Franschhoek Literary Festival 2013: Friday 17 May Events

Here is a list of all the amazing events you can look forward to at the Franschhoek Literary Festival this year! Because there are so many wonderful events we have decided to split them into 3 blogs (one for each day of the festival).

Alexander McCall Smith (event for schools and adult fans)
Time: 10h00 – 11h00
Venue: New High School Hall
The bestselling author is also an unforgettable speaker. This is the first of two chances to be royally entertained by him with Jenny Crwys-Williams asking the questions.

Science is Cool (event for schools)
Time: 10h00 – 11h00
Venue: School Hall
UCT Emeritus Professor George Ellis talks to two young scientists, Ethel Phiri of Stellenbosch and Jeff Murugan of UCT, and Business Day Science and Technology editor Sarah Wild, author of Searching African Skies, about science as an exciting profession.

Paul Geraghty (for 5-10 year olds and anyone with a sense of humour)
Time: 10h00 – 11h00
Venue: Church Hall
The award winning author of The Hunter and Dinosaurs in Danger will delight and inspire young readers with his exuberant storytelling and illustrations. His picture books encourage children to read, write, draw and think creatively.

Great Gardens of South Africa
Time: 10h00 – 11h00
Venue: Congregational Church
Horticulturist Ida Raimondo discusses their gardening books with Nini Bairnsfather Cloete (Remarkable Gardens of SA), Jane Griffiths (Jane’s Delicious Garden, Delicious Herbs and Delicious Kitchen) and Bernadette le Roux (Roots, Shoots & Leaves).

New voices at the FLF
Time: 10h00 – 11h00
Venue: Council Chamber
Sue Grant-Marshall chats to Jill Nudelman (Inheriting the Earth), Gareth Crocker (Journey From Darkness) and Liesl Jobson (Ride the Tortoise) about their new books.

Epidemics
Time: 10h00 – 11h00
Venue: Hospice Hall
Howard Phillips of the Department of Historical Studies at UCT (Plague, Pox & Pandemics) gets into fascinating medical and social details with Jillian Riley (Shame: Confessions of an aid worker in Africa)

Surprise event
Time: 10h00 – 11h00
Venue: Screening Room
(to be announced)

Rising eighteen
Time: 11h30 – 12h30
Venue: New High School Hall
Samantha Page (editor, From Me to Me) joins comedian Nik Rabinowitz (South Africa: Long Walk to a Free Ride), writer Osiame Molefe, author Fiona Snyckers (Team Trinity) and Athambile Masola (contributor to My First Time) to talk about surviving the final years at school.

The Power of Horowitz (event for schools)
Time: 11h30 – 12h30
Venue: School Hall
Michele Magwood introduces multi-talented Anthony Horowitz, best known for his Alex Rider series and The Power of Five supernatural thrillers, who will talk about his passion for creating spellbinding stories for devoted young fans and enticing new readers.

Cooking up a Storm
Time: 11h30 – 12h30
Venue: Church Hall
Irresistible and very different cookbooks with Sydda Essop (Karoo Kitchen), Jane-Anne Hobbs (Scrumptious) and Hilary Biller (Sunday Times Food Weekly Cookbook), chaired by food magazine editor Abigail Donnelly.

Assegais & Commandos
Time: 11h30 – 12h30
Venue: Congregational Church
Bill Nasson (The War for South Africa) takes a trip into our warlike past with Willem Steenkamp (Assegais, Drums & Dragoons) and Trevor Emslie, publisher of a new Afrikaans translation of Deneys Reitz’s Commando. (In the audience will be Michael Reitz with his grandfather’s Anglo Boer War Mauser).

Storytelling for little ones (free event)
Time: 11h30 – 12h30
Venue: Council Chamber
Children’s author Dianne Stewart and other storytellers for ages 5-9.

New Voices
Time: 11h30 – 12h30
Venue: Hospice Hall
Linda Gilfillan introduces three new writers with a Cape focus: Claire Robertson (The Spiral House), Ashraf Kagee (Khalil’s Journey) and Mark Winkler (An Exceptionally Simple Theory [of Absolutely Everything]).

Ingrid Jonker: A Poet’s Life
Time: 11h30 – 12h30
Venue: The Screening Room
Biographer Petrovna Metelerkamp in conversation with Ingrid’s daughter Simone.

Technology wizards (event for schools)
Time: 13h00 – 14h00
Venue: School Hall
Toby Shapshak, editor of Stuff magazine, Marlon Parker, social entrepreneur and founder of community oriented RLabs, and broadcaster Simon Dingle talk about the latest available technology

Dystopia in Science Fiction (event for schools)
Time: 13h00 – 14h00
Venue: Church Hall
Five top S.F. authors dissect the futures they predict: Sarah Lotz (The Mall) Lauren Beukes (The Shining Girls), Cat Hellisen (When the Sea is Rising Red), Karen Jayes (For the Mercy of Water) and Rachel Zadok (Sister-Sister).

Jane Raphaely Unedited
Time: 13h00 – 14h00
Venue: Congregational Church
Toni Younghusband in conversation with the doyenne of South African magazine editors about her autobiography.

Mampoer Shorts
Time: 13h00 – 14h00
Venue: Council Chamber
Joining Wits journalism professor Anton Harber to talk about his new initiative publishing longform journalism online are Dutch author Fred de Vries, writer Osiame Molefe and travel writer Justin Fox (The Marginal Safari).

