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Collections of writing are odd beasts. Once never really knows how to name them or hold them down exactly. Collections like this one by Andrew Miller are even odder as it combines searingly autobiographical material with political diatribe and satire...
South African resident and Dutch journalist Fred De Vries has just published a collection of his interviews with South Africans through WITS University Press. I decided to put him on the post for a change here. You can read the review of his book...
Bree O’ Mara is the winner of the inaugural Citizen newspaper Book Prize, and Home Affairs is her resultant debut novel. The most refreshing thing about this book is that it is far from a dull, dry first novel affair. Quite the contrary! Many have...
Get Your Groove On The Move: A concise guide to modern music production By Wiggzaro Published by Junga Music Despite the fact that it has never really been easier to make and record your own music thanks to the advent of computers and great music programmes...
For 111 years, various people have been putting out an Afrikaans literary journal known as Ons Klyntjie. More recently taken over by Toast Coetzer and Erns Grundling, it has evolved quite a bit from the original vision I am sure, but retains plenty of...
Aryan Kaganof has been around. He’s pissed a lot of people off. The established art fraternity don’t like him as they see him as a huckster and a pollutant whose very fecundity sullies the pure halls of art. His prodigious output of...
“I tell you, walk carefully and think fast; This is Johannesburg; you are either fast or dead… That’s dream city for you. It will city-ise you, hold you, Lovingly caress you and orgasmify you and, By the time you wake up, it’s too late… Room 207 is a...
Acid Alex is one hell of a read for anyone who grew up in South Africa during70's and 80's - hell even the 90's. It's like brushing up against the unshaven past when you least expect it. So much of the story is real and visceral, like unexpected memories...
Uselessly is the 5th novel that Aryan Kaganof has published. It is also the first one that has been published by a main stream publisher in South Africa. And I am not sure if these two things are linked, but it also probably the least confrontational and most accessible thing he has ever had published.
This book was recommended to me by a good friend in Cape Town with the kiss of death. “This is such and important book” she said, “You must read it, it will change your life.”
Hagen Engler is one of those names that peeps in the know seem to know, and very few others. He is one of those mysterious denizens of South Africa's underground scene that it seems to be cool to know about. Luckily however, he is a very prolific and approachable guy. He has self published three collections of his own journalistic writings, and two novels. The Latest, Buttons For Gaia is definitely his most ambitious and extreme work to date. One is left wondering where on earth he will turn to next!
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