The 6th annual Midlands Literary Festival takes place over the weekend of 21–23 August 2015.
It brings together a wonderful concoction of some of the country's top writers. But this year we're planning to stretch the geographical boundaries of the festival to include a grand opening night at Ike's Bookshop in Durban before switching to the primary and traditional Midlands venue at Howick for the rest of the weekend.
Durban does not really have a literary festival – with the emphasis on "festival" – that captures the imagination, which is why we're hosting an evening at probably the greatest bookshop in all of South Africa: Ike's in trendy Florida Road.
The theme for the evening is "Alice in Wonderland". Bibliophiles are encouraged to come dressed as the Mad Hatter or one of the characters from this perennial classic, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.
One of the most colourful characters on the literary scene, Ashwin Desai, should bring the house down with a talk entitled "Alice in Nkandlaland".
Other speakers for the night are Carol Campbell, with Esther's House, her follow-up novel to My children have faces (originally published in Afrikaans as Karretjiemense). Carol scored a major coup this year with the filming rights to both her books being bought.
Acclaimed Indian photographer Ranjith Kally will talk on his recent photographic book with a most beautiful title, Memory Against Forgetting.
And I just could not resist inviting Priya Dala to talk about her debut novel, What about Meera?, much of which was penned on the balcony of Ike's Bookshop.
Rounding off what should be a thoroughly enjoyable evening is a book you must read before you die: Vernon Head's The Search for the Rarest Bird in the World.
The next morning writers and festivalgoers should wake up with a somewhat heavy head for the opening day at Yellowwood Café just outside Howick. (An aside: If you arrive early, be sure to visit the Karkloof Farmers Market just up the road from Yellowwood.)
There will be a tinge of sadness to this year's event: it will be the first festival in its six-year existence at which Ian Player will not be present. People who know me know I seldom invite the same speakers every year, but in Dr Player's case, I sensed his greatness and his diminishing years.
Thus, to celebrate the life of this great man, Roger de la Harpe will present what will be the inaugural Ian Player Memorial Lecture at the festival as he speaks about his magnificent new book, African Icons.
Among other highlights will be Chris Nicholson and Mike Hickson on their book about the first multiracial cricket club in South Africa, the Aurora Cricket Club in Pietermaritzburg; Mary Kleinenberg on her book about the Black Sash of KZN, which has just shot on to the bestseller list; and Zuleikha Mayat, the lady behind that classic, Indian Delights, who will talk on her lyrical letter correspondence with Ahmed Kathrada as well as her latest travel memoir.
And then there's Vernon Head with his masterpiece on birds; Robert "Doc" Caldwell and Tod Collins's fascinating talks and Ashwin Desai about Gandhi. (His book might just win the 2016 Alan Paton Prize, and maybe we can then persuade those folk from that Sunday paper to get their geography right and award the Paton Prize in Paton country next year!)
Not discounting very young up-and-coming writers the programme also includes Emily Burger, a Pietermaritzburg schoolgirl, whose debut novel, Thieves of Greatness, has just appeared.
And there will be light music to add to the festive Midlands atmosphere, mainly in the form of in-between piano sprinklings.
The full programme:
SATURDAY 22 AUGUST
9.00–10.00 MARY KLEINENBERG: Standing on
Street Corners – KZN Black Sash
10.00–10.30 TOD COLLINS: Shackleton's
Forgotten Men
10.30–11.00 TEA
11.00–11.30 RANJIT KALLY: Memory against
Forgetting
11.30–12.00 EMILY BURGER: Thieves of
Greatness
12.00–12.30 ROBERT ("DOC") CALDWELL: The
Bright Lady of DNA
12.30–13.00 IAN TENNENT: Zululand Snow
1.00–2.30 LUNCH
2.30–3.00 CAROL CAMPBELL: Esther's House
3.00–3.30 CECILE LEVIN: A Piece of Cake
3.30–4.00 JACKIE KALLEY: Utterly Otterly – A
Local Publishing House
4.00–4.30 ASHWIN DESAI: Gandhi
SUNDAY 23 AUGUST
9.00–9.30 NICKY GRIESHABER: Write Thinking –
or: How to Keep Your Editor's Therapist Bills
Down
9.30–10.00 HANS SCHRÖDER: My Dear, We'll
Make a Plan
10.00–10.30 PRIYA DALA: What about Meera?
10.30–11.00 TEA
11.00–11.30 TOD COLLINS: The Great Himalayas
11.30–12.00 DI THOMPSON: Eric Rowan: The
Toughest and Naughtiest Springbok
12.00–12.30 ZULEIKHA MAYAT: Journeys of Binte
Batuti
12.30–13.00 JANET KOHLER: Perfect Party
13.00–2.30 LUNCH
2.30–3.00 CHRIS NICHOLSON and MIKE HICKSON :
How Aurora Cricket Club Stumped Apartheid
3.00–3.30 VERNON HEAD: In Search of the Rarest
Bird in the World
3.30–4.00 ROGER DE LA HARPE: African Icons – A
Year's Travels to Africa's Iconic Places
News supplied.
The fire department came to school to teach the children about fire safety.
