Archive for the ‘Afrikaans’ Category
March 17th, 2010 by Amanda
Evita Bezuidenhout recently took time out of her busy schedule to chat to Hillary Biller about her new cook book Evita’s Kossie Sikelela and her cooking secrets. It’s to die for doll!
I did not know that a tannie with such long, perfectly manicured nails could cook – or would even get her hands dirty.
I love getting my hands covered in flour and shiny with olive oil, cluttered with bits of parsley and even something delicious under my nails. Someone once said: “A clean cook is a boring chef.” I make a hell of a mess and the staff clean up after me. So it involves job-creation as well.
Book details
Cats: Afrikaans,
Food,
Humour,
South Africa Tags: Afrikaans,
English,
Evita Bezuidenhout,
Evita se Kossie Sikelela,
Evita's Kossie Sikelela,
Fiction,
Food,
Hilary Biller,
Humour,
Linda Vicquery,
Pieter Dirk- Uys,
South Africa,
Sunday Times,
Umuzi
March 16th, 2010 by Amanda
Vir die eerste keer in sy 11-jarige bestaan het die Universiteit van Stellenbosch se Woordfees, in samewerking met die ATKV, woord- en visuele kunstenaars vereer deur die toekenning van WOORDtroFEES.
Die trofees, wat spesiaal vir die geleentheid geskep is deur die beeldhouer, Sanna Swart, is op Sondag 7 Maart by ‘n bekroningsgeleentheid oorhandig deur Prof Dorothea van Zyl en Japie Gouws, voorsitter van die ATKV.
In die kategorie Debuutteks het Karin Brynard en Bettina Wyngaard die louere gedeel – Brynard vir die onderhoud oor haar roman Plaasmoord en Wyngaard wat gepraat het oor haar roman Troos vir die gebrokenes.
Bettina sê die toekenning en prysgeld van R1500.00 was ‘n groot verrassing, “Uiteraard, dat ek ‘n prys ontvang het, is vir my ‘n besondere eer, en ek wil ook net my gelukwensinge aan Karin uitspreek.”
Die beoordelaars was beïndruk met die diepgang van die gesprekke waaraan die skrywers oor hul romans op die Woordfees deelgeneem het. Deur die bekroning van uitnemendheid, poog die ATKV om deur middel van die WOORDtroFEES, skeppende werk en kreatiwiteit in die kunste te ondersteun en te bevorder.
Hierdie toekennings sal verteenwoordigend wees van die verskillende fasette van die US Woordfees se feesprogram.
Boekbesonderhede
Cats: Afrikaans,
Fiction,
South Africa Tags: Afrikaans,
Bettina Wyngaard,
coloured community,
Fiction,
Non-fiction,
Publisher,
South Africa,
Strong Women,
Subtitle,
Troos vir die gebrokenes,
Umuzi,
Universiteit van Stellenbosch,
US,
Woordfees,
WOORDtroFEES
March 9th, 2010 by Amanda
Evita Bezuidenhout is deesdae ‘n besige dame met die bekendstelling van haar nuwe boek Evita se Kossie Sikelela. Die boek is propvol smulresepte en skreeusnaakse stories. Kerneels Breytenbach het names Rapport sy stoute skoene aangetrek en met die “grande dame” gaan gesels oor die boek, resepte en van Evita se vrinne en ervaringe.
Moenie verder soek vir ’n portret van ons tyd – en aptyt – nie.
Evita Bezuidenhout staan trots, guitig en stralend op haar omslag. En dis reg só. Sy’t rede. Met een slag wend sy haar volle glorie aan om ’n uitlokkende, leesbare resepteboek te skep.
Van die vindingryke omslag (wat dadelik van die boek ’n versamelstuk maak) tot by die register agterin is Kossie Sikelelaanders. Daar’s baie wat jou laat lag, en nog meer wat jou kombuis toe stuur. Boonop met ’n woord vooraf deur Sophia Loren, die enigste vrou wat ta’ Evita in die skadu stel aangaande volrondheid!
