Pages and Wine regulars treated to great evening
The City Times will soon be reviewing Queen of the Free State and The Messiah's Dream Machine, and readers will have an opportunity to win both books. Keep an eye on our print edition.
Former Free State girl Jennifer Friedman, currently on a visit to South Africa from Australia, had Pages and Wine regulars and visitors in stitches on Tuesday evening last week with excerpts from her new book, The Messiah’s Dream Machine.
The book is a sequel to Queen of the Free State, a memoir Jennifer wrote about Philippolis, a small town in the province in which she was raised (interestingly, it is also the birthplace of the writer and intellectual Sir Laurens van der Post).
ALSO READ:
Chandré dances her way to the USA
Despite having emigrated to Australia in 1992, Jennifer remains a South African at heart. Her easy-going nature and extraordinary storytelling talent made for another delightful evening in a beautiful ambiance at Nkanga Lodge, in Bredell.
Also, an avid aviator, Jennifer obtained her private pilot’s licence in Australia and eventually bought her own Grumman Tiger plane.
“I never set out to write a memoir; it kind of just happened after I did an online non-fiction writing course.
“The weather was bad that year and I wasn’t doing much flying, so I was looking for a challenge.
“I wrote poetry, and I’d always written in Afrikaans, but I decided to try my hand at prose; stories about everyday life in another time and place, about growing up in the Free State in the 50s and 60s,” Jennifer said.
“I wanted to write stories that would amuse and entertain, and capture the emotions and imaginations of readers.”
Judging by the excerpts from The Messiah’s Dream Machine guests were treated to, read by Jennifer herself, she has accomplished this in abundance.
“I don’t want to give too much away … especially the next bit … you have to read it yourself.
“I laughed so much writing it that my stomach hurt,” she said enticingly.
As is customary at Pages and Wine after the guest author’s presentation, dinner, more wine and fantastic giveaways were the order of the evening.
Follow us on these platforms:
Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
For news straight to your phone invite us:
WhatsApp: 079 431 1217
Instagram: benonicitytimes.co.za
For more #hyperlocal news at your fingertips, visit Boksburg Advertiser, Springs Advertiser, Brakpan Herald, African Reporter and Kathorus Mail
