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Book lovers rejoice!
It’s once again time for one of South Africa’s biggest literature festivals to kick off and are you in for a treat, or what?! The 2016 Open Book Festival, which takes place in and around Cape Town every year, starts today and runs until 11 September.
There’s a little something for everyone.
From budding writers who want to learn and hone in on the craft of writing and publishing, to author readings, youth programmes and comic book and illustration workshops, the Open Book Festival is the kind of fair you should attend if you’re even remotely interested in any of the above.
If you’ve never attended the Festival before and you still find yourself a little hesitant, we give you a rundown of the reasons you should attend.
1. A fantastic line up of local and international authors
There’s no doubt about it- there’s some serious and phenomenal writing talent from all over the country, and you’ll get to see them in action in author panel discussions, talking about everything from their fictional world and characters, to the process behind writing a novel.
There’ll be discussions on everything from feminism and speculative fiction to discussions about media, journalism and narrative devices in fiction.
To see a full list of the authors and their bios, visit the Open Book Festival author’s page here.
2. The Open Book raffle
Want to win some awesome prizes? Well, Shining Girls and Broken Monsters author, Lauren Beukes, has teamed up with the Open Book Festival and The Fugard Theatre to bring you a raffle in which you can win a set of phenomenal prizes.
Raffle tickets cost R100 and you could win the chance to make a cameo appearance in Lauren’s next novel, Open Book Festival passes that will allow the ticket holder to get access to the events and the Festival for the next five years, and VIP tickets to the new David Kramer musical, Orpheus in Africa.
You can purchase raffle tickets through Webtickets.
3. For the books!
Well, duh! What good is a literature festival if there are no books to be had? Not only will The Book Lounge be hosting several of the events slotted to take place for the next four days, but they’re also renowned for their top quality reads.
You’ll be able to purchase the Open Book authors' books at the store, as well as a wide variety of other books. And what book lover doesn’t enjoy combining a bookish event with a bit of book shopping?
4. It’s for a good cause
Every year, as part of the Open Book School Library project, the Festival focuses on a school in need of books and financial donations in order to fund the growth of developing schools in need. The Open Book Festival chooses a school, hosts events at that school and donates books to the school library.
Now if that isn’t a good reason to support the Festival, I don’t know what is.
For more information and to download the programme, visit openbookfestival.co.za.
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