So byna blou, door Emile Joubert, Protea Boekhuis, 2020

So byna blou is voormalige joernalis Emile Joubert se derde kortverhaalbundel. Die deurlopende tema in hierdie tien verhale is afstand tussen mense en die onvermoë om werklik kontak met ander te maak. Meeste van die karakters is welgestelde wêreldburgers wat reis, professionele mense, skrywers, uitgewers, joernaliste, fotograwe, elkeen in problematiese verhouding met sy of haar medemens. Daar is verwysings na talle noodlottige liefdesverhoudings, affairs, vreemdelinge wat mekaar in ’n hotel ontmoet, etes in duur restaurante, bloedskande, die Seepunt-promenade, Kaapstad, Parys, vergiftiging op ’n portplaas in Portugal, die wreek van ’n geliefde se dood. Elke karakter is in wese ’n geïsoleerde figuur wat ’n waterskeidingsoomblik beleef waarin sy of haar lewe onvermydelik verander.

New perspectives on Mazisi Kunene, by Dike Okoro, Cissus World Press, 2015

New Perspectives on Mazisi Kunene shares with readers an interview inspired by correspondence and prolonged conversations on the telephone. The focus of this interview, Mazisi Kunene, is arguably one of Africa’s greatest poets. Kunene’s contributions to African literature as both scholar and artist remains significant, given his commitment to writing in his indigenous Zulu language and translating his corpus into English. Ntongela Masilela, a close friend to Kunene and scholar who has written extensively on Kunene oeuvre, shares views that center primarily on Kunene’s importance in African literature, and his role and place in South African literary and cultural revolution.

Masked Raiders, Irish banditry in Southern Africa 1880-1899, by Charles van Onselen, Protea Boekhuis, 2020

For two decades before a railway system linked southern Africa’s principal cities in the mid-1890s, the world’s richest supplies of diamonds and gold were transported by coach and horses to distant ports for export. For Irish soldiers based at Fort Napier, Pietermaritzburg, the temptation of this fabulous wealth proved irresistible: they deserted by the score and, as members of the criminal ‘Irish Brigade’, embarked on a spree of bank, safe and highway robberies.

Masked Raiders follows the wild exploits of legendary brigands like the McKeone brothers and ‘One-Armed Jack’ McLaughlin, who ravaged the subcontinent, from the mining towns of Barberton, Kimberley and Johannesburg to the borders of Basotholand, Bechuanaland, Mozambique and Rhodesia. With tales of heists, safe-cracking, illegal gold dealings, prison breaks and hidden roadside treasure, the book reveals the potency of the Highveld’s ‘criminal heroes’, a force—until now—largely hidden from history. With inimitable storytelling flair, Charles van Onselen illuminates the intrigue and influence of a secretive, oath-bound brotherhood.

Jan Smuts : Son of the veld, pilgrim of the world, chief editor: Kobus du Pisani, Pretoria Boekhuis, 2019

Jan Smuts, one of the most infamous South Africans of the twentieth century remains a controversial figure. Was he one of the outstanding statesmen of his time or was he perhaps a traitor of Afrikaner interests and possibly a racist? Today there are still strong opinions on Smuts’s role.

Like Paul Kruger at the end of the nineteenth century, and Nelson Mandela as the twentieth century drew to a close, it was Jan Smuts who stood head and shoulders above his contemporaries in the first half of the twentieth century; he was a leader of extraordinary stature and his statesmanship is recognised internationally. And yet, the NP and ANC governments have downplayed his contributions for decades, because it did not endorse their Afrikaner and black nationalist versions of South African history. A reappraisal of Smuts will fill a gap in the literature on the history of South Africa in the first half of the twentieth century. Many of the biographies and other works on Smuts appeared during his lifetime or soon after his death. Today, a few generations later, we have a better perspective on his contributions within the historical context of his time. New evidence continues to come to light, making it possible to reach a more informed opinion on questions about Smuts, issues which previously could not be answered conclusively.

A literary guide to KwaZulu-Natal, by Niall McNulty and Lindy Stiebel, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2017

KwaZulu-Natal is culturally rich, offering a wide range of writers-writing mainly in English and Zulu-who are linked through their lives and their writing to this province of South Africa. The writers include, to name just a few, Alan Paton, Roy Campbell, Lewis Nkosi, Ronnie Govender, Wilbur Smith, Daphne Rooke, Credo Mutwa, and Gcina Mhlophe. And how better to understand a writer than to know about the places they are linked to? For example, who, after reading the lyrical opening sentences of Paton’s famous book Cry, the Beloved Country (1948) has not wanted to see this scene in reality? “There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it.” A Literary Guide to KwaZulu-Natal introduces readers to the regions and writers through word and image, leading them imaginatively through this beautiful province. This could include following the route a fictional character charts in a novel, visiting particular settings from a story or tracking down the places linked to a writer, whether a birthplace, home, burial site or significant setting. Literary tourists are interested in how places have influenced writing and, at the same time, how writing has created place. This is a way of reflecting upon and understanding historic and contemporary identities in a changing cultural and political South African landscape.

Heerser van die ringe, J.R.R. Tolkien, vertaling in Afrikaans, Protea Boekhuis, 2019-2020

Nu Protea het laatste deel van Tolkiens’ The Lord of the Rings in het Afrikaans heeft uitgebracht, is de trilogie compleet. Met deze legendarische fantasy klassieker is de lockdown zo voorbij! En voor wie er geen genoeg van kan krijgen, hebben we de Die hobbit uiteraard ook voor u te lezen.

Deel 1 Die kameraadskap van die ring
Deel 2 Die twee torings
Deel 3 Die koning keer terug

Die verlore pikkewyn, Claire Freedman, Protea Boekhuis, 2018

Hierdie is nog ’n verhaal van Paul, Vlekkie en Rosa, die drie vriende van die boek Paul & Vlekkie wat Protea in 2017 uitgegee het. In hierdie verhaal besoek die drie die dieretuin. Hulle grom vir die tiere, bewonder die meerkatte en kom af op ’n baie oulike klein pikkewyntjie, Piep, wat baie hartseer lyk. Wanneer hulle die volgende dag weer vir Piep kom kuier, is hy skoonveld! Die drie vriende soek oral na hom, en kry later stry. Maar hulle kom gou agter dat hulle hul gestryery moet los en sal moet saamspan om Piep weer by die huis te kry. Dis ’n pragtige storie van vriendskap en spanwerk, wonderlik geillustreer.

Jeugd 0-6 Afrikaans

Keeping up with the Kandasamys, directed by Jayan Moodley, Ster-Kinekor Entertainment, 2017

Kandasamys was he first South African Indian comedy film to be screened widely in theaters. It became a blockbuster and also featured in film festivals in North America, starring: Jailoshini Naidoo, Maeshni Naicker, Madhushan Singh, and Mishqah Parthiephal. .

Shanti Naidoo is the typical Indo-South African mother. Overbearing and overprotective, she dotes on her family, and is well known in the community for her generosity and great cooking. Her life would be just fine, except that her neighbour, Jennifer Kandasamy, always seems to hold the upper hand. Intelligent, elegant, and classy, the career driven Jennifer always manages to out-do whatever Shanti does, and life for the two women appears to be a constant battle of trying to keep up with each other. When Jennifer realises that her daughter Jodi is in love with Shanti’s son Prishen, she is determined to break them up. But, in order to do that, she will have to enlist her rival’s help.