Open Book Podcast
Open Book Podcast features recordings of live events from the Open Book Festival, an annual literary festival held in Cape Town. The show brings together authors, poets, journalists and readers for conversations, readings and panel discussions. Episodes capture the festival's mix of local and international voices exploring books, writing and ideas. It is produced for audiences interested in South African and global literary culture.
Episodes
Love — The Good, The Bad, The Ugly | SA Romance Indaba | Open Book Festival 2026
In this episode, Sven Axelrad, Thandi Moagi and Cathrine Phiri speak to Qarnita Loxton about the good, the bad and the ugly in love stories.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recording of
Adding Missing Voices to History | Filling in the Gaps | Open Book Festival 2026
In this episode, Lulama Mali, Athambile Masola and Bonile Ngqiyaza spoke to Wamuwi Mbao about the work of adding the missing voices to our history.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recor
Writing Queer Masculinity | The Lightness & Darkness Of Vulnerability | Open Book Festival 2026
In this episode, Zubayr Charles, Preven Reddy and Wesley Roodt speak to Riley Herbert-Henry about creating space for vulnerability for both reader and writer.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This
Finding Ways To Balance The World | Intentional Recalibrations | Open Book Festival 2026
In this episode, Sanah Ahsan, Siphokazi Jonas and Lebogang Matseke speak to Maneo Mohale about divinity, desire, and the intentional work of recalibrating our minds.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possib
Where Are Our Trusted Sources? Finding Truth in an Age of Misinformation | Open Book Festival 2026
In this episode Dan Corder, Caryn Dolley and Tara Roos speak to Karabo Rajuili about political activism, the current state of South Africa, and finding credible news sources.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are ma
Feminist Book Club | Elevating Female Voices in Literature | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode Noma Tsheleza facilitates an interactive conversation with Michelle Myeko Kekana, the author of The Fragile Mental Health of Strong Women. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is
The Loss Rate | Finding Meaning in the Age of AI | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode Wale Lawal, Athambile Masola and Moray Rhoda speak to Sue Nyamnjoh about meaning making in the age of AI. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recording of a live event that
What the Water Gave Me | The Intimate Connection to Our Waters | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode Veruska De Vita, Traci Kwaai and Malika Ndlovu speak to Zolani Mahola about the work of reclaiming ancestral and intimate connections to our rivers and oceans. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are
Recovering From Childhood | Reprocessing Trauma Post Problematic Parenting | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode Sven Axelrad, Lebo Mazibuko and Ntombifuthi Nkabinde speak to Lufefe Boss about working through the trauma left by problematic parents. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a
Journeying With Grief | Facing Death | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode Foluso Agbaje, Rémy Ngamije and Sarah Uheida speak to Erin Bates about journeying with grief.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recording of a live event that took place a
Exploring the Complexities of Black Girlhood | Up Close with Maneo | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode Maneo Mohale speaks to literary icon, Tsitsi Dangarembga, about bearing witness to complex states of Black girlhood in her powerful world-bending Tambudzai and Nyasha trilogy (Nervous Conditions, The Book of Not, This Mournable Body). Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where
Feminist Imaginary | Bringing Back Erased Feminist Histories | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode Foluso Agbaje, Pumla Dineo Gqola, Goretti Kyomuhendo and Athambile Masola speak to Mbali Sikakana about writing feminist histories, and filling in the gaps in the official archives.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meanin
Spirituality in the Now | Finding Your Spiritual Home | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode Siphokazi Jonas and Vusumzi Ngxande speak to Vuyo Koyana about reclaiming a spiritual inheritance and returning to the heart/core of Isintu. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This
Queer Anxiety | Is the LGBTQ+ Community Safe in Africa? | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Nkgopoleng Moloi, Pieter Madibuseng Odendaal and Lwando Scott speak to Rebecca Davis about the safety of queer people on our continent and in our cities. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made
Bold Voices Battle It Out | Slam City Showcase | Open Book Festival 2025
In this episode Cape Town’s premier poetry slam proudly presents the Slam City Showcase!A celebration of new talent, lyrical grit, and poetic brilliance in different African languages. Each month, the city’s boldest voices battle it out for the grand prize and the coveted title of Slam City Champion. From every slam, a Top 5 emerges; poets whose performances moved both judges and audiences alike.
