Category: Earth (Arts and Literature)

Exclusive books are running a competition asking Fanatics members to submit their favourite 10 fiction reads. They’re using the submissions to assist them in creating a 101 Books to Read Before You Die list, for launch at the Cape Town Book Fair. So, roughly taken from my list of books read, here are my submissions.… Continue reading Books to read before you die

A few days ago I finished reading Acid Alex, by Al Lovejoy. TheChiz has a great review, and an interview with the man himself. Dave Chislett (The Chiz) says that In terms of popular culture and understanding a couple of generations of white South Africans, this is the most important book ever written about South… Continue reading Acid Alex

After missing out so often, I made sure to attend some of the films showing at the Cape Town World Cinema Festival (otherwise known as Sithengi). I’ve seen four films so far, two shorts, and two feature films. Both shorts left me disappointed, especially Alive in JHB, a 6-minute piece about aliens landing in Johannesburg… Continue reading Sithengi

I had a fantastic time at the DCI conference. I’ve been frustrated in my aim to post regular, up-to-the-minute updates by the lack of bandwidth at the conference, the fact that the ‘open-till-late’ internet cafe was closed at 3pm, and the cheeky R45 for 30 minutes rate at the hotel, where I get to plug… Continue reading DCI wrap

How wonderful to read a city imagined, a collection of 19 pieces by different writers who live or have spent a significant part of their lives in Cape Town. It’s edited by Stephen Watson, who, regardless of whether you agree with his views on plagiarism, or like his writing, has done a fantastic job in… Continue reading a city imagined

I’ve been invited to speak at the Digital Citizen Indaba, to be held on September 14 and 15 in Grahamstown. The conference topics sound quite exciting, and I was even more excited to see the draft speakers list today. The speakers include: – Ethan Zuckerman (Global Voices, USA) – Alaa Abd El Fattah (Blogger &… Continue reading Digital Citizen Indaba

In the midst of my frenzy, I did manage to attend the Cape Town Book fair. It was a while ago, so this is hardly a topical post, but I’ve just been prompted to write something by an Exclusive Books survey. The fair was fantastic – it exceeded all my expectations. I went in shortly… Continue reading Cape Town Book Fair

I’ve just finished reading the Da Vinci Code. It’s one of those books that inspires me to get writing again, mainly because I found it so infuriatingly bad I figure I must be able to do a better job. I love the genre, and the ideas behind the book fascinate me, but I just found… Continue reading Da Vinci Code

I’ve just finished reading Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak. I enjoyed the book. My exposure to Russian literature has been limited, but the book immediately struck me with its similarities to other Russian works I’ve read. A sweeping breadth, an acceptance of suffering, it’s darkness. But this is not a review of the book –… Continue reading Of Doctor Zhivago and literacy in a visual society

In March 2004, the Afrikaans Wikipedia achieved the 3000 article milestone. Last July, it reached 4000 articles. Now it’s at 5000. That’s only 1.43 million or so less than the English Wikipedia, but not bad nevertheless. Afrikaans is rocketing up the articles per population table :). January saw over 200 new articles, the most since… Continue reading Afrikaans wikipedia hits 5000 articles