Writers’ festival brings giants to city
The 5th Annual Northern Cape Writers’Festival was held in Kimberley recently. Seen here are some of the artefacts ans crafts that were on display at the festival. THE FIFTH annual Northern Cape Writers’ Festival took place in Kimberley over the weekend and attracted some literary giants to the city.
The event, which is fast placing the Province on the map as a literary destination, was hosted by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.
The aim of the festival was to inculcate a culture of reading and storytelling among the people of the Northern Cape. It was this year celebrated under the theme “We have a good story to tell”.
One of the many local writers and poets to attend the event was Dr Allen Grootboom, who launched his collection of Afrikaans poems titled “Mooi liefdes breek”. It was written as a duet with renowned poet and Grootboom’s long-time friend, Floris Brown.
The collection consists of 34 poems, revolving around the theme of love and the paths love led the two poets to.
Selected poems from the collection were recited by the two authors to the audience.
Grootboom, who is also a DA MPL, said the festival was a wonderful platform where youth could be encouraged to engage in writing their stories and leave a legacy. “Writing is cross-cultural, apolitical way of making social commentary. It is the perfect outlet for the youth and their feelings, as they respond to social issues in a different way than older people. That is why it is so important that these experiences be put on paper, so that we can also know their perspective.”
He further challenged the department to become more involved in the development of young writers and poets by compiling a volume of poems, exclusively from works produced by the youