Decolonising the Book
Friday, April 01, 2016
Last year, writer Thando Mgqolozana caused a stir when he said he would no longer participate in literary festivals since he often felt like the lone black voice in front of a crowd of white people. He was reported as saying: “The audience does not treat me as a literary talent, but as an anthropological subject.”
His statements prompted Tiny Mungwe of the Centre for Creative Arts, the usual boss of TOW, to invite him to co-curate this year’s festival. Together they wanted to change things, to try to discover the path to a new future for books and publishing in South Africa, a more inclusive path. The festival invited leading black writers to help them find the answers. Panel and group discussion centred around finding ways to change the status quo.
The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...