PAGECAST

In this discussion, Pagecast host Kelly Ansara engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Barbara Boswell, a distinguished writer and scholar from Cape Town. Barbara draws much of her inspiration from her vibrant hometown. As an Associate Professor of English Literary Studies at the University of Cape Town, she has authored notable works including Grace: A Novel, which won the UJ Prize for Debut Creative Writing, And Wrote My Story Anyway: Black South African Women’s Novels as Feminism, and Lauretta Ngcobo: Writing as the Practice of Freedom.

Join us as we delve into Barbara's latest book, The Comrade's Wife. Barbara shares her inspirations and the compelling narrative behind this new release. We also explore the significance of literary festivals like Kingsmead for authors and the local literary community.

Don't miss this enlightening episode as Barbara discusses her participation in a panel on life and death, alongside Sewela Langeni and Barry Gilder, where they will explore the trials of the liberation struggle.

Enjoy!

In this thrilling discussion, Pagecast host Nompumelelo Mgidlana engages in a thought-provoking conversation with the phenomenal Nozibele Mayaba! Nozibele is a renowned HIV activist, internationally recognized podcaster, speaker, and TV host. She recently partnered with Jacaranda FM and East Coast Radio to launch a youth podcast, Don’t Hold Back, Say It Loud. Her TV show, #YesIHaveHIV on HONEY, DStv channel 173, has empowered many to disclose their HIV statuses to their loved ones. The show is now in its second season.

Join us as we explore Nozibele's latest brave account of living with HIV, Positively Me. Nozibele shares the inspiration behind her new book and discusses the gut-wrenching honesty with which she narrates her journey of living and loving beyond HIV.

Don't miss this enlightening episode as Nozibele speaks about her participation in the panel on The Mother Wound, where she will discuss parent-related pain alongside Colleen Higgs, Moshitadi Lehlomela, and Lisa Lazarus.

Enjoy!

In this captivating discussion, Pagecast host Maryam Adams engages in a thought-provoking conversation with the remarkable Ryan Blumenthal. Ryan is a seasoned forensic pathologist with over twenty years of experience in the field, based in South Africa. His book, Autopsy: Life in the Trenches with a Forensic Pathologist in Africa, published by Jonathan Ball Publishers in August 2020, became a non-fiction bestseller in South Africa. Ryan also gained widespread recognition through his eight-part documentary, Lightning Pathologist, which aired on People’s Weather (Channel 180) on DStv, attracting over 2.2 million viewers.

Join us as we explore Ryan's latest book, Risking Life for Death, which delves into Locard’s Exchange Principle and the daily dangers faced by forensic pathologists. Ryan shares his experiences and insights from his fascinating career.

Don't miss this enlightening episode as Ryan discusses his participation in the panel, When the Dead Speak, with Sunday Times Books online editor Mila De Villiers and fellow forensic expert Hestelle van Staden. They provide a unique glimpse into the world of forensic pathology and what it’s like to see dead people.

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In this captivating discussion, Pagecast host Maryam Adams engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Farai Mudzingwa, a talented freelance writer. Farai's short fiction has been published by Weaver Press, Kwani?, and Enkare Review II, while his longform articles and reporting have appeared in Chimurenga Chronic, The Mail & Guardian, The Johannesburg Review of Books, Africa Is A Country, This Is Africa, The Africa Report, and New Humanitarian. He has been recognized with several prestigious nominations and awards, including the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship shortlist (2019) and the Short Story Day Africa competition shortlist (2019).

Join us as we explore Farai's latest book, Avenues by Train. Farai shares insights into the themes and inspirations behind his work and discusses the significance of literary festivals like Kingsmead for authors and the local literary community.

Don't miss this enlightening episode as we delve into Farai's creative process and what’s next for him in his literary journey.

Enjoy!

In this captivating discussion, Pagecast host Maryam Adams engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Wisani Mushwana. Wisani is a talented writer and researcher who holds an MA in Creative Writing (with distinction) from the University of Cape Town and is currently completing his PhD in English Studies at the same university. His debut novel, A Soft Landing, has already made waves in the literary community.

Join us as we explore Wisani's journey in writing his first novel, A Soft Landing. Wisani shares the creative process behind the book and gives us an inside look into its themes and inspirations. We also discuss his experience at the Kingsmead Book Festival and what it means to him as an emerging author.

Don't miss this enlightening episode as we delve into the world of literature and what’s next for Wisani Mushwana.

Enjoy!

In this captivating discussion, Pagecast host Bradley Lutz engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Hendrik Hancke. Hendrik is a journalist at the Sunday Times in Johannesburg, with a rich background as a performing poet, playwright, and artist manager. During his time at Rapport, Hendrik won two Legend24 awards in 2017 for Investigative Journalist of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year. He also developed a passion for sports writing, particularly rugby.

Join us as we explore Hendrik's latest book, ONKANT, a rugby love story that captures his deep appreciation for the sport. Hendrik shares insights into his writing journey and discusses the themes and inspirations behind his new book.

