Thrilling line-up of authors headlining Time of the Writer
This year’s festival will offer a special focus on Children’s literature.
FIFTEEN authors from across Africa and the world are coming to Durban for this year’s 21st Time of the Writer International Festival from 12 to 17 March. The writers convene under this year’s theme of “Changing the Narrative” and will engage with this notion as it relates to their work and the direction in which literature is moving towards in this context.
The 21st edition of Time of the Writer will consist of a day program that is hosted in four community libraries (Austerville, Westville, Chesterville Extension and Tongaat), art centres and schools around eThekwini where workshops and panel discussions will take place. In the evening panel discussions will be hosted at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at University of KwaZulu Natal, Howard College. The full program will be release on the social media channels of the festival. Tickets for the evening program are available on Computicket, however the day program is free of charge.
Time of the writer starts on Monday evening 12 March, at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre with an opening night that introduces all participating writers of the festival.Key of the festival are the other evenings at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre that each highlight some of the participants and engages them in a panel discussion. As part of the day programs the writers will be visiting various art centres and community libraries, which include The George Campbell Museum, Mangosuthu University of Technology in Umlazi and Luthuli Museum in Groutville for various panel discussions and workshops.
This year’s festival offers a special focus on Children’s literature, which will see a storytelling session on Saturday 17 March and panel discussions around that during the week facilitated by Dr Gcina Mhlophe. On Saturday 17 March Dr Lindiwe Mabuza will be launching two children’s books.
High school learners are encouraged to submit their short stories for the annual short story competition held in conjunction with Time of the Writer Festival. The competition aims to encourage creative expression in young people while functioning as a springboard for the future writers of South Africa.