Crime Conversation
Time: 13h00 – 14h00
Venue: Hospice Hall
Witness books editor Margaret von Klemperer (Just a Dead Man) talks crimewriting with Amanda Coetzee (Redemption Song), Consuelo Roland (Lady Limbo) and Rahla Xenopolous (Bubbles).

Home From Home
Time: 13h00 – 14h00
Venue: The Screening Room
Rhodes professor of poetry Chris Mann and Julia Skeen present their multi art show.

Surviving Childhood
Time: 14h30 – 15h30
Venue: School Hall
This event focuses on the devastation and effects of childhood trauma. Redi Thlabi (Endings & Beginnings) Martinique Stilwell (Thinking up a Hurricane) and Diane Awerbuck (Home Remedies), chaired by Melinda Ferguson.

Trial by twitter
Time: 14h30 – 15h30
Venue: Church Hall
Tweets are an instantaneous news medium with growing influence on public opinion. Fiona Snyckers quizzes Julian Rademeyer, Sam Wilson and non-tweeting journalist Ann Crotty about the pros and cons.

Carcassonne
Time: 14h30 – 15h30
Venue: Congregational Church
Novelist Christopher Hope chats to British author and playwright Kate Mosse about their engagement with France and one of its great historical cities.

Three writers walk into a book deal…
Time: 14h30 – 15h30
Venue: Council Chamber
Sarah Lotz, Paige Nick and Helen Moffett talk about the exciting international publishing deal for their fun and feisty choose-your-own-adventure erotica series “A Girl Walks Into…” and how it’s giving them what all writers crave – the freedom to write full-time.

Eastern Cape blues
Time: 14h30 – 15h30
Venue: Hospice Hall
Anchien Troskie (Dis ek, Anna and Die Staat Teen Anna Bruwer), Ken Barris (Life Underwater) and Marguerite Poland (Taken Captive by Birds) in conversation with Jo-Anne Richards (The Imagined Child).

Patricia Glyn …
Time: 14h30 – 15h30
Venue: The Screening Room
… presents her riveting TEDx talk about what she learnt on her journey into the Kalahari with the late Khomani San leader, Dawid Kruiper, and his family.

Fifty Shades of funny
Time: 16h00 – 17h00
Venue: School Hall
The combination of Sunday Times columnist Ndumiso Ngcobo and stand-up comedians Marianne Thamm and Nik Rabinowitz will have this audience laughing all the way home.

Fiction editing in South Africa
Time: 16h00 – 17h00
Venue: Church Hall
On a more serious note, John Linnegar of the Professional Editors’ Group talks to editor Maire Fisher, author/critic Brent Meersman (Reports Before Daybreak) and publishers Fourie Botha (Umuzi) and Colleen Higgs (Modjaji) about the local state of the art.

Writing a path through grief
Time: 16h00 – 17h00
Venue: Congregational Church
Sean Davison (Before We Said Goodbye, After We Said Goodbye) has been much in the news since his house arrest in New Zealand. Here he talks to Mignonne Breier (Letters to my Son) about the healing process of writing, chaired by Dawn Garisch (Eloquent Body).

Feeding Africa
Time: 16h00 – 17h00
Venue: Council Chamber
Leonie Joubert discusses her important and timely book The Hungry Season: Feeding Southern Africa’s Cities with sustainable development specialist Michelle Matthews.

Jenny & Jenny
Time: 16h00 – 17h00
Venue: Hospice Hall
Jenny Crwys-Williams (Just Jenny) and Jenny Hobbs (Napoleon Bones) – two longstanding friends with a passion for promoting books and reading – talk about their lives, their writing and the nuts and bolts of the FLF.

Poetry in the Screening Room
Time: 16h00 – 17h00
Venue: The Screening Room
Mellow out for the evening with tasters of poetry by Oswald Mtshali (Sounds of a Cowhide Drum), Kerry Hammerton (These are the lies I told you), Gus Ferguson (Holding Pattern) and Justin Fox (The Marginal Safari).

10h00-12h30 (Library)
All About Writing workshop with Jo-Anne Richards & Fred de Vries (Double Session)
A good story-teller can make us care about real-world issues, or about imagined people. Novelist Jo-Anne Richards and non-fiction writer Fred de Vries discuss how to get a story going, maintain the momentum and come to a dramatic climax and a satisfying resolution.

14h30-17h00 (Library)
The Suitcase Under the Bed Seminar (Double Session)
Experienced publishers Alison Lowry and Tracey McDonald give practical advice about publishing for aspiring authors.

14h30-15h30
A D Miller
… in conversation with Ann Donald about his Booker-shortlisted novel Snowdrops.

16h00-17h00
Flat Water Tuesday
John Maytham talks to UCT academic and literary agent Ron Irwin about his new novel.

18h00
FLF Wine Writer’s Prize presentation at Essence
(By invitation only)

19h30
Sunday Times dinner at Reuben’s
Join Sunday Times for a literary evening at Reuben’s Restaurant & Bar: Antony Beevor, Anthony Horowitz and A D Miller in discussion with Tymon Smith. Tickets: R550 each for four courses with a welcome drink of Porcupine Ridge wine. To book, email goodtimes@sundaytimes.co.za

19h30
Concert The Literary Liszt
(NGK Church) R90, pay at the door
Pianist Christopher Duigan plays music with literary connections by Romantic virtuoso Franz Liszt. (70 minutes)