Archive for the ‘Events’ Category
March 9th, 2010 by Amanda
Umuzi and The Book Lounge invite you to an evening with Mike Nicol – the launch of the second book in his Revenge Trilogy, Killer Country.
Killer Country cracks open a world of conspiracies and paranoia, corruption and greed as the new elites get their hands on the spoils.
Don’t miss your chance to meet this “killer” raconteur – or the opportunity to walk away from the do with a free copy of either Killer Country or the first book in the series, Payback: The Book Lounge will be giving out a copy of each on the night. See you there!
Event Details
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Cats: Crime,
Events,
Fiction,
South Africa Tags: Crime,
English,
Events,
Fiction,
Killer Country,
Mike Nicol,
Payback,
South Africa,
The Book Lounge,
Umuzi
March 8th, 2010 by Amanda
Umuzi and The Citizen’s Citivibe book club are pleased to invite you to the launch of Sihle Khumalo’s latest romp through our continent, Heart of Africa.
In Heart of Africa, the author who gave us Dark Continent my Black Arse once again travels into Africa by public transport, and this time to its continental core: the Great Lakes region. Ever the wandering stooge, he recounts with his signature wit and charm the sometimes impossible travails of getting from one point to another – even if the two are not remote from each other at all! A much matured storyteller emerges in these pages.
We hope to see you there!
Event Details
- Date: Thursday, 11 March 2010
- Time: 6:00 PM for 6:30 PM
- Venue: Exclusive Books, Melrose Arch, Shop No HL19
Melrose Arch Piazza
Melrose Arch Blvd
Johannesburg | Map - RSVP: melrosearch@exclusivebooks.co.za, 011 684 1260
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Cats: Events,
Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Travel Tags: Citivibe,
Citivibe Book Club,
Dark Continent My Black Arse,
Events,
Exclusive Books,
Heart of Africa,
Melrose Arch,
Non-fiction,
Sihle Khumalo,
South Africa,
Travel,
Umuzi
March 3rd, 2010 by Amanda
You are invited to a launch of the South African cookbook that only Tannie Evita could have produced – at her home, Evita se Perron!
The launch will be followed by Evita’s current show, “A Koeksister for Zuma”, at 2pm. To book, please phone Beryl on 022 492-3930.
To attend the launch, RSVPing is essential:
Event Details
- Date: Saturday, 06 March 2010
- Time: 10:30 AM for 11:00 AM
- Venue: Evita se Perron, Arcadia St
Darling | Map - RSVP: Book League, 022 492 2667
See you there!
A few pics from “A Koeksister for Zuma” taken at this week’s Woordfees in Stellenbosch:
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Cats: Events,
Food,
Humour,
South Africa Tags: A Koeksister for Zuma,
Afrikaans,
Book Launch,
English,
Events,
Evita Bezuidenhout,
Evita se Kossie Sikelela,
Evita se Perron,
Evita's Kossie Sikelela,
Fiction,
Food,
Humour,
Linda Vicquery,
Pieter Dirk- Uys,
South Africa,
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 7th, 2009 by Amanda
You’re invited to a discussion with author Francis Wilson about his book Dinosaurs, Diamonds & Democracy: A Short Short History of South Africa at Mandela Rhodes Place this evening:
Event Details
Book Details
Cats: Events,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: A Short-Short History Of South Africa,
Dinosaurs Diamonds And Democracy,
Events,
Francis Wilson,
History,
Mandela Rhodes Place,
Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Umuzi
November 24th, 2009 by Amanda
Umuzi and Ike’s Books and Collectables invite you to the launch of Dinosaurs, Diamonds and Democracy: A short-short history of South Africa by Francis Wilson, with guest speaker Marguerite Poland.
An asteroid the size of Table Mountain crashed into what was to become South Africa over 2 billion years ago, marking the spot. The country’s (more…)
Cats: Events,
South Africa Tags: A Short-Short History Of South Africa,
Adams Books,
Dinosaurs Diamonds And Democracy,
Events,
Francis Wilson,
History,
Ike's Books and Collectables,
Marguerite Poland,
Non-fiction,
Random House,
South Africa,
Umuzi
October 14th, 2009 by Emily
Peter Harris, the author of In A Different Time: The inside story of the Delmas Four (winner of this year’s Sunday Times Alan Paton Award), will be the guest of honour at a fundraising lunch in the Natal midlands on October 21.
All proceeds from the lunch – which will take place at Lythwood Lodge at 12.30 pm on October 21 – will go to Khazimula at Lidgetton which shelters up to 30 vulnerable boys and girls, and seeks to reunite them with their families.
Don’t miss your chance to meet the author and support a good cause.
Event Details
- Date: Wednesday, 21 October 2009
- Time: 12:00 PM for 12:30 PM
- Venue: Lythwood Lodge, Lidgetton, Kwazulu Natal | Map
- Cost: R120
- RSVP: Sally Thompson, sallymbc@gmail.com, 072 193 1341
Book Details
Cats: Events,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: ANC,
Apartheid,
Delmas Four,
Events,
Fundraiser,
In a Different Time,
Khazimula,
Lidgetton,
Lythwood Lodge,
Murder Trial,
Non-fiction,
Peter Harris,
Publisher,
South Africa,
Subtitle,
The Inside Story of the Delmas Four,
Umkhonto we Sizwe,
Umuzi
October 9th, 2009 by Emily
The Book Lounge, renowned for its standing-room-only book launches, can hardly have seen many scenes like the one that played out last night, when Francis Wilson and 300-plus of his friends and colleagues turned out for the launch of Dinosaurs, Diamonds and Democracy: A short, short history of South Africa, snapping up every book in the house.
