The Franschhoek Literary Festival

The Franschhoek literary festival in Mid May this year was its usual feast of literary delights, presenting 170 authors, journalists and subject specialists in more than 100 events over three days. Literary enthusiasts enjoyed listening to many of South Africa’s best writers, all with new books.

“At the time of writing and before we receive the final figures which will include tickets sold at the festival itself, about 80% of the available tickets had been sold. What was unprecedented was the rate at which tickets sold in the first week or two after they became available – almost double the number that sold in the same period in 2013. This is a clear indication of the growing awareness and popularity of the festival,” deputy director Ann Donald told Bookmark.

“Another sign is that for the past two years people have been booking their accommodation a year in advance. This year too, we had enquiries about next year’s dates (15,16,17 May – always the third weekend in May).”

“While this is all very exciting, it does pose problems: the village has a limited capacity of accommodation, and the venues can hold a limited number of seats. We will be addressing these issues in our planning for 2015 and already some exciting ideas are on the table.”

Testifying to the vibrancy of the South African publishing landscape across genres, there were a lot of new voices and faces on the scene, among them Charlie Human (Apocalypse Now Now ), Constance Ngcaba (May I Have this Dance? ), Dominique Botha (False River ), Helen Walne (The Diving ), Meg Vandermerwe (Zebra Crossing ), Nadia Davids (An Imperfect Blessing ), Penny Lorimer (Finders Weepers ), Prince Mashele (The Fall of the ANC ), Shelagh Foster (Your First Year of Work ), and Sonwabiso Ngcowa (In Search of Happiness ).

Celebrating South African excellence in literature, the Alan Paton Award and the Sunday Times Fiction Prize shortlists were also announced during the festival at what is considered one of the most prestigious and prominent events on South Africa’s literary calendar.

“As the deputy director for 2014 and having worked closely with Jenny Hobbs on the programme for the past few years, the experience I’ve had is invaluable to my taking over as director for 2015. I feel that I know the festival well (I’ve been at them all as a visitor and now as part of the organising team) and have a good idea of what works, what needs to be refreshed, and where new opportunities lie. I’m looking forward with excitement – and more than a smidgeon of anxiety about matching the high standards established by Jenny and the team over the past eight years – to getting started on the 2015 planning,” concludes Ann.

With thanks to Nancy Richards, and the Sunday Times for photographic contributions- www.flf.co.za