PAGECAST

Athlete. Icon. Activist.

Join Sias du Plessis as he sits down with the phenomenal Caster Semenya to discuss her powerful memoir, The Race To Be Myself. From her rise to fame as a world-class athlete to the intense scrutiny and speculation surrounding her identity, Semenya has faced it all with courage and resilience. Now, she's ready to share her story in full, offering a manifesto for acceptance and change. Tune in for a conversation that will inspire and challenge you, as Caster opens up about her journey, her family, and her determination to live life on her own terms. 🏃‍♀️📚

#CasterSemenya #TheRaceToBeMyself #Memoir #SportsBiography #LGBTQIA+ #GenderEquality #BookLovers #NewBookRelease #Pagecast #SouthAfricanAuthors #BookPodcast #Running #Olympics

At once epic and deeply personal, the second novel from prize-winning author Jennifer Makumbi is an intoxicating mix of Ugandan folklore and modern feminism that will linger in the memory long after the final page.

As Kirabo enters her teens, questions begin to gnaw at her - questions that the adults in her life will do anything to ignore. Where is the mother she has never known? And why would she choose to leave her daughter behind? Inquisitive, headstrong, and unwilling to take no for an answer, Kirabo sets out to find the truth for herself.

Her search will take her away from the safety of her prosperous Ugandan family, plunging her into a very different world of magic, tradition, and the haunting legend of 'The First Woman'.

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is a Ugandan novelist and short story writer. She has a PhD from Lancaster University. Her first novel, Kintu (Oneworld, 2018), won the Kwani? Manuscript Project in 2013 and was longlisted for the Etisalat Prize in 2014. She was awarded the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for 'Let's Tell This Story Properly', which featured in her first collection, Manchester Happened (Oneworld, 2019). She was awarded the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction 2018 and lives in Manchester, where she lectures in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. In 2020, she was selected as one of 100 Most Influential Africans of 2020 by New African magazine.

When seven-year-old Jedza witnesses a tragic incident involving a train and the death of his close boyhood friend in his hometown Miner’s Drift, he is convinced that his life is haunted. Now in his mid-20s, Jedza is a down-and-out electrician, moving to Harare in the hopes that he will escape the darkness and superstitions of the small town. But living in the shadowy restless atmosphere of the Avenues with its mysterious pools of water rising under musasa trees, he is tormented by the disappearance of his sister and their early encounters with ancestral spirits, the shapeshifting power of the njuzu and a vengeful ngozi. To move forward, he must stop running away and confront the trauma of his past.

An eclectic, experimental novel, Avenues By Train is a brash and confident debut by an exciting new voice.

At the very dawn of the country’s brave new democracy, Cape Town was at war. Pagad, which started as a community protest action against crime, had mutated into a sinister vigilante group wreaking death and destruction across the city. Between 1996 and 2001, there were more than 400 bombs – most famously at the popular Planet Hollywood restaurant at the V&A Waterfront – and there were countless targeted hits on drug lords and gang bosses.

The police were at their wits end. The new ANC government was alarmed. The citizens of Cape Town were living in fear.

Mark Shaw tells the incredible tale of how the police’s response pulled together former foes – struggle cadres and the apartheid security apparatus – to break the Pagad death squads. It is a story that has never been told in full and was not possible until recently, when many were released from prison or had retired and were finally willing to talk openly about this revealing chapter in South Africa’s recent history.

Mark Shaw is the author of Hitmen for Hire and Give Us More Guns. He is also director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. Shaw was previously the National Research Foundation Professor of Justice and Security at the University of Cape Town and worked for ten years at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. He has held a number of positions in the South African government and civil society, where he worked on issues of public safety and urban violence in the post-apartheid transition.

hinking of making the big move from South Africa to the UK? 🇬🇧📚 Join content creator Jenna Berkowitz as she chats with author Sam Beckbessinger about her latest book, a comprehensive and humorous guide to navigating the challenges and quirks of British life. Whether you're worried about visa requirements, finding a job, or how your kids (and pet iguana!) will adjust, Beckbessinger's got you covered. Her book offers practical tips, funny anecdotes, and thorough to-do lists to keep you on track. From the practicalities of finding a place to live to the cultural nuances of British life (yes, they really are obsessed with tea!), this guide equips you with everything you need to know about fitting in on this weird, adorable island. Tune in for expert advice and insights from a seasoned mover who's been there, done that, and even brought back the tea towel! 🎙️

#MovingToTheUK #ExpatLife #SouthAfricanExpats #SamBeckbessinger #BookLovers #NewBookRelease #UKRelocation #ExpatsInLondon #Pagecast #RelocationGuide

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

Today's book- Coloured by Tessa Dooms and Lynsey Chutel has been selected at News24's book of the month.

Coloured as an ethnicity and racial demographic is intertwined in the creation of the South Africa we have today. Yet often, Coloured communities are disdained as people with no clear heritage or culture — ‘not being black enough or white enough.’

the book Coloured challenges this notion and presents a different angle to that narrative as it delves into the history of Coloured people as descendants of indigenous Africans and a people whose identity was shaped by colonisation, slavery, and the racial political hierarchy it created.