(“We knew we were in trouble when the RSVPs topped 100,” said Lounge owner Mervyn Sloman in an aside, explaining that the ratio of RSVPs to attendees is usually about one to four.)
The crowd was so dense that Wilson and guest speaker Mamphela Ramphele had to stand on a chair and a table, respectively, to give their speeches! Here’s a clip of Random Struik’s Stephen Johnson introducing Wilson – being taller than most, he didn’t have to resort to a platform – which gives an idea of the numbers:
Video: Stephen Johnson introduces Francis Wilson
Ramphele, whose meteoric career was boosted with a stint collaborating with Wilson – in 1989, they co-authored Uprooting Poverty: The South African Challenge – Report for the Second Carnegie Inquiry into Poverty and Development in Southern Africa, Ramphele’s first book – was unstinting in her praise of both the author and his bite-sized, potted take on SA history.
“Why is this book important?” she asked; then went through the the “D”s of the title, one by one. Dinosaurs: the book gives a fascinating introduction to the origins of both our world – and, specifically, the geological territory that South Africa encompasses – and our species. Diamonds: “This is the good, the bad and ugly of South Africa, all intertwined”. Democracy: “The history of South Africa is the history of the undermining of democracy,” said Ramphele; Wilson shows how South Africa finally beat history at its own game, making it instead of repeating it.
Here’s Ramphele on Wilson and his book:
Video: Mamphela Ramphele speaks at the launch of Dinosaurs, Diamonds and Democracy
Wilson spoke eloquently about his book, pointing out that it’s not simply a summary, but also contains new theses about how South African history should be interpreted. He’s invented a new historical period, in fact, which runs between 1806 and 1879, and which he calls “the second British occupation”. It’s a period that, in its ambiguities, could stand as a trope for much of what has happened in South Africa’s 350 years of colonial conquest:
Video: Francis Wilson on SA history
Wilson ended his remarks with an observation on the fickleness of history: he quoted a passage from a book published in 1989 that grimly predicted apartheid’s continuation for many years. It was, of course, from his and Ramphele’s Uprooting Poverty. A history lesson in itself, that.
At the end of her speech, Ramphele called for Dinosaurs, Diamonds and Democracy to become a prescribed text by the Department of Education. Let’s hope someone from the Department is listening!
Gallery
Book details
Cats: Events,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: A Short-Short History Of South Africa,
Dinosaurs Diamonds And Democracy,
Events,
Francis Wilson,
History,
Non-fiction,
South Africa,
Umuzi,
Uprooting Poverty
October 5th, 2009 by Emily
Umuzi and the Book Lounge are delighted to invite you to the launch of Professor Francis Wilson’s new short-short history of South Africa, Dinosaurs, Diamonds and Democracy.
Wilson will be in conversation with Dr Mamphela Ramphele. We look forward to welcoming you at the event!
Event Details
- Date: Thursday, 08 October 2009
- Time: 5:30 PM for 6:00 PM
- Venue: The Book Lounge, 71 Roeland
cnr Buitenkant
Cape Town | Map - Guest Speaker: Mamphela Ramphele
- RSVP: booklounge@gmail.com, 021 462 2425
About the book
An asteroid the size of Table Mountain crashed into what was to become South Africa over 2 billion years ago, marking the spot. The country’s history since then has always been robust and full of energy. Francis Wilson’s Dinosaurs, Diamonds & Democracy takes you in record time from that moment, when the earth’s richest gold reefs were shaped, to the advent of democracy in 1994, another event that stunned the world.
Along the way you will encounter some of the most ancient dinosaurs on record, the very first people on the planet, and the first cultures. You will see outsiders moving in to reshape history: hunters and gatherers, cultivators and herders, iron-workers from the north, and immigrants from Europe and Asia. They fought and made peace; they stumbled upon gold and diamonds; they rose to the heights of excellence and sunk to the depths of oppression, until on one day they all queued as equals to elect a government.
That is the story marked by dinosaurs, diamonds and democracy.
Book excerpt
Let’s start at the site of the small town of Vredefort, 120 km south-west of Johannesburg. Here, around 2.02 billion years ago, an enormous asteroid, somewhat larger than Cape Town’s Table Mountain, came hurtling in from space at approximately 100 times the speed of sound and hit the ground with a force estimated to have been 7 or 8 billion times greater than that of the atomic bomb which destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. The asteroid turned the earth inside out as the pressure of its impact caused soil and rock to rebound from 20 km below the surface. The rock and soil formed a dome in the centre of the crater, which itself settled into a relatively shallow basin with a diameter of 250 to 300 km.
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Cats: Events,
Feature,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: A Short-Short History Of South Africa,
Book Launch,
Dinosaurs Diamonds And Democracy,
Events,
Feature,
Francis Wilson,
History,
Mamphela Ramphele,
Non-fiction,
South Africa,
The Book Lounge,
Umuzi
September 29th, 2009 by Emily
Umuzi and Kalk Bay Books invite you to a conversation with Peter Harris on his Alan Paton Award-winning book, In a Different Time.
Harris will be joined by author and editor Mike Nicol (Payback) for a discussion about writing non-fiction as a thriller – hit squads, court room dramas, the death sentence and a ticking bomb.
Also, since In a Different Time’s publication, there have been developments regarding some of the people Harris writes about and he’ll fill guests in on those, too.
Don’t miss it:
Event Details
Book Details
Cats: Events,
Non-fiction,
South Africa Tags: ANC,
Apartheid,
Delmas Four,
Events,
In a Different Time,
Kalk Bay Books,
Mike Nicol,
Murder Trial,
Non-fiction,
Peter Harris,
Publisher,
South Africa,
Subtitle,
The Inside Story of the Delmas Four,
Umkhonto we Sizwe,
Umuzi
