2017 May | Jonathan Ball
Johannesburg launch of No Longer Whispering to Power by Thandeka Gqubule
by Andrea on May 31st, 2017 Tweet
Venue: Exclusive Books, Hyde Park, Hyde Park Corner, cnr. Jan Smuts Ave & William Nicol Dr | Map
RSVP: events@exclusivebooks.co.za, 011 325 4298
“Ek het gekies om romans te skryf om die omstandighede van die tyd uit vele kante te beskou” – Joyce Kotzè bespreek Wintersrust
by Mila on May 31st, 2017 Tweet
Die Afrikaanse vertaling van Joyce Kotzè se The Runaway Horses is onlangs in Afrikaans as Wintersrust uitgegee. Hier bespreek Kotzè die oorsprong van haar voorliefde vir skryf, uitdagings wat sy ervaar het om werklike gebeure te fiksionaliseer en die groot rol wat verbeelding in haar skryfkuns speel.
Nie eksterne bronne nie, maar ‘n sterk interne bron! Ek het ‘n geweldige verbeelding wat altyd vooruit hardloop. [Stuur groete vir die bobbejaan agter die berg.] Ek besluit op ‘n paar hoofkarakters wat deur die verhaal moet loop of val. Ek skep hulle nie, maar gaan in free fall. Soos ‘n karakter in die storie kom, besluit hy/sy self hoe, wat, hoekom en waar. Die sekondêre karakters glip in die storie in wanneer ‘n scene dit benodig en gaan dan aan om te oorbrug waar die ander nie kan bykom nie. Ek vind dat sekondêre karakters uiters belangrik is, want hulle hou die emosionele sy van die tyd en dan ook die storie aanmekaar.
Dit was die perde wat my die ergste verniel het. Om pragtige Britse kavalrieperde in ‘n veldslag te laat omkom, en om die dapper Boereperde so holoog en kaalribbes te laat swaarkry, was nie goed nie. Om huise af te brand uit ‘n Britse oogpunt het my ook diep laat dink. Die veldslae het ek net uit ‘n spesifieke karakter se oogpunt beskryf. Ek was vele kere by Magersfontein en Paardeberg asook by Colenso. Al wat mens moet doen, is om dieper te dink en maak of jy self daar is. My Engelse ouma het my vertel van die konsentrasiekamp en my Boere oupa van die Slag van Rooiwal. Ek was toe nog baie jonk maar onthou elke woord. Wat ek gedoen het, was om my te verbeel dat alles nóú gebeur en ek moet maar cope.
Ek lei af dat jy aanneem my eerste taal is Afrikaans. Ek het ten volle tweetalig groot geword soos my familiegeskiedenis aandui. Reken ook daarby dat 99% van navorsings bronne in Engels is, veral die oor die Eerste Wêreldoorlog. My studies was ook in Engels. Wanneer ek skryf, vloei die emosies en woorde in Engels; ergo; my werk-taal. Afrikaans is ‘n pragtige en spesiale taal, maar ook ‘n moeilike taal om te skryf. Dit was nie eers moontlik vir my om my eie werk te vertaal nie. Die vertaling is juis gedoen omdat ek ‘n groter Afrikaanse lesers publiek wil bereik.
Die Eerste Wêreldoorlog verstom my nog steeds. “In de niet verdwyn” was die eerste wat ek daarvan gehoor het toe Ouma vertel het van haar twee jong broers wat nie teruggekom het nie. Ek moes self gaan kyk en het verslae gestaan en weer en weer daarheen gegaan. Ek meen dan min Suid-Afrikaners weet dat alle rasse van die land daarby betrokke was. Die navorsing verskil van die van The Runaway Horses want alles is so werklik, tasbaar amper, as mens omring is deur duisende grafte en die absolute stilte wat daar heers. Hier was nie net oorlog nie, maar liewer futility en diep menslike gevoelens. Om die emosionele sy te skryf het ek my gewend na die digters, Sassoon vir woede; Owen vir die meegevoel en Thomas vir die aksie van jong mans wat oorlog as ‘n plig en vreugde beskou. Die 1914 Rebellie speel ‘n groot rol in my storie en dit is nie maklik om Boerseuns aan die Britse kant te laat veg in Frankryk nie. Ek is nou besig met die vierde herskryf en ek sukkel nog steeds. Ek is oortuig dat my jarelange fascination met die Eerste Wêreldoorlog die rede is hoekom ek begin skryf het.