Although rooted in a difficult history, this book is also about the culture that Coloured communities have created for themselves through food, music, and shared lived experiences in communities such as Eldorado Park, Eersterus, and Wentworth. Coloured culture is an act of defiance and resilience.

Rugby is een van my passies, een van my liefdes. – Gcobani Bobo, oud-Springbok

Het jy al ooit gewonder hoe dit moet voel om vir die Springbokke gekies te word of hoe 50 000 ekstatiese ondersteuners op die pawiljoen klink?

Met die Rugbywêreldbeker om die draai, het Hendrik Hancke die land deurkruis om met oud-Springbokke en ander rolspelers, insluitend breiers en’n skeidsregter, te gesels oor hul liefde vir rugby. Hulle deel oomblikke in die kleedkamer, persoonlike oorwinnings en voorheen ongepubliseerde stories oor wat van die veld af en op toer gebeur.

Schalk “Schalla” Brits verduidelik waarom dit so noodsaaklik vir ’n Springbok is om ’n spanspeler te wees, terwyl Gcobani Bobo aangrypend vertel van sy reis met rugby van King Williamstown tot Nieu-Seeland. Frik du Preez verklap weer hoe hy en ’n voormalige Nobelpryswenner mekaar gevind het oor hul gedeelde afkeer van Brusselse spruite en Jean de Villiers gesels oor die hoogtepunte en uitdagings van Springbok-kaptein wees.

As jy Saterdagmiddae kliphard vir die televisie skree of op die sypaadjie sal slaap vir ’n kaartjie na ’n groot wedstryd, dan is dié boek vir jou!

In this installment of Pagecast, we explore the behind-the-scenes process of creating Jonathan Ball Publishers' inaugural audiobook, "Children of Sugarcane" by Joanne Joseph.

Bringing this compelling narrative to life is the talented South African actress and storyteller, Roshina Ratnam, who serves as the narrator. In our discussion, Joanne and Roshina provide insights into the audiobook's production journey and delve into the creative techniques Roshina employed to vividly convey the story's essence.

About the book:

Vividly set against the backdrop of 19th century India and the British-owned sugarcane plantations of Natal, written with great tenderness and lyricism, Children of Sugarcane paints an intimate and wrenching picture of indenture told from a woman’s perspective.

Shanti, a bright teenager stifled by life in rural India and facing an arranged marriage, dreams that South Africa is an opportunity to start afresh. The Colony of Natal is where Shanti believes she can escape the poverty, caste, and troubling fate of young girls in her village. Months later, after a harrowing sea voyage, she arrives in Natal only to discover the profound hardship and slave labour that await her.

Spanning four decades and two continents, Children of Sugarcane demonstrates the life-giving power of love, heartache, and the indestructible bonds between family and friends. These bonds prompt heroism and sacrifice, the final act of which leads to Shanti's redemption.

Thanks for clicking play on this episode of Pagecast, as we wind back the clock and chat about the south African way of war.

In "20 Battles," historians Evert Kleynhans and David Brock Katz explore South Africa's evolving way of war over 100 years. They trace the development of the defence forces' doctrine and structure, uncovering historical continuity and lessons from past battles and operations.

The book, and this chat, also highlights significant milestones, including their first deployment during the 1914 Industrial Strike, involvement in both world wars, large-scale cross-border operations during the Border War, and the recent, infamous Battle of Bangui.

In this episode of pagecast Evert Kleynhans and David Katz chat with historian Archie Henderson. Enjoy the episode!

In this episode of Pagecast, Nicole Engelbrecht, True Crime Author and Podcaster, sits down with Ryan Blumenthal regarding his latest book, Risking Life for Death.

About the book:

Locard’s Exchange Principle underpins all forensic science and holds that the perpetrator of a crime will bring something to the crime scene and leave with something from it.

Forensic experts use this principle daily to catch murderers and assailants. In Risking Life for Death, South African forensic pathologist Ryan Blumenthal offers a master class in this singular forensic technique based on real-life case studies. With more than twenty years’ experience in the field, Blumenthal explains how to look for clues and traces, and how what he does not find at autopsy is often more important than what he does find. In other words, the absence of evidence can sometimes be of greater value than the presence of evidence.

His account also highlights the dangers forensic pathologists are exposed to daily. As they try to unravel the puzzle of someone’s death, forensic pathologists often face life-threatening infections, toxic gases and the hazards associated with high-profile cases – in effect, risking their life to solve someone else’s death.

An understanding of Locard’s Exchange Principle can help you become a medical detective in your own life, can help you be a happier person and can even provide you with a better philosophy for growing older, Blumenthal argues.

About the author:

RYAN BLUMENTHAL is a forensic pathologist with more than twenty years’ experience in the field, and he is based in South Africa. His book Autopsy: Life in the Trenches with a Forensic Pathologist in Africa, which was published by Jonathan Ball Publishers in August 2020, became a non-fiction bestseller in South Africa. His eight-part documentary Lightning Pathologist was aired from 9 to 20 November 2020 on People°s Weather (Channel 180) on DStv. It was viewed by over 2,2 million people.