What Goes on at the Open Book Literary Festival? | Better Late | OpenBookFestival2025
Better Late is where the country’s most brilliant, bewildering, and occasionally unhinged creatives - Yaaseen Barnes and Callum Hitchcock - band together on the set of a Late Night TV show to get to the bottom of whatever the hell is going on at the Open Book Festival.Joining them for conversations that matter are two very special guests, who you may recognise if you have been anywhere with intern
The Poetics of I | Poetry Is Language & Language Is Poetry | Open Book Festival 2025
In this episode Kopano Maroga, Manthipe Moila and Pieter Madibuseng Odendaal speak to each other through their poetry.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recording of a live event that too
Has Capitalism Affected Our Mental Health? | Make Noise & Hold All Applause | OpenBookFestival 2025
This episode dives into the link between capitalism and mental health, asking what happens to our bodies, minds, and communities when the world gaslights us into distrusting our own senses. Together with artists and thinkers Mpho Boshego, Andile Cele and Nthato Mokgata, the conversation explores resistance, self-trust as artistic discipline, and vulnerability as something far less cute—and far mor
Is Science a Form of Art? | Speculative Fiction and Science | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Jon Keevy and Adriana Marais speak to Wamuwi Mbao about the intersections of art and science. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recording of a live event that took place
Why So Serious? | Laughing through Tough Times | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Tom Eaton, Paige Nick and Zibu Sithole speak to Qarnita Loxton about balancing lighthearted writing with themes that resonate.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recording
Rainbow Nation Shut Down | RMF 10 Years Later | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode we take a moment to reflect on the impact of Queer, Trans and Worker activism on RMF and FMF.Mam' Nozi, Kealeboga Mase Ramaru, Carbon Wandile Dlamini and Patricia Bevie talk to Noluthando Mqadi about the pursuit of repair, reckoning and restorative politics in the aftermath of a movement that 'shut down the rainbow nation'.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event
Stories of Rebellion | What it Means to Fight Back | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode Foluso Agbaje, Lesedi Molefi and Nathi Ngubane speak to Pumla Dineo Gqola about subverting power and fighting back. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible. This is a recording of a live
Exploring the Queer Imaginary | Changes for the Better for Queer Communities | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this event Kelly-Eve Koopman, Kopano Maroga and Maneo Mohale speak to Lwando Scott about building alternate presents and futures.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recording of a live
Finding Lightness | How Humour Processes Pain | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Sven Axelrad, Khaya Dlanga and Karen Vermeulen speak to Dela Gwala about the necessity of humour to process pain. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recording of a live e
Examining the Past, Present and Future of Africa | African Cosmologies | OpenBookFest 2025
In this episode Zara Julius, Vusumzi Ngxande and Jeffrey Rakabe speak to Wanelisa Xaba about turning away from modernity and exploring the multilayeredness of African cosmologies. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions
Tensions of Home | What Does 'Home' Mean? | Open BookFestival 2025
In this episode, Antjie Krog, Frankie Murrey and Sarah Uheida speak to Bongani Kona about writing one's way to belonging. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recording of a live event
How Do We Define Parameters of Justice? | Inherited Systems | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this eoisode, Rebecca Gore, Adekeye Adebajo and Edgar Pieterse speak to Alexandra Dodd about colonial structures—legal, spatial, cultural—that we are born into and that we either uphold, resist, or remake. These authors explore how systems define the parameters of justice, survival, and hope—and what it might take to transform them.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town fea
Unsettled Accounts | Panelists Discuss Memoir and Personal Nonfiction | OpenBookFest 2025
In this episode, Alexandra Dodd, Bongani Kona and Antjie Krog discuss memoir and personal nonfiction as ways of grappling with memory, complicity, silence, and shame—both in private lives and in the shared fictions that shape them. This conversation, hosted by Hedley Twidle, explores the risks and rewards of writing into uncertainty. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town feat
Are We Tired Yet? | The Reality of Crisis Fatigue | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Pumla Dineo Gqola, Goretti Kyomuhendo and Zulaikha Patel speak to Mohale Mashigo about emotional exhaustion and crisis fatigue.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recordin