The Runaway Horses deur Joyce Kotzè
Call for submissions for “Tomorrow I’ll be Twenty” Competition now open
No Longer Whispering to Power is about Madonsela’s tenure as Public Protector, during which the whisper grew into a cry. It is the story of South Africa’s people’s attempt to hold power to account through the Office of the Public Protector.
Read an excerpt from this important book which stands as a record of the crucial work Madonsela has done, always acting without fear or favour, here:
In the shadows of all human souls lurk symbols, images and imprints. Archetypes: dreamlike but real, they breathe life and meaning through the ages, and demand to become manifest. Without them, human beings feel lost and struggle to create meaning.
When psychologist Carl Jung developed the concept of the collective unconscious, the realm of the archetype, he courted controversy. Critics said his ideas were fatalistic and unscientific. But his idea is useful for our purposes, for understanding the interaction between Madonsela as Public Protector and the people of South Africa’s yearning for freedom.
Jung argued that the collective unconscious had a profound influence on the lives of individuals, who lived out its symbols and clothed them in meaning through their experiences. Any examination of the role of Thuli Madonsela in South African society must wrestle with archetypes.
We must ask whether a nation challenged with establishing a new system of justice, after so much injustice, created for itself an ideal and imposed that ideal’s associated expectations on Madonsela and her office. We must contemplate whether, through the echoes of time, we drew from our collective unconscious a projection of what a just leader in our society must be.
Addressing the gathering of young poets and activists, she told the story of how she had been on a bush retreat in a beautiful part of KwaZulu-Natal province with a group of people.
On a game drive one night, the skies were particularly generous, the Southern Cross glittering. The game ranger asked them to identify the most important group of stars for people of the south. The ranger explained to Madonsela and her group that, for centuries, the Southern Cross had helped southern Africans to find their way home.
Madonsela confessed that she could make neither head nor tail of north and south using the constellation. The guide showed her how. She was amazed and filled with joy.
The South African Constitution is to the people of South Africa what the Southern Cross has been to our forebears. ‘It is a way to guide society on its way to social justice and human development,’ she said.
No Longer Whispering to Power is also available as an eBook.
Liefdes- en vriendskapsbande wat in die Transvaalse bosveld en die sitkamers van Victoriaanse Engeland gesmee is, word op die slagvelde van Suid-Afrika getoets. Wanneer die formele fase van die oorlog oorgaan in die gruwelike beleid van die verskroeide aarde en ’n guerrillastryd, moet die familielede gewaagde keuses maak.
Wintersrust is ’n bruisende verhaal vol hartstog en avontuur oor die individu se worsteling met magte buite sy beheer. Sommige, wat deur wanhoop oorweldig word, oorleef nie. Ander moet ten slotte by ’n plek van vrede en vergifnis uitkom.
Isabel Dalhousie now has a second child – another boy, Magnus.
She discovers that Charlie is far from thrilled and he sees no need for a new baby. In Cat’s delicatessen, Isabel meets a woman with whom she had been at school. This woman, Bea Shand, is known as an enthusiastic match-maker.
She is very worried, though, as she has introduced a woman she knows to a plastic surgeon that is now described by another friend as a gold-digger. This other friend reveals that the surgeon has a bad track record: he has been involved with a series of well-off women and has succeeded in separating a number of them from their money.
Bea asks Isabel to investigate; she herself tried to warn her friend of the danger she was in but was rebuked badly. Not only is the surgeon innocent, but he himself is the one in danger!
Dear Ijeawele is Adichie’s letter of response.
David Krut Projects and Jonathan Ball Publishers are pleased to invite you to the book launch of No Longer Whispering to Power – The Story of Thuli Madonsela.
No Longer Whispering to Power is about Thuli Madonsela’s tenure as Public Protector, during which the whisper turned into a cry. It is the story of the South African people’s attempt to hold power to account through the Office of the Public Protector. More significantly, this important book stands as a record of the crucial work Madonsela has done, always acting without fear or favour.
Author Thandeka Gqubele has practised as a journalist and worked in the media for nearly three decades. She has followed the story of former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela with great dedication and passion.