Boekbesonderhede
Cats: Afrikaans,
Food,
Humour,
South Africa Tags: Afrikaans,
English,
Evita Bezuidenhout,
Evita se Kossie Sikelela,
Evita's Kossie Sikelela,
Fiction,
Food,
Humour,
Kerneels Breytenbach,
Linda Vicquery,
Onderhoud,
Pieter Dirk- Uys,
Rapport,
Rapport Boeke,
South Africa,
Umuzi
March 8th, 2010 by Amanda
Die gewildste toneel in Bettina Wyngaard se boek, Troos vir die bebrokenes, is waar die karakter Antie Mina ‘n vroueslaner met ‘n stuk hout moker.
Wyngaard het gister in gesprek met Desmond Painter by die Woordfees gesê sy probeer glad nie om deur hierdie toneel geweld goed te praat nie. Die boek spreek juis die probleem van gesinsgeweld aan. Sy wil egter met die toneel sê dat ‘n mens nie net moet toekyk hoe verkeerde dinge gebeur nie. “Jy moet self intree en ‘n verskil maak,” het sy gesê.
Dít is wat sy as skrywer probeer doen. In haar vorige beroep as prokureur kon sy net een persoon op ‘n slag help. “Skryf is ‘n meer subtiele manier om mense te verander, maar miskien meer ingrypend. Jy laat mense anders dink en anders reageer op situasies.”
As prokureur het Wyngaard dikwels met gesinsgeweld te doen gekry en op haar tuisdorp, Grabouw, het sy die lot van die fabriekswerkers beleef. Dit het haar gedryf om die boek te skryf.
Tog het sy nie oorspronklik ‘n politieke agenda gehad nie. Sy het bloot moeg geraak vir boeke wat nie die realiteite van mense se lewens weerspieël nie.
Wyngaard skryf al van kleins af, maar om regsdokumente te skryf is so anders dat sy heeltemal opgehou het om kreatief te skryf. “Op ‘n dag het ek net besluit: Nou moet ek ‘n plan maak.”
Al skryf Wyngaard baie realisties oor geweld, wou sy nie ‘n neerdrukkende boek skryf nie. “Ons kan so maklik vasgevang raak in die probleme van Suid-Afrika,” het sy gesê. “Maar ons kan dit oorkom.”
Die boek bied aan die einde hoop en troos, maar nie maklike oplossings nie. Die karakters moet werk aan hul toekoms. “Hoe sal ‘n mens lig waardeer as jy nie donker ervaar het nie?”
Wyngaard werk tans aan haar tweede boek, wat verkragting van lesbiërs, met die doel om hulle “reg te ruk”, sal aanspreek
Facebook galery
Boekbesonderhede
Cats: Afrikaans,
Fiction,
South Africa Tags: Afrikaans,
Bettina Wyngaard,
coloured community,
Fiction,
Non-fiction,
Publisher,
South Africa,
Strong Women,
Subtitle,
Troos vir die gebrokenes,
Umuzi
February 15th, 2010 by Amanda
Umuzi cordially invites you to join us for the launch of Evita’s Kossie Sikelela at this year’s Woordfees. The book will be published in March, the month of the launch.
A “delightful cookbook”; a “unique collection of mainly South African recipes and some others, lovingly presented”.
– Sophia Loren
We’ll see you there!
Event Details
- Date: Tuesday, 02 March 2010
- Time: 2:30 PM for 3:00 PM
- Venue: Woordfees, HB Thom Theatre (foyer)
Drama Building
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch - RSVP: Kim, 011 484 3538, kimr@randomstruik.co.za
Book details
December 22nd, 2009 by Amanda
Baie mense stry dat dit sonde is om ‘n boek te vertaal – soveel van die teks se rykheid gaan glo in die proses verlore. Vertaling is dus ‘n moeilike taak, veral as dit kom by die werk van ‘n bekende skrywer met sy eie unieke styl soos die van JM Coetzee. Michiel Heyns het bietjie met Fanie Olivier gesels oor sy vertaling van Coetzee se In Oneer.