Black Writers Belonging in Literary Spaces | Festival Director's Choice | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Festival Director Mervyn Sloman talks to Mohale Mashigo, Lesedi Molefi and Mbali Sikakana about the ways in which Black writers are expected to perform once they have published, how many of these performances involve negotiating white spaces, what needs to change - and why we have been having the same conversation for years.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape To
Traumatised Cities | Examining the Urban - Past and Present | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, David Cornwell, Caryn Dolley and Nthato Mokgata speak to Edgar Pieterse about the structured violence and alienation of the urban, both past and present. This event is brought to you by the African Literary Cities Project.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and
Created in Africa | Bringing African Writers to the Forefront | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, James Murua and Rémy Ngamije speak to Mervyn Sloman about their efforts to spotlight African writing.This event is brought to you by the African Literary Cities Project.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together an
The Scars of Trauma | The Body Keeps the Score | Open Book Festival 2025
This is a recording of a live event that took place at the September 2025 edition of the Open Book Festival. In this event, Popina Khumanda, Malika Ndlovu and Jeffrey Rakabe speak to Firdose Moonda about the scars of trauma and the personal revolution to get to the other side. The festival was made possible by the support of the City of Cape Town, the Heinrich Boell Foundation and the Wheatfield E
Nigerian Activism in the 90's | The Republic: A Podcast | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Wale Lawal, editor at The Republic is in conversation with Will Shoki, the editor of Africa is a Country. The conversation is preceded by a preview of a video podcast.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussi
Queering Intimacy | Removing the Heteronormative from Sex and Desire | OpenBookFest 2025
In this episode, Azille Coetzee, Alistair Mackay and Kopano Maroga speak to Céline Tshika about sex and desire outside of heteronormative expectations. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a
Are There Ethics in Space? | Out of this World and into the Next | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, renowned theoretical physicist, Adriana Marais, speaks to Jacinta Delhaize and Daniel Cunnama from The Cosmic Savannah podcast about the scientific and technical possibilities of extraplanetary settlement, and where our ethical responsibilities lie.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It i
What it Means to be Black & African | From Panafricanism to the Black Atlantic | OpenBookFest 2025
In this episode, Adekeye Adebajo and Bibi Bakare-Yusuf speak to Maneo Mohale about rethinking our frameworks and identities to understand what it means to be Black and African. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are
Fluency and Trauma | How Language Holds our Histories | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Siphokazi Jonas, Athambile Masola and Ryan Pedro speak to Pieter Madibuseng Odendaal about finding language to hold one's past. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recordi
Difficult Mothers | The Nuances Between Mothers and Daughters | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Antjie Krog, Lebo Mazibuko and Malika Ndlovu speak to Buhle Ngaba about independent daughters making sense of this complex relationship.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a
Living in Crisis | How Climate Catastrophe Weaves into Modern Stories | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Veruska de Vita, Saliem Fakir, and Alistair Mackay speak to Natalie Sifuma about the impact of the climate catastrophe and their work. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a
The Secret Keepers | Examining the Stories Kept Silent | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Nadia Cassim, Bonnie Espie and Andrew Robert Wilson speak to Palesa Motsumi about how the truth refuses to remain hidden.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.This is a recording of a
Building on the Past | How Our Present and History Collide | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Foluso Agbaje, Zara Julius and Patric Tariq Mellet speak to Aphiwe Ngalo about the uneasy present resting on layers of the past in our cities. Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possible.Th
No Signs of Justice | The Failure of the Justice System | Open BookFestival 2025
In this episode, Caryn Dolley, Rebecca Gore and Julian Jansen reflect on how their recent books expose our collapsed criminal justice system. Chaired by Dan Corder.Open Book Festival is an annual literary event in Cape Town featuring panelists from all over the writing and publishing spheres. It is a place where writers and audiences are brought together and meaningful discussions are made possibl
