Latest news with #PumlaDineoGqola
IOL News
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- IOL News
Open Book Festival 2025: a celebration of African Literature
Speakers and participants at this year's Open Book Festival Image: Supplied The Open Book Festival, a beacon of literary celebration in South Africa, has unveiled an electrifying lineup for its 2025 edition, promising three days filled with essential conversations, performances, and community engagement. As the festival seeks to cultivate a deeper understanding of contemporary issues through literary dialogue, it is set to welcome both familiar names and fresh talent from across South Africa and the broader African continent. This year's programme showcases returning Festival favourites such as the formidable Pumla Dineo Gqola, acclaimed authors Mohale Mashigo and Maneo Mohale, and rising stars Zizipho Bam, Lesedi Molefi, Sven Axelrad, and Siphokazi Jonas. Among the enriching new voices joining the Open Book family are Andile Cele, Nadia Cassim, Popina Khumanda, and Sarah Uheida, all set to bring their unique perspectives to the festival. International presence will further enhance the event's profile, with notable authors such as Zimbabwe's Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nigerian-born Foluso Agbaje, and Ugandan writer Goretti Kyomuhendo participating through the festival's collaboration with Littlegig. The African Literary Cities Project will also contribute brilliant minds like Rémy Ngamije from Namibia, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf from Nigeria, and James Murua from Kenya, making the festival a melting pot of literary cultures. Festival organiser, Frankie Murrey, expressed her excitement over the incredible response to the event. 'The response has been incredible and shows how much this festival means to our community,' she said. 'We're still accepting contributions as we work toward our sustainability target, because this festival isn't just about this year—it's about ensuring these vital conversations continue for years to come.' Currently, the crowdfunding campaign has raised R383 210 against a target of R500 000, reflecting the community's investment in the future of the festival. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ This year's festival will combine beloved traditions with initiatives aimed at addressing contemporary challenges. Expect to see returning favourites like 'Conversations with Mohale,' 'Up Close with Maneo,' and the audience-engaging 'Writersports,' along with fresh poetry readings and theatrical performances. Central themes of mental health, identity, and reimagining masculinity will be explored, ensuring the programme resonates on multiple levels with festival-goers. 'We're not just hosting conversations—we're holding space,' Murrey continued. 'In a world that feels increasingly fraught, we're creating opportunities for our community to find strength in each other, to support and celebrate, and to discover moments of joy.' The festival aims to foster dialogue about the issues that matter most to contemporary South Africa and the continent at large. The 2025 Open Book Festival is made possible through various sponsorships and partnerships, with significant support from the City of Cape Town, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and several prominent publishers and organisations, including Jonathan Ball Publishers and Penguin Random House. As literary enthusiasts gear up for this remarkable event, the anticipation builds for what promises to be a transformative experience, merging literature and activism in dynamic ways.
TimesLIVE
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
Open Book Festival announces top-tier line-up for September 2025
Open Book Festival has announced a powerful 2025 line-up, bringing together established and emerging literary voices from across South Africa and the continent for three days of essential conversations, performances and community building. This year's programme welcomes returning festival favourites, including the incomparable Pumla Dineo Gqola, Mohale Mashigo, Maneo Mohale, Zizipho Bam, Lesedi Molefi, Sven Axelrad and Siphokazi Jonas. The festival is also excited to welcome new talent to the Open Book family, including Andile Cele, Nadia Cassim, Popina Khumanda, Manthipe Moila, Jeffrey Rakabe and Sarah Uheida, among others. International participants bring additional depth to the programme, with acclaimed Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga (through their partnership with Littlegig), Foluso Agbaje (Nigeria/London), and Goretti Kyomuhendo (Uganda) joining them. The African Literary Cities Project is also bringing some incredible participants — look forward to engaging with Rémy Ngamije (Namibia), Bibi Bakare-Yusuf (Nigeria/London), and James Murua (Kenya). Nadia Davids joins the festival as part of the Caine Prize 25th anniversary celebration. A full list of participants is available on the festival website, which will continue to be updated as new authors are confirmed. The festival's crowdfunding appeal has demonstrated the deep community commitment, with supporters raising R383,210 towards the R500,000 target needed to secure the festival's long-term sustainability. While this year's festival will proceed regardless, reaching the full funding goal is essential to ensure the festival can continue without unsustainable borrowing . 'The response has been incredible and shows how much this festival means to our community,' said festival organiser Frankie Murrey. 'We're still accepting contributions as we work towards our sustainability target, because this festival isn't just about this year — it's about ensuring these vital conversations continue for years to come.'
TimesLIVE
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
Open Book Festival funding crisis — community response and latest government decisions
While the community has rallied with support, recent government funding decisions have confirmed the severity of the financial shortfall threatening Open Book Festival's survival beyond September 2025. Since the festival's initial appeal last week, the organisation expresses deep gratitude for the community support received, with contributors donating R104,177.23 toward the R500,000 target needed for the September 2025 festival. The organisation has also streamlined its donation process to make supporting the initiative more accessible. However, recent correspondence from government departments has clarified the extent of the funding crisis. When the initial appeal was made, the festival had not yet received final decisions from key funding applications. The Western Cape Cultural Affairs and Sport department has now confirmed support of just over R55,000 – a fraction of the R300,000 originally applied for. Meanwhile, the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture's list of supported projects does not include Open Book Festival at all. After years of receiving crucial multi-year funding as a Western Cape Flagship Project, including R700,000 in 2024, this represents a dramatic reduction in government support. "We can no longer depend on government support," stated the festival organisers. "This represents an unprecedented shortfall for an event that operates on an annual budget of approximately R2 million." Open Book Festival encompasses three major annual events: the flagship September festival, the Youth Festival in March, and Workshop Week in June. If Open Book Festival ceases to exist, the impact will be felt by many writers who have enjoyed the platform the festival creates, the sales of books, the opportunities to meet, engage and connect with other writers and the opportunities to talk to readers and engaged citizens. The festival's impact resonates deeply within the literary community. Professor Pumla Dineo Gqola noted that "Open Book reminds me of the beauty and generosity in the world, and gives me permission to feel full joy for a few days." Author Damilare Kuku observed, "I have never been to a festival where I could see art healing people in real time." Shubnum Khan, author of Onion Tears, How I Accidentally Became a Global Stock Photo and The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil describes Open Book as "truly one of the best and nicest book festivals I've ever been to. Everyone was just so warm and welcoming and everyone, whether I knew them or not, felt like old friends." Novelist Yewanda Omotoso expresses her experience of the festival as "really special. I remembered what it is about Open Book that reverberates so powerfully ... A generosity of spirit that inhabits the festival and all who touch it." "Without immediate support, there may be no Open Book Festival beyond September 2025," organisers urged. "Every contribution matters. Every share extends our reach. Every voice raised in support strengthens the community we've built together."
Zawya
22-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) announces 2nd Edition of The Prize for Publishing in Africa
Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), an intervention by African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) ( invites African publishers of trade books to apply for the second edition of the CANEX Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa. The initiative, developed in partnership with Narrative Landscape Press Limited, underscores the commitment of Afreximbank through the CANEX Book Factory to showcasing of the literary and publishing value chain in Africa, and developing literary talent across the continent and its diaspora. The inaugural edition saw Cassava Republic Press, win the Prize in 2024 for the 'Female Fear Factory: Unveiling Patriarchy's Culture of Violence,' by Pumla Dineo Gqola. The CANEX Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa is designed to celebrate and recognise the outstanding contributions of African publishers and authors to the literary world. The total prize fund is $28,000, with $20,000 awarded to the winner and $2,000 distributed to each of the four finalists. The prize is open to trade books published by Africa-domiciled publishers in the year preceding the prize, in one or more of the official languages of the African Union: Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, and any other African language. Submissions will be judged on the quality of writing, editing and production. Priority will be given to books printed and produced on the African continent, as well as to books published in indigenous African languages. Interested publishers should visit to register, with entries open from 17 March – 30 April 2025. The CANEX Book Factory is an annual programme of events under Afreximbank's Creative Africa Nexus initiative. This year's programme will culminate in an awards ceremony at the fourth edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) ( Africa's premier trade and investment event, taking place in Algiers, Algeria from 4 – 10 September 2025. During the week-long fair, more than 2,000 exhibitors, including businesses from the African continent and globally, will be showcasing their goods and services to the visitors and buyers while exploring opportunities and exchanging information. This is projected to translate into over US$44 billion in trade and investment deals. Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra African Trade and Export Development, Afreximbank, said, 'We are delighted to announce the 2025 CANEX Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa. Building on last year's successful edition, this landmark initiative celebrates African publishing excellence. Through the CANEX Book Factory, we aim to put a spotlight on the enormous contribution of African authors and publishers to Africa's cultural identity and economy.' Dr Eghosa Imasuen, co-founder of Narrative Landscape Press Limited and Programme Manager for the CANEX Book Factory, said,"The first edition of the Prize greatly underscored the necessity of this intervention in the publishing value chain in Africa. We are grateful to Afreximbank and CANEX for their ongoing support of African publishing. We are excited to launch this second edition, and we hope to see submissions from more publishers across the continent than in the inaugural edition.' Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank. Media Contact: Vincent Musumba Communications and Events Manager (Media Relations) Email: press@ Follow Afreximbank on: X: Facebook: LinkedIn: Instagram: About the CANEX Book Factory: The CANEX Book Factory is an annual programme of events under Afreximbank's Creative Africa Nexus initiative. The CANEX Book Factory is designed to spotlight and elevate the African book value chain through a publishing prize, a Pan-African writing workshop, and an e-newsletter highlighting African literature. About Afreximbank: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. For over 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa's trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank's total assets and guarantees stood at over US$37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$6.1 billion. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody's (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure (together, "the Group"). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. For more information, visit: About the Intra-African Trade Fair: Organised by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) is intended to provide a unique platform for facilitating trade and investment information exchange in support of increased intra-African trade and investment, especially in the context of implementing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). IATF brings together continental and global players to showcase and exhibit their goods and services and to explore business and investment opportunities in the continent. It also provides a platform to share trade, investment and market information with stakeholders and allows participants to discuss and identify solutions to the challenges confronting intra-African trade and investment. In addition to African participants, the Trade Fair is also open to businesses and investors from non-African countries interested in doing business in Africa and in supporting the continent's transformation through industrialisation and export development.
