John van der Ruit, author of SPUD -- THE REUNION, has been announced as the Featured Author for the 28th edition of the annual Time of the Writer festival presented by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The festival will take place between 18 – 23 March 2025 under the broad theme of Imagination, Freedom & Accountability.
JOHN VAN DE RUIT was born in Durban, South Africa, and educated at Michaelhouse and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he completed a Master’s degree in drama and performance studies. His creative career as an actor, playwright and author has spanned over twenty-five years.
In September 2005, John’s comedic novel, Spud, was released and became an immediate bestseller. Spud went on to be published in numerous countries and was adapted into a hit film starring John Cleese and Troye Sivan. Spud inspired three sequels: The Madness Continues … (2007) Learning to Fly (2009) and Exit.
“We are delighted to present John van der Ruit as the Featured Author next year with his newly launched sequel, Spud --- The Reunion. We believe that van der Ruit has the gravitas to appeal to both young and more mature audiences”, says Ismail Mahomed,
Director of the Centre for Creative Arts. “We are confident that both his creativity and entrepreneurial spirit will inspire a new generation of readers and writers”, he added.
Talking to Time of the Writer festival curator, Shafinaaz Hassim, van der Ruit said that it was during the Covid-19 National Lockdowns, that the urgency to write the reunion came to him. Van der Ruit will be In Conversation with Shafinaaz Hassim at the festival. He will also facilitate a creative writing workshop for students.
The 28th edition of the Time of the Writer festival will present between 50 – 70 writers across its live and online programmes. The 28th edition of the Time of the Writer festival is funded by the University of KwaZulu-Natal, National Arts Council and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport, Arts & Culture. Full details of the Time of the Writer programme will be released in January 2025.
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