Banging on the Walls of the Tank | Eyes on Gaza | OpenBookFestival 2025
In this episode, Haidar Eid speaks to Usuf Chikte about his new book, a collection of essays and articles he wrote and published during the Israeli onslaught on Gaza and the “hermetic blockade” that has been in place since 2007. The conversation was preceded by a screening of a documentary by Haidar that can be watched for free here: https://www.anemoia.net/zarnouqa.Open Book Festival is an annu
OBF2024: Gathering Our Voices
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.This event closed out the 2024 Open Book Festival with poetry and song. Featuring the aBantu Chorus and poets, Zizipho Bam, Siphokazi Jonas, Lynthia Julius and Eloghosa Osunde, this performance touches on healing, unity and the power of storytelling.This event was made possible by the support of the Depart
OBF2024: Director's Cut | Talking Process
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024. In this event, Lesedi Molefi, Margie Orford and Hedley Twidle speak to Festival Director, Mervyn Sloman, about crafting their work.This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Life is Cheap
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024. In this conversation, Olivia Coetzee, Karen Jennings and Nathan Trantraal speak to Bettina Wyngaard about writing poverty. This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Trigger Warning
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book
Festival in September 2024.
In this conversation, Andries du Toit, Lesedi Molefi and Nathan
Trantraal discuss the intersection of trauma, anger and fear in the context of South African masculinities. Chaired by Kopano Ratele.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Ca
OBF2024: Journeys to Self
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this conversation, Damilare Kuku, Kharys Laue and Nozibele Mayaba speak to Nwabisa Mayema about women coming into their own.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Visibility and Chronic Conditions
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this conversation, Nadine Dirks and Lesedi Molefi speak to Firdose Moonda about accessing essential care.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Portrait of Community
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this conversation, Gaireyah Fredericks, Hamza Koudri and David Mann speak to Azille Coetzee about authenticity and representation.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Bad Women
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this conversation, Qarnita Loxton, Niq Mhlongo and Zukiswa Wanner speak to Jordan Pieters about defying expectations.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Everyday Violence
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Busisekile Khumalo, Caitlin Stobie and Thobeka Yose speak to Joy Watson about surviving womanhood.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Up Close with Maneo
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
Join Maneo Mohale and Koleka Putuma for a session exploring each other's work and what poetry makes possible.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Writing Sisters
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this conversation, Hamza Koudri, Damilare Kuku and Zibu Sithole speak to Karina Szczurek about complex sibling relationships.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Understanding Exile
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this event, Oyama Mabandla, Uhuru Phalafala and Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo speak to Ncedisa Nkonyeni about disrupted lives.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Chosen Family
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this conversation, Sven Axelrad, Gothataone Moeng and Buntu Siwisa speak to Anna Stroud about building the world of friendship.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Queer Freedom
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Siya Khumalo and Eloghosa Osunde speak to Kelly-Eve Koopman about fluid characters and homophobic spaces.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Navigating Religious Trauma
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024. In this discussion, Siphokazi Jonas, Pontsho Pilane and Thobeka Yose speak to Maneo Mohale about inherited belief structures.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Living Dystopian Realities
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Nick Clelland, Olivia Coetzee and Tanya Meeson speak to Keely Shinners about creating fictional worlds which reflect our reality.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Patriarchy and Desire
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this event, Busisekile Khumalo, Hamza Koudri and Zukiswa Wanner speak to Wanelisa Xaba about sex and power.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: The Dispossessed
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book
Festival in September 2024.
