A collection of my writings
“I have made friends who begin with pasta, and friends who begin with rice, but whenever I fall in love, I begin with potatoes…” writes Nora Ephron in her wonderful early novel Heartburn. “Sometimes meat and potatoes and sometimes fish and potatoes, but always potatoes. I have made a lot of mistakes falling in love, and regretted most of them, but never the potatoes that went with them.”
Mere mention of the word ‘Orania’ conjures up images of militant Afrikaners of pro-Nazi proportions, intent on separating themselves from the so-called new South Africa.
But this is not what journalists Michael Hammond and Hanlie Retief discovered at all. Instead they found a devoted community of mostly working class Afrikaners, peopled by a host of colourful characters eager to share why they love living there.
The beautifully desolate, frozen landscape of the polar regions has fascinated many people for centuries.
Prize-winning writer and activist Jean McNeil gave us a rare glimpse into what she calls “the oracle at the end of the world”‒ the Antarctic, by presenting a talk the English department last week.
A senior lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, McNeil is a visiting scholar of the Mellon Foundation and the University of the Western Cape, where she teaches creative writing for part of the year. “Wild Places – Imaginative Writing and the Environment” discussed the experience of writing fiction, narrative non-fiction and poetry with wild places as the primary inspiration and idea driving creative work.
In one of my favourite chapters of Alice in Wonderland, Alice meets a decidedly gruff Gryphon and a strangely lugubrious Mock Turtle, which is a bit of an ‘inside joke’ making fun of that Victorian dinner party stalwart – mock turtle soup. Is it real or is it mock? Well no one’s sure as he sings, with a tear in his eye:
Buenos Aires marked a new beginning. My partner J and I had recently reconnected so were embarking on a new life together. So when he phoned me up out of blue and said, “I’m going to South America, would you like to come with me?” I quit my job on the spot and gave up the lease on the lovely thatched roofed cottage I couldn’t afford. First stop – Paris of the South!
Four renowned South African writers (all fiercely proud Valley residents) shared their thoughts on their craft at a fascinating talk held in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Fish Hoek Library. A warm atmosphere of mutual admiration and camaraderie prevailed, injected with a strong dose of self-deprecating humour.
Continue reading “Valley authors celebrate their love of writing”
Politics Masters student, Danielle Bowler, wrote a paper exploring contested constructions of colouredness, after being incensed by a column written by Nomakula “Kuli” Roberts in a Sunday paper. She describes how this is similar to what Frantz Fanon referred to when he said he wrote Black Skin, White Masks after “the fire had cooled”.
Continue reading “Fanon’s ‘Black Skin, White Masks’ inspires paper on colouredness”
When I tasted cumin for the first time, it felt like a whole world was opening up before me. There was something familiar about its earthiness, yet that fragrant, almost astringent note was wholly new and surprising.
Anna-Karien's Books, Cooks and Curiosities 