It is not everyday our clients get married! A huge big congratulations goes to Tracey (owner of Tracey's B&B) and Werner Nel (owner of Hilton TV) who got married on the 8th August 2015 and followed their nuptials with a lovely honeymoon in Mozambique. We wish them oceans of happiness together.
With the recent upgrade of our dental equipment, we are promoting a Dental Hygiene Programme for the months of August and September. Dental care is important for your pets, so book a check-up for peace of mind or a routine scale and polish. Our nurses will be available during the months of August and September between 10h30 and 12h30 to conduct a free dental assessment.
Amahle Mlongo in Grade 2 at Laddsworth Primary School is proud to have completed the SHF Capital Climb Challenge.
Three Marriott Dargle Trails Festival medals for MTB were presented in assembly at Laddsworth Primary School on 17 August 2015. Well done to siblings Kyle and Brady Bullock as well as Stuart Temple for competing in the event.
Capulum College collected over 30kgs of Winter Warmth items which were donated to FreeMe and SAVF. Thank you to all the families who contributed!
Dereck Jackson a psychologist, author and well-known expert on parenting matters, spoke at the most recent Positive Parenting Forum session hosted by Laddsworth Primary School on 11 August. His focus was on bullying and how to equip children who are victims of bullying to be more assertive. The tips, suggestions and understanding he shared was delivered with a measure of humour and much gravity, as bullying is a serious problem.
Hilton does it again! For the second time in less than a week, we beat another neighbouring club for the first time since 2002 and won the coveted HH Trophy from Howick. The margin of victory was a mere seven shots, but we are very proud of this win. Thanks to Howick for bringing the cup across to us and for the lovely spirit in which the competition was played.
Emma Lycett in Grade 3 and Ellen Oosthuizen in Grade 2 at Laddsworth Primary School participated in The South African Society of Music Teachers Eisteddfod 2015. Emma played 'When the Band goes marching by' and 'Greatest Show on earth'. Together, Emma and Ellen played the duet 'Little Ducks Promenade'. Their Pre-Grade 1 achievements were applauded in assembly.
Omar Wilson, in Grade 3 at Laddsworth Primary School competed in the Scottburgh 28km Splash & Dash MTB race on Sunday 9 August. Omar did really well to complete this raw, untamed and apparently very rocky route in a time of 1:54:21, coming 2nd place in his age category (Nippers, which is U10.) He came 37th overall, out of a field of approximately 200, which means that he beat a whole bunch of adults.
The Club Singles championship came to a conclusion on Thursday when Fred Palmer beat Arthur Daugherty in an exciting and closely contested match.
Airen de la Mare in Grade 7 at Laddsworth Primary School was awarded two Gold medals (above 85%) and one Silver medal (above 75%) at the annual Music Eisteddfod for her Grade 3 piano performances. Her gold achievements were received for Allegro by Muzio Clementi and a Spanish piece, Ya se murio el burro, composed by Trad arr Barratt. The silver was earned by her rendition of Cotton Reel.
The Artisan's Pizza and Pasta 2-4-2 competition on Friday was won by John Pattrick and Lorna Allen. Runners-up were Gert and Gwen Snyman. Barry Best and Jo Boonzaier won Wedgewood nougat for their third place while Jean and Rob Tosen won bottles of red wine. Sincere thanks to all our faithful sponsors and congratulations to the winners.
The Grade 5 Science Evening on Wednesday, 12 August at Laddsworth Primary School saw teams and individuals sharing the results of their experiential scientific investigations.
Hilton Pre- primary won a water explorer completion and celebrated with a puppet show on the 'Water cycle'. Hilton Quarry Superspar donated doughnuts and water for each and every child.
On a gloriously sunny Friday, 7 August, 340 grandparents visited Laddsowrth Primary School to meet up with their grand-children in the Junior Primary. Together they made fun memories reading, doing puzzles, creating artworks and tossing beanbags with the children. After tea the Grandparents were treated to a presentation by the Junior and Dinky Choirs. Laddsworth values the support and participation of their wonderful extended family.
On Monday, 3rd of August, iThemba preschool opened it's bright blue doors to the first of many children. This is a dream come true for the staff and supporters of iThemba Projects, that has been working toward this goal since the Nkosi (chief) of Sweetwaters gave a piece of land to them 8 years ago, with the request that they build a community centre and a creche on it. The preschool, built by locals using the rammed earth method, is spacious and beautiful and will eventually be able to accommodate 70 preschoolers. The classroom is filled with toys, bright books and giggles of children at play. The playground, overlooking the hills and valleys so typical of Sweetwaters, is a happy place with jungle gyms, stumps to climb on and a slide down to the next terrace for those who prefer speed to steps. But the best of all is the little people, and the knowledge that through this school, iThemba can further their vision to bring hope to the people of Mpumuza / Sweetwaters. Because we believe that good enough never is (really good enough), the school will be a centre of excellence where not only the attending children can receive top-quality education from dedicated staff, but also a place where other teachers can come to be inspired and trained and have access to teaching resources. We are grateful to all the donors who made this possible, not least to Vodacom who, through their Change The World programme, has placed Chrissie van Niekerk at iThemba for the year, to work as Early Childhood Programme Developer and take the new preschool to new heights."