ON November 30, a group of authors and local bookshop owners came together at Ike’s Books and Collectables on Florida Road for the launch of the book, 320 Days of Sunshine – Memoirs and Stories from KwaZulu-Natal.
The book was collectively written and compiled by various Durban-based authors and is a collection of short stories centred around KwaZulu-Natal and the various parts of the province, from its hilltops to its city lights, and how the various city names resonated so much with people who came from them.
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As the evening progressed, the authors took turns reading a short passage from the book to give the attendees a glimpse of its contents. One author wrote about how living at the Durban Beachfront saved her from possible depression and loneliness during the coronavirus pandemic. “The coronavirus lockdown regulations prevented us from leaving our homes and socialising, but waking up to the ocean views every day made the lockdown a little more bearable as I could just sit and look out the window and pretend I was there at the beach, enjoying myself. It did wonders for me mentally as I could transport myself to a different world, and when the regulations were slightly eased, it was heartwarmingly beautiful to see people come back to the beachfront and enjoy the one thing that makes our city stand out – its beaches,” said Asiphe Tseek.
Chanisse Kara, a self-published author with over 1 700 copies of work sold, also read a small passage from her book. She said, “This collaborative book-writing was a beautiful experience for me and an eye opener to be able to share something like this with other authors. Being able to share our emotions with each other, while also putting them on paper for the readers of the book, helped us experience the emotions of our fellow authors. As much as this was small-scale writing, I wish this book will show publishers the potential we possess as writers, individually but also as a collective.”
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The book, 320 Days of Sunshine – Memoirs and Stories from KwaZulu-Natal, was published by Micromega Publications with editing assistance by Anna Costa. The book with the vibrant pink cover can be found at Ike’s Books and Collectables and can be purchased from the authors, who enthusiastically answered questions from the audience about the chapters they have written and what they mean to them.
“I love to write illustratively because I want to create a vivid picture for readers reading the book so they can clearly see and feel the emotions carried by each word,” said author Chantal Graaf.
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