In this event, Haidar Eid, Uhuru Phalafala and Lebogang Seale speak to Aphiwe Ngalo about land, forced removal, and the settler colonial story.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports,Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll
Foundation.
OBF2024: The Archive of Everyday
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Shubnum Khan, Nathan Trantraal and Ivan Vladislavić talk about living histories with Nkgopoleng Moloi.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Trust Issues
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Oyama Mabandla, Alan Storey and Joy Watson speak to Rebecca Davis about how to engage with institutions which have disappointed in our democratic era.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll
OBF2024: Cities of Trauma
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book
Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Karen Jennings, Alistair Mackay and Niq Mhlongo speak to Athambile Masola about the intersection of urban spaces and characters' lived experiences. Presented by African Literary Cities.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the Ci
OBF2024: Reading the Streets
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book
Festival in September 2024.
In this conversation, Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti, Gothataone Moeng and Ivan
Vladislavić speak to Amrita Pande about vulnerability, safety and meaning in the city.
Presented by African Literary Cities.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports,
Arts and Culture, the City of Ca
OBF2024: Uncontrollable Bodies
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this conversation, Busisekile Khumalo, Siya Khumalo and Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu speak to Amogelang Maledu about subversive characters.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Listening Party | Koleka Putuma
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
A sonic conversation with Koleka Putuma and Dani Kyengo O'Neill.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll
Foundation.
OBF2024: Family and Forgiveness
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024. In this discussion, Michèle Betty and Damilare Kuku speak to Sue Nyamnjoh about paths to acceptance.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: The Absent and the Present
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024. In this discussion, Charmaine Africa, Alistair Mackay and Thobeka Yose speak to Lester Kiewit about writing fathers.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Class Acts
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Nicky Greenwall, Alistair Mackay and Zibu Sithole discuss writing privilege in their entertaining novels in the company of CA Davids.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Colonialism and Fracture
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Siphokazi Jonas, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu and Lebogang Seale speak to Mapule Mohulatsi about rebuilding the past to make sense of the present.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundatio
OBF2024: Love and Other Toxins
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Sven Axelrad, Shubnum Khan and Alex Latimer speak to Dela Gwala about the many faces of love. This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Queerness and the Divine
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024. In this event, Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti, Siya Khumalo, Maneo Mohale and Eloghosa Osunde speak to Lwando Scott about acts of reimagination.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: The Personal as Political
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Barbara Boswell, Margie Orford and Buntu Siwisa chat to Andrew Brown about their latest books.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation
OBF2024: Poetry as Medicine
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
In this discussion, Michèle Betty and Shari Daya speak to Bibi Burger about the possibilities of writing as a bridge to healing.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Feminist Imaginings | Creative Practice
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
Barbara Boswell, Pumla Dineo Gqola and Gothataone Moeng speak to Mbali Sikakana. This event is in collaboration with the NRF SARChI Chair in African Feminist Imagination at Nelson Mandela University.
The festival was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City o
OBF2024: Stories to Save Lives
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024. In this discussion, Siphokazi Jonas, Lesedi Molefi and Margie Orford speak to Buhle Ngaba about writing mental health.This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
OBF2024: Conversations with Mohale | Celebrating Unruly Women
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open Book Festival in September 2024.
Pumla Dineo Gqola, Damilare Kuku and Zukiswa Wanner celebrate unruly women with Mohale Mashigo.
This event was made possible by the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the Heinrich Böll Foundation. and the City of Cape Town.
OBF2024: Finding Ways to Talk
This is a live recording of an event that took place at Open
Book Festival in September 2024.
Megan Choritz, Haidar Eid and Nathi Ngubane discuss softening the hard lines in conversations about Gaza. Chaired by Pippa Green.
This event was made possible by the support of the
Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the City of Cape Town.
