman with an interest in the media […]

Unesco has declared 23 April -William Shakespeare’s birthday -the annual World Day of the Book. The idea has spread rapidly and successfully over much of the world. In Catalonia, Spain, for instance, there is a festival of bookselling, and buyers are given a rose. In Holland a well-known author writes a small book and this […]

Michael Billington: London theatre I have measured out my life in productions of Uncle Vanya – two in particular, by Laurence Olivier and Peter Stein, will haunt me to my grave. Katie Mitchell’s RSC/Young Vic co-production may not be on quite the same exalted plane, but it remains a treasurable occasion, penetrating the memory for […]

Janet Smith PROFESSOR EXPERIMENTO’S FRIGHTENING FORMULA by Janie Oosthuysen (Human & Rousseau, R24,95) Children who are already on their way to reading novels will love this unusual little drama, set in a scientific lab, where rats are infinitely more brave and clever than the humans who would experiment on them. It tells the tale of […]

What do you think? We invite our readers to respond to John Pilger’s analysis of South Africa. The best replies will each receive a free copy of his latest book, Hidden Agendas, published by Vintage. Fax your responses to (011) 403-1025 or e-mail [email protected]

Ferial Haffajee When Deputy President Thabo Mbeki returns from his Asian jaunt this weekend, he will bring little tangible home with him. But his visit to China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong has done an intangible good for Africa. “Mbeki’s visit has helped overcome the barrier of perception,” says Rafiek Bagus of Investment South […]

Janine Stephen Is clearing alien vegetation pouring money into a bottomless pit? Not if it is done correctly. But if no follow-up work is done, you can be back at where you began within a year. South African National Parks (SANP) was given R5-million in January on behalf of Working for Water, to clear areas […]

Lynda Gledhill At Coronation hospital in Coronationville on the West Rand, tiny infants, born premature and just days old, lie inside incubators struggling to breathe as nurses check their vital signs and mothers sit by their sides. Outside this ward, the hospital is struggling to overcome new hurdles and re-emerge as a viable, respected medical […]

Dear Phillipe:…It certainly has not taken you long to become a household name in South Africa. One week to be precise. Snubbing the media, intimidating and humiliating players. What a start! I know you were critical of the South Africa media long before you set foot on our soil because I read your interview with […]