Paige Nick chats about her latest novel Book People, how online book clubs are shaking things up and how reading culture is changing
		
	 
	
		
		Your essential dose of art and culture
		
	 
	
		
		Three new books spotlight Indian South Africans who helped shape the nation — through resistance, reflection and reinvention in unexpected places
		
	 
	
		
		What happens when men can’t ask for help? These South African books offer raw, revealing answers
		
	 
	
		
		Memoir is a gripping account of journalistic bravery, father-son reckonings and resilience
		
	 
	
		
		Jeffrey Rakabe ponders transformation, trauma and tradition in a debut that challenges what it means to grow up
		
	 
	
		
		When fiction mirrors fear, even the strongest reader flinches. Medusa is powerful, painful and unforgettable
		
	 
	
		
		Back in the Free State, a daughter rediscovers the textures of home, family and unspoken inheritances in Antjie Krog’s autobiographical novel
		
	 
	
		
		South Africa has lost a moral giant as the playwright who challenged injustice through art dies at 92
		
	 
	
		
		Writer confronts family, grief and recovery in his most vulnerable, honest book yet
		
	 
	
		
		A moving, mind-bending journey of grief, hope and unexpected transformation
		
	 
	
		
		Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani weaves a tale of identity, longing and the relentless pull of the past
		
	 
	
		
		Barbara Boswell’s novel tells the gripping love story of a middle-aged black woman in modern-day South Africa
		
	 
	
		
		The poet and painter was one of the greatest wordsmiths in Afrikaans
		
	 
	
		
		Author John van de Ruit is back with a new book in the popular series 
		
	 
	
		
		The writer grew and evolved in exile — but he never truly left South Africa
		
	 
	
		
		Lesedi Molefi’s memoir Patient 12A explores his battle with mental illness. 
		
	 
	
		
		This is an edited extract from SA author Niq Mhlongo’s new novel The City Is Mine
		
	 
	
		
		The M&G speaks to Shubnum Khan about being a Indian woman author in South Africa
		
	 
	
		
		Alistair Mackay’s debut novel It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way is an important contribution to queer, developing-world cli-fi.
		
	 
	
		
		The HSS Awards honours scholarly works based on their social relevance and contribution to the humanities and social sciences
		
	 
	
		
		Is there sufficient rigour to update the existing literary canon and infuse it with new voices that will themselves become canons in decades to come?
		
	 
	
		
		Phumlani Pikoli used crowdfunding to produce ‘The Fatuous State of Severity’, a collection of short stories. These are three excerpts from the book.
		
	 
	
		
		Luke Alfred walked long and far and recorded it in ‘Early One Sunday Morning I Decided to Step Out and Find South Africa’ (Tafelberg).
		
	 
	
		
		Alongside panels discussing hot topics, shortlisted poets from the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award and Anthology will receive their awards.
		
	 
	
		
		He recently won the Caine prize for African writing for his short story Memories We Lost, initially published in the anthology Incredible Journeys.
		
	 
	
		
		‘The shout on the front cover of ‘The Yearning’ has Zakes Mda waxing lyrical about Mashigo’s writing talent. All his descriptors are true.’
		
	 
	
		
		Jane Rosenthal assesses four novels that cast the country in very different lights.
		
	 
	
		
		The legacy of one of Durban’s legendary characters is preserved and revitalised at the turn of every page.
		
	 
	
		
		This substantial offering from UKZN Press is very much about the now.
		
	 
	
		
			
				
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			 / 21 October 2011
			
		
		The sale of JM Coetzee’s archive to a Texan
university revives the question of where South Africa’s literary heritage should be preserved.
		
	 
	
		
			
				
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			 / 30 September 2011
			
		
		Siphiwo Mahala, author of<em> When a Man Cries</em> and a collection of short stories, <em>African Delights</em>, talks about his writing process.