Don't miss this enlightening episode as Hendrik talks about his participation in the panel, The Winning Kant, where he joins Dylan Rogers, Lloyd Burnard, and David O’Sullivan to celebrate the glory of rugby and discuss defending the Rugby World Cup.

Enjoy!

Thanks for listening to this episode of Pagecast, brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers. 

Today’s episode features the the remarkable Beverley Roos-Muller - speaking about her latest book Hunting the Seven.

Never have seven people been so hunted. By assassins. By journalists, lawyers and activists in search of the truth and TRC investigators wanting justice for the victims’ families.

In 1986, seven young men were shot and killed by police in Gugulethu in Cape Town. The nation was told they were a ‘terrorist’ MK cell, which was plotting an attack on a police unit. An inquest followed, then a dramatic trial in 1987 and another inquest in 1989. Finally, the fact that Eugene de Kock’s Vlakplaas unit plotted and drove the operation was revealed at the Truth and Reconciliation ten years after the murders, but Vlakplaas’s real agenda remained shrouded in mystery.

In *Hunting the Seven*, Beverley Roos-Muller tells the story of the Gugulethu Seven and the hunt for the truth of their deaths. She reveals that it was Vlakplaas’s only operation in the Western Cape and was an elaborate, deadly scheme designed to keep the money rolling into the death squad’s slush fund.

In this epsiode of Pagecast, Beverley is in conversation with Award-winning journalist, Beauregard Tromp, the Africa editor of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

Enjoy!

Thanks for listening to this episode of Pagecast, brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers. 

Today’s episode features the phenomenal Nozibele Mayaba, who bares it all in the her memior, Postively Me - Daring To Live And Love Beyond HIV, co-authored with Sue Nyathi.

Born in Qgeberha in the 1990s, popular Aids activist Nozibele Mayaba’s upbringing was one of struggle and strife. She was raised by the tough hand of her mother in the confines of a strict Christian household. Nozibele strove to be the “good girl” that everyone adores to win her mother’s approval and the affection of her absent father.

She lived by the book and was steered by her faith. Hers becomes a life of firsts. She is the first person in her family to travel overseas. The first to graduate from university. It is also her first love, with his infectious smile that infected her with HIV.

This diagnosis throws her life into disarray. Fearing stigma and feeling the need to maintain her “good girl” image, she kept her status a secret. However, she soon succumbed to depression. It is in the aftermath, when she picks up the broken pieces of her life that she finds purpose in all the pain she has endured.

She went public with her story in a video that when viral and launched her onto a new path. Nozibele, who has since gotten married and recently became a mother, has made it her mission to hold open conversations about her journey living with HIV.

Told with gut wrenching honesty, Nozibele is at her most vulnerable in this brave account about what it means to live and love beyond HIV.

In this epsiode of Pagecast, Nozibele is in conversation with seasoned media practitioner Sebenzile Nkambule.

Enjoy!

After state capture, South Africa is (f*cked) not in a good place. The system is down. How do we reboot?

We are not the first country to find itself in a difficult spot. China, India, South Korea, Vietnam and many others have gone from being economic basket cases to powerhouses, lifting millions out of poverty. So how can we pick ourselves up and fix things? In this book, Roy Havemann argues that right now we need to focus on six basic ‘E’s: Eskom, Education, Environment, Exports, Ethics, and Equality.

Havemann lays out how we can practically bring in lessons from other countries and learn from their achievements and mistakes, for example, how China, Greece and Colombia solved loadshedding, how different South American countries are dealing with inequality and how Brazil and Kenya are upgrading their education systems.

He shows that we are slowly moving in the right direction. Our own ‘Operation Vulindlela’ delivery unit, which is a joint initiative of the Presidency and the Treasury, is implementing change where it’s needed but more can be done to accelerate reforms to make South Africa a success. Sometimes the solutions to our problems are right here in our very own country – all that is needed is for us to recognise and harness them.

*Foreword by Tito Mboweni

Roy Havemann has consulted to the SA Presidency, the Treasury, the World Bank and private companies among others. After lecturing macroeconomics, Havemann joined the National Treasury in 2002 and rose through the ranks to be head of the Western Cape budget office and Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni’s speechwriter.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Pagecast, brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers. 

From award-winning non-fiction writer Hedley Twidle comes Show Me the Place, an essay collection searching through history, memory and literature to find glimmers of utopia. The collection is a book of elsewheres; in it, the author charts a journey to find other liveable places and spaces in a troubled world.

Whether embarking on a bizarre quest to find Cecil Rhodes’s missing nose (sliced off the bust of the Rhodes Memorial) or bike-packing the Scottish islands with a couple of squabbling anarchists; whether learning to surf (much too late) in the wild, freezing waters off the Cape Peninsula or navigating the fraught politics of a Buddhist retreat centre – the author explores forgotten utopias, intentional communities and islands of imagination with curiosity, hope and humour.

Threaded through the pieces in this collection are questions of friendship and human community, of environmental destruction and repair, of landscape and memory.

In this episode, Hedley is in conversation with Mila de Villiers - Sunday Times Books digital editor.

Enjoy!