Book Lounge Events

Saturday, 1 December – THE BOOK LOUNGE TURNS 5!!
On 1st December it is the Book Lounge’s 5th Birthday! “We will be having a whole day of Top 5s to celebrate the event. At 11am we will have our usual Storytime with birthday stories and lots of give-aways and cake. The day will have lots of random announcements about discounts and prizes, some silly, some awesome and at 3pm we will host a birthday tea party in the company of 5 authors each sharing a particular Top 5 list of theirs. Authors will include Karen Dudley, Maya Fowler, Stan Engelbrecht, Zinaid Meeran and Ed Suter. Please do come along and enjoy the day with us. You have all been such a big part of our lives that it would be great to have a day of giving you gifts. Please join us for a very fun day… High 5!” says the invite.

Wednesday, 5 December, at 5:30 for 6:00pm – Launch of Back in from the Anger by Roger Lucey
Join legendary muso Roger Lucey for the launch of the inspiring story of a South African troubadour who lost his voice and then set out on an unbelievable journey to find it. Back in From the Anger tells the story of a once promising young musician who became a barman, roadie, sound technician, news cameraman and many other things as he waded through life always trying to find the voice that he had lost. It is a story that at times stretches the imagination, often reminding us of the hard road this country has travelled, but it is always told with humanity and humour that keeps it engrossing.
Roger will also be performing some songs…
Published by Jacana Media

Thursday, 6 December, at 5:30 for 6:00pm – Launch of Slave Emancipation and Racial Attitudes in 19th Century South Africa by R.L. Watson
Join Professor Richard L. Watson for the launch of this book which examines the social transformation wrought by the abolition of slavery in 1834 in South Africa’s Cape Colony. It pays particular attention to the effects of socioeconomic and cultural changes in the way both freed slaves and dominant whites adjusted to the new world. It compares South Africa’s relatively peaceful transition from a slave to a non-slave society to the bloody experience of the US South after abolition, analyzing rape hysteria in both places as well as the significance of changing concepts of honour in the Cape. Finally, the book examines the early development of South Africa’s particular brand of racism, arguing that abolition, not slavery itself, was a causative factor; although racist attitudes were largely absent while slavery persisted, they grew incrementally but steadily after abolition, driven primarily by whites’ need for secure, exploitable labour.
Published by Cambridge University Press.