Fanie, om by die begin te begin: hoe het jy op die idee gekom om Disgrace te vertaal? Was dit jóú ingewing, of dié van ’n uitgewer?
Ek sou nooit op die idee gekom het om dit te vertaal nie. Enersyds omdat ek myself nie as ’n vertaler van daardie formaat beskou het nie, maar ook omdat ek glo (geglo het) dat diegene wat Disgrace sou wou lees, dit reeds in Engels sou gedoen het. Coetzee is op stuk van sake op sy Engels onmiskenbaar deel van die Afrikaanse literêre landskap. Nee, dit was Annari van der Merwe wat my uit die blouste bloutes geskakel het terwyl ek in die Weste van Engeland aan die rondry was.
Boekbesonderhede
Cats: Afrikaans,
Fiction,
South Africa Tags: Afrikaans,
Disgrace,
Fanie Olivier,
Fiction,
In oneer,
JM Coetzee,
Litnet,
Michiel Heyns,
Publisher,
South Africa,
Umuzi
December 14th, 2009 by Amanda
When, as a teenager, Oscar Pistorius was caught sneaking into a girls’ school, his punishment was two months’ ballet classes with the very same girls – which must have been quite a challenge for the budding young athlete, bending into a plié on prosthetic legs!
He calls himself “other-abled” or “differently abled” rather than “disabled”, with good reason: Pistorius has single-handedly (or double-prosthetic-leggedly?) changed athletics, by challenging to compete in standard IAAF events, including the Olympics. It’s been a see-saw affair, with scientists lining up on both sides of the issue, some saying Pistorius gains no advantage from his famous “blades”, other saying his advantage must rule him out (in a very ironic twist) of non-disabled sports.
In this wide-ranging podcast interview with the BBC, Pistorius talks about all aspects of his life, including the latest opinions on his blades. Get to know this mature and personable young athlete:
Book details
Cats: Afrikaans,
Biography,
Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Sport Tags: Afrikaans,
Athletes,
Athletics,
BBC,
Biography,
Blade Runner,
Die verhaal van Oscar Pistorius,
Non-fiction,
Oscar,
Oscar Pistorius,
Owen Bennett Jones,
Paralympians,
Parlalympics,
Podcast,
South Africa,
Sport,
Umuzi,
Virgin Books
November 30th, 2009 by Amanda
It took Afrikaans actress Antoinette Pienaar almost 40 years to find him, but when she finally did Oom Johannes Willemse started teaching her all about the healing herbs of the Karoo. Their story is encapsulated in Pienaar’s book, The Griqua’s Apprentice / Kruidjie roer my.
For more information on herbs and cures, don’t miss Pienaar’s herbal remedy website, Kruie Kraai Koning.
Deep in the heart of the Great Karoo of South Africa, at the foot of a mountain without an official name, a Griqua herbalist is teaching a white woman to heal people with herbs. Oom (uncle) Johannes Willemse, already in his nineties, was a little annoyed that it took well-known Afrikaans actress Antoinette Pienaar nearly 40 years to find him – he had been dreaming for decades that she would be the one to help him pass on his knowledge.
When she arrived at Theefontein, the sheep farm owned by her second cousin Jacques Pienaar, in 2001, Antoinette was severely weakened after contracting cerebral malaria in West Africa – but she decided to stay on at the farm to be healed by the Karoo and its herbs.
