- Pierre Brouard * I loved the Joyce Carol Oates book on losing her husband, A Widow’s Story * * * * And of course The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion speaks movingly of her widowhood and its traumas * * * * David Reiff’s Swimming in a Sea of Death, about the … Continue reading »
Many of us want to write, indeed feel a great need to write, but the goal is not a book or to publish but to find out more about ourselves. We asked Pierre Brouard, co-facilitator of Growing through writing some questions. Is it really possible to write to process the past, deal with the present … Continue reading »
- Fred de Vries Jack Kerouac’s On the Road is a classic piece of travel writing. I still love it. It has everything: pace, scenery, passion, sex, jazz, friendship, betrayal, exhilaration and dismay. Paul Bowles’s collection of short stories is sublime and his Sheltering Sky is frightening. … Continue reading »
- Linda Cassidy Lewis I love to read books about writing. These are the ones I use most. Constance Hale’s book Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose is the first book I read on writing. This is more than just a style manual. After teaching you the basic rules, Hale teaches you … Continue reading »
Here is a wonderfully detailed and thought provoking Q an A with Geoff Klaas of Collectors Treasury – a blog post that straddles both our series on best-known and most loved independent book shops and our publishing series. Whether you are looking for a little inspiration for your reading list or some fierce debate on the state of the book … Continue reading »
This wonderful short film by Glen Milner will bring joy to your heart and remind you that there is more to a good book than good writing. Birth of a Book from Glen Milner on Vimeo.
We have got good news and bad news as far as books go in Johannesburg. As supporters of independent book shops we were saddened by the closure of Boekehuis, a wonderful bookstore to browse, peopled by knowledgable and helpful staff. We believe it to be a short-sighted decision. Boekehuis, in Auckland Park, has been a haven for … Continue reading »
Thembi Majombozi, a Soweto teacher, was very generously funded by MNET to send a batch of her students to our very first Junior Writers Course – and we’ve kept in pretty constant touch since then. Last year, we, together with Wesley Thopmson who ran the course, decided to donate the proceeds of our self -publishing … Continue reading »
Henrietta Rose-Innes on the art of publishing – the book cover. The Heartstoppingly Gorgeous Front Cover: it’s one of the most compelling daydreams for an unpublished author. I know writers who’ve lovingly designed book jackets in their minds – complete with blurbs, endorsements and their own name gold-embossed – long before the book is written … Continue reading »
On a hot summer day in 2006 my Dutch publisher Nijgh & Van Ditmar proudly presented my book Club Risiko in a trendy place on the Amsterdam canals. It was a great occasion, with lots of beer and lots of friends. There were several speeches, and when it was my turn, I said something that … Continue reading »
