The Literary Cafe

 

Launched in 2009 the Literary Café at the House of Coffees in Hartbeespoort is a monthly forum for booklovers to meet and discuss books and all things bookish!

It isn't a book club; it's an informal gathering of folks who simply love books and reading, and there is no compulsory element to it like there is in book clubs. We usually host a guest author every month and there is a nominal charge for the event. Food and bevvies are laid on by the House of Coffees, and it's a great place to meet your favourite authors and other people who love all things literary.

For more information on the Literary Café you may email Bree or contact the House of Coffees by email or by phoning 012-2591474. Alternatively check back here to find details of forthcoming Café speakers, including authors Chris Cocks, AJ Brooks, Anton Krueger and heaps more...

 

    

 

Coming to the Literary Cafe in March: GARY ALBYN

 

"A magical, mystical visual celebration of Africa as she was, the verses and pictures in Manzovo will inspire everyone to become a conservationist”

Aubrey Paton, Sunday Times

Manzovo-Place of the Elephants” is the vivid and compelling story of a herd of elephants on an odyssey across southern Africa. It portrays their epic travels at a time in our past when elephants were able to range, with relative ease, across the timeless plains…

This evocative tale chronicles the herd's encounters with a tapestry of indigenous flora, fauna, geographic landmarks, historical places...and man!

Author, poet and ‘elephant whisperer’, Gary Albyn, joins us for a talk and reading from his extraordinary book, Manzovo, on Wednesday, 3 March at the Literary Café.

 

Wednesday, 3 March

17h00-19h00

BOOKING ESSENTIAL

 

 

See who's visited the Literary Cafe:

 

Natasha Sutherland: 3 February 2010

Natasha Sutherland visited the Literary Cafe on Wednesday, 3 February, to talk about her inspirational book, Bittersweet, in which she writes about her experiences and her thoughts on life and its myriad facets.
Hers is not a conventional autobiography, however; these are the tales of transformation of a freshly single woman moving forward on her soul’s journey. Deeply moving and inspirational!

 

 

Bittersweet is published by Carpe Diem and is available in English and Afrikaans.

EAN: 9781770311367

RRP: R160

 

Kevin Woods

In November we hosted Kevin Woods to an over-capacity crowd. Kevin's book, The Kevin Woods Story, is a poignant and often harrowing account of the author's twenty-year incarceration in prison in Zimbabwe, five of which were spent naked and in solitary confinement.

The audience, many of whom were former Zimbabweans, listened spellbound as Woods relayed his emotional and traumatic journey from double-agent while he was Mugabe’s confidant in his inner circle, to the desolation and isolation of his life as a death-row prisoner and, finally, to his joy at reuniting with his daughters for the first time in twenty years upon his release.

The Kevin Woods Story was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton award in 2008, just two years after his release.

If you would like to book Kevin to talk at your event please click here.

Marida Fitzpatrick

In October the Literary Café hosted Marida Fitzpatrick, a features journalist with the Beeld, whose second novel, Iemand vir 'n Scoop, is the first ever chic-lit novel to be written in Afrikaans!
An absolute crowd-pleaser, Marida had the audience in stitches as she read excerpts from her novel, which is ever-so-loosely based on her own life as a journalist within a busy publication.

   

Morne Malan

In September Morné Malan was our first guest author at the launch of the Literary Café.

Morné, who was awarded his doctorate in English Literature in December 2009, spoke about his novel, Suiderkruis, which won the Sanlam/Insig prize in 2007 and also spoke about the novel-writing process, giving the many aspiring authors present that evening invaluable hints and tips on how to maximise their potential in what is often a cut-throat industry.