Book details
Image courtesy Kruie Kraai Koning
Cats: Afrikaans,
Health,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: Afrikaans,
Antoinette Pienaar,
Beaufort Wes,
Biography,
Griekwa-bossiedokter,
Griqua,
Griqua's Apprentice,
Health,
Johannes Willemse,
Kruidjie roer my,
Kruie Kraai Koning,
Non-fiction,
Publisher,
South Africa,
Subtitle,
The Griqua's Apprentice,
Umuzi
October 12th, 2009 by Emily
Chris Barron’s Sunday Times obituary for author Izak de Villiers, who passed away last month:
Izak de Villiers, who has died in Johannesburg at the age of 73, was the editor of the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Rapport.
He was also a dominee, a published poet – considered by some to be the best mystical poet in Afrikaans – and a prolific author. He wrote 54 books, including five of poetry and one on depression.
He also composed a number of hymns that were included in the hymn book of the Dutch Reformed Church in the 1970s.
De Villiers was born in Paarl on July 30 1936 and attended Paarl Gymnasium, a school for which he maintained a lifelong passion.
Book details
Cats: Afrikaans,
Biography,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: Afrikaans,
Biography,
Chris Barron,
Izak de Villiers,
Memoir,
Non-fiction,
Obituary,
South Africa,
Strooidak en toring,
Sunday Times,
Umuzi,
Van mense en my tyd
September 14th, 2009 by Emily
New from Umuzi
The Tall Assassin, by Alan D Elsdon, tells of a reign of terror marked by several political murders in one man’s zealous quest to combat communism. For many, General “Lang” Hendrik van den Bergh was the most feared man in the old South Africa. He was the head of BOSS, the Bureau of State Security, and The Tall Assassin tells of his dealings. The book, a novel, draws on facts, reconstructing likely scenarios where details were not obtainable.
Van den Bergh, who was responsible for the arrest of Nelson Mandela, built a formidable intelligence network linking into MI5, the CIA, Mossad, and French and German intelligence agencies. According to this book, he may have been involved in the assassination of HF Verwoerd, the death of Nic Diederichs, Steve Biko’s murder, as well as the murder of Anton Lubowski and Prof. Johan Heyns.
Two of the most infamous murders in which this book implicates the general are those of Dr Robert Smit and his wife in 1977. This murder mystery has never been solved, but here a compelling explanation is offered for the meaning of the mysterious words “RAU TEM” painted on the Smits’ kitchen wall.
From a meeting of minds in an internment camp at Koffiefontein, to the paranoid sixties, the tumultuous seventies and the Information Scandal that rocked the Nat establishment, The Tall Assassin paints a terrifying picture of ideology driving a regime’s agents into a moral free fall.
from The Tall Assassin, page 114:
In the dirty game of international espionage, the tool that gave one agency the edge over the rest was their technical ability. Van den Bergh spent massive amounts of money to ensure that BOSS had the most sophisticated technical equipment in the world. Having the finest radio, surveillance and countersurveillance devices in the correct places gave BOSS the edge over many of its competitors. To properly install and train his staff, technical experts from Israel were secretly brought into the country. Van den Bergh was intent on having listening devices placed in every quarter where friend and foe operated.
“There ’s nothing closer to the truth,” he told his subordinates, “than straight from the horse ’s mouth.” Of course he added his favourite line, “And remember, knowledge is power!”
The first fully-fledged radio spy station was erected on a hill outside Pretoria.
The second was erected on the site occupied by Sharp and his two colleagues.
In an incident labelled “Spies in the Sky”, it was discovered that BOSS agents had recruited and trained cabin crew employed by SAA. BOSS agents studied daily passenger lists supplied to them by sources within SAA. On local but especially international flights, the trained SAA staff placed listening devices in secret hiding places above the seats of identified passengers. In that way the conversations of political “suspects” were recorded. The tape cassettes were then placed in diplomatic bags and handed to BOSS agents at the various destinations. The media ripped into the State body and accused them of violating the basic human rights of their targets.
Ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar as Die lang generaal:
Hierdie boek deur Alan D Elsdson vertel van ’n skrikbewind wat besaai was van politieke moorde in een man se fanatieke oorlog teen die kommunisme. Generaal Lang Hendrik van den Bergh was vir baie mense die mees gevreesde man van die ou Suid-Afrika. Hy was hoof van die Buro vir Staatsveiligheid (boss, op Engels), en dis van sy bedrywighede dat Die lang generaal vertel – op ’n feitelike basis, maar met die inkleding van waarskynlike scenario’s waar feite nie bekombaar is nie.
Volgens die boek sou Van den Berg betrokke kon gewees het by die sluipmoord op HF Verwoerd, die dood van Nic Diederichs, en van Steve Biko, asook die moorde op Anton Lubowski en prof. Johan Heyns.
Twee van die opspraakwekkendste moorde waarmee hierdie boek die generaal verbind, is dié op dr. Robert Smit en sy vrou in 1977. Hierdie moordraaisel is nooit opgelos nie, maar hier word oortuigend aangevoer wat die geheimsinnige woorde “rau tem” kon beteken wat op die Smit-egpaar se kombuismuur gevind is.
Vanaf ’n ontmoeting van geesgenote in die Koffiefonteinse interneringskamp, deur die paranoïese jare sestig, die omgekrapte sewentigs en deur die Inligtingskandaal wat die NP-establishment geskud het, teken hierdie boek ’n skrikwekkende beeld van ’n bewind se agente wat deur ideologie oor die morele afgrond gedryf is.
Uit Die lang generaal, bladsy 109:
In die vuil spel van internasionale spioenasie is dit tegniese vermoë wat een agentskap ’n voorsprong bo die ander gee. Hendrik van den Bergh het reuse-bedrae geld bestee om te verseker dat Boss van die mees gesofistikeerde tegniese toerusting in die wêreld het. Met die beste radio-, waarnemings- en teen-waarnemingstoerusting op die regte plekke, kon Boss baie van sy mededingers die loef afsteek. Om die toerusting behoorlik te installeer en sy personeel op te lei, het Van den Bergh in die geheim tegniese deskundiges uit Israel na Suid-Afrika gebring. Hy was vasbeslote om meeluistertoestelle in elke hoekie en gaatjie waar vriend en vyand bedrywig was, aan te bring.
“Jy kom nie nader aan die waarheid as uit die perd se bek nie,” het hy aan sy mense gesê. Dan het sy geliefkoosde spreuk gevolg: “En onthou, kennis is mag.”
Die eerste volledige radio-spioenasiestasie is op ’n heuwel buite Pretoria aangebring, die tweede op die terrein waar Sharp en sy twee kollegas gewoon het.
In ’n voorval wat later “Spioene in die lug” gedoop is, is ontdek dat Bossagente kajuitbemanningslede van die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens gewerf en opgelei het. Boss-agente het die daaglikse passasierslyste bestudeer wat bronne in die lugdiens aan hulle verskaf het. Op plaaslike, maar veral internasionale vlugte, het die opgeleide SAL-personeel meeluistertoestelle in geheime plekke bo die sitplekke van bepaalde passasiers geplaas. So is die gesprekke van politieke “verdagtes” opgeneem. Die kassette is in diplomatieke sakke gesit en by die onderskeie bestemmings aan Boss-agente oorhandig. Die media het op Boss losgebrand en hom daarvan beskuldig dat hy die basiese menseregte van sy slagoffers aantas.
Book details
Cats: Afrikaans,
Feature,
Fiction,
South Africa Tags: Afrikaans,
Alan D Elsdon,
Apartheid,
BOSS,
Buro vir Staatsveiligheid,
Die duisterste politieke sluipmoorde van die ou Suid-Afrika,
Die lan generaal,
Die lang generaal,
Feature,
Fiction,
Hendrik van den Bergh,
South Africa,
The darkest political murders of the old South Africa,
The Tall Assassin,
Umuzi
