No Spark, Lessing or Ballard -the Booker Prize shortlist leaves the race wide open for a dark horse. Here is our quick guide to the shortlist The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Bloomsbury) Margaret Atwood finds herself shortlisted for the Booker for the fourth time with her 10th novel. The story has three interwoven narratives: […]

Michael Schumacher takes place in history as five-year plan bears fruit Richard Williams The forest of hands reaching out to Michael Schumacher after he lifted himself out of the Ferrari in the parc ferm’ at Suzuka on Sunday spoke of the true nature and significance of the win in the Japanese Grand Prix that gave […]

friday Cricket: International Cricket Council (ICC) Knockout Trophy, second semifinal, from Nairobi, at 8.30am on SuperSport1 (SS1)/ M-Net/CSN Golf: Alfred Dunhill Cup, from St Andrews, Scotland, at 11.30am on SuperSport Extra1 (what was the Olympic Elite channel, number 28 on most decoders) Rugby: Currie Cup, Super Eights, round four, Eagles vs Cheetahs at 4pm on […]

Deon Potgieter boxing For many years the title of “Mr Boxing” in South Africa belonged to the former CEO of the national boxing commission, Stanley Christodoulou. However, that title has now passed to Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions. Without a doubt, Berman is now the most powerful man in the sport in South Africa. […]

The fallen giants of South African rugby watch from the sidelines as the revamped Currie Cup brings back the excitement Andy Capostagno The Super Eight section of the Currie Cup comes to an end this week and, strange but true, it has been an unqualified success. Natal and Western Province have emerged as the teams […]

Neal Collins soccer Imagine how Ray Parlour feels. All those years in the shadows at Arsenal and when he bursts through to score the goal all England was praying for after 86 minutes and 59 seconds, the linesman’s looking the other way. >From the angles I’ve seen so far, there can be no question. Parlour’s […]

Who says women are the weaker sex at sport? Sharon Krum Marion Jones wanted to win five gold medals at the Olympics last month, setting a new record in athletics the way Mark Spitz, with seven in 1972, set it in swimming. It did not happen but Jones, the fastest female in the world, clearly […]

Johnny Masilela The Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg will, from November 8 to 10, be the venue for the European Union/South Africa Film Symposium, a gathering poised to reposition the film industry as a significant player in the economic development of the country. Preparations for the all-important summit were unveiled at the end of a […]

Brenda Atkinson fine art Jonathan Dollimore said of Georges Bataille that “it is through eroticism that we are seduced by the pull of annihilation; we really do want death to ‘wreak its havoc at our expense’… death is experienced most intensely as desire.” In Memorials without Facts, Clive van den Berg’s exhibition of new works […]

After a decade director Oliver Schmitz has completed a film that challenges Hollywood’s black stereotypes Andrew Worsdale In 1988 a relatively unknown newcomer directed what was to become what is regarded as the best anti-apartheid feature film ever made – Mapantsula. It was the story of Panic, a small-time crook (played by the late Thomas […]