Latest news with #ShutYourPothole


The Citizen
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Glenwood Book Fair attracts scores of visitors
THE inaugural Glenwood Book Fair is the talk of the town with organisers and visitors still buzzing about the success of the event that was held at the Phansi Museum from May 29 to 31. The Glenwood fair was organised by Micromega Publications, the organiser of the Durban International Book Fair, and it drew crowds of over 500 people, including vendors and authors. Anivesh Singh, the organiser, said visitors came from as far afield as Gqeberha, Johannesburg, Chile, and Canada to browse through countless amounts of literature and witness the launch of several books. 'One of the highlights of the event was the standing-room-only launch of Shut Your Pothole, the latest collection of political cartoons by the acclaimed Dr Nanda Soobben. Equally well-received was the launch of Healing Ink, an anthology of poetry written by youth,' said Singh. Also Read: Healing Ink calls for poetry submissions The fair coincided with the birthday of Dr Paul Mikula, founder of the Phansi Museum, who was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Durban International Book Fair in 2023. Among those who launched their books was Gordon Michael. His children's book, Admiral, tells the tale of Durban's most famous tortoise, how he ended up at Mitchell Park, and how he got his name. He was in great company as the editor of Healing Ink, 19-year-old Sarada Naidoo, flew in from Gauteng to be part of an interactive session with some of the young contributors reading their poems in public for the first time. The theme for the Glenwood Book Fair was 'Bibliotherapy – healing through writing' which suited Healing Ink, an anthology of poetry by youth on mental health. 'The book has a lot of voices that talk about mental health and their personal struggles. I was inspired to focus on mental health because I have been through a lot of issues myself. I struggled to express myself and used my poetry as an outlet. It was not meant to be published but I hope it serves the purpose, to heal and help whoever needs it,' said Naidoo. With vendors, authors, publishers and visitors singing the praises of the inaugural event, the organisers expressed hope that the Glenwood Book Fair will grow to rival the Grahamstown Arts Festival, with future editions expanding into events and activations throughout the Glenwood area. For more information or to find out about upcoming events, contact Anivesh Singh on anivesh@ For more from Berea Mail, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok. Click to subscribe to our newsletter – here At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!

IOL News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
Exploring Politics Through Art: Nanda Soobben's provocative book, 'Shut Your Pothole'
Multi-award winning cartoonist and animator Nanda Soobben launched his latest book, Shut Your Pothole. Image: Sibonelo Ngcobo/Independent Media VETERAN cartoonist and animator Nanda Soobben launched his third book, Shut Your Pothole, at the Glenwood Book Fair, on Saturday. Soobben, who has been keeping a close eye and depicting his take on local and international politics for 40 years in that time, is regarded as a Struggle media personality. It's no surprise that the book has strong political flavour and Chapter One is titled: 'Apartheid and Racism" Mandela, women, GBV and human rights, Donald Trump, one of the most dominant personalities in world politics presently, are some other prominent themes to feature in the book. Some of the audience who attended the launch of nanda Soobben's latest book, Shut Your Pothole. Image: Sibonelo Ngcobo/Independent Media 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. 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. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ During the launch event, Soobben engaged his audience and gave insights on the inspiration for Shut Your Pothole, including the catchy title. 'I saw Bheki Cele (the former minister of police) shouting at someone, who was asking a relevant question about a woman who was killed in a township and he was telling her to shut up and was shouting at her. 'I was watching it play out on TV and instinctively said, shut your pothole!' About the presidents who ruled nations during his career as cartoonist, Soobben said: 'I have seen stupid men rule the world, everyone one was stupid. There was only one who was more dignified than the others, the rest were all stupid because of the things they did.' Nanda Soobben giving insights on some of the depictions in his latest boo, Shut Your Pothole. Image: Sibonelo Ngcobo/Independent Media