Reading
latest news & developments
Why South Africa fathers need to read to and with their children
Literacy activist and author Madoda Ndlakuse founded Men's Literacy Imbizo to address the absence of fathers in children's educational activities. The initiative encourages men…
From commitment to coherence: Reflections on the Western Cape’s reading and literacy strategy
At the launch of the Reading and Literacy Strategy 2026–30, reading was framed as fundamental to the entire schooling experience. The notion that reading is the air that we…
Mervyn Sloman: The vision behind Cape Town’s beloved Book Lounge and Open Book Festival
Seventeen years later, Mervyn Sloman reflects on The Book Lounge thriving in the digital age and building reading community through Open Book Festival
Exploring the fabric of family and identity in Lebo Mazibuko’s Fabrics of Love
Lebo Mazibuko’s second novel, Fabrics of Love, looks at themes of family trauma, black womanhood, absent fathers and heritage
Speaking in tongues: The literary revolution rooted in Sepedi and Setswana
The quiet power of Moses Seletisa’s Sepedi poetry and Sabata Mokae’s Setswana novels
Bringing heritage into schools can boost SA’s literacy efforts
Stories from our rich heritage provide teachers with an affordable, accessible way to improve literacy levels, teaching children to read in their home language
Make books available to children to grow a love of reading
Improving access to material written in African languages would encourage kids to discover more about their history and culture
Help our children fall in love with books this February
The Love Books campaign by Ladles of Love aims to couple feeding with reading
What can go wrong in the teaching of reading?
Helping a novice reader is so much more than teaching them the names of letters
Social employment could transform South African society
One example is the 1 000 literacy champions trained by Nal’ibali to encourage families and children to read together
Nal’ibali: We can all help children learn to read – and to love it
Teaching children the joy of reading is not only the responsibility of schools. There are many ways in which we can impart this precious gift to them
A chance to help children on World Read Aloud Day
Stories can help us find our way back to health, hope and possibility
M&G Thought Leaders’ top books of 2021
The Mail & Guardian asked a few of the regular contributors to the ThoughtLeader platform to give us their views on the top three books they read this year
A holiday for the soul: Home is where the beach is
Revisiting a childhood holiday spot — Chintsa in the Eastern Cape — helped to kickstart recovery from burnout and depression
50 Notable African Books of 2021: Selected by Brittle Paper
The online publication’s annual list celebrates not only the sheer abundance of African literature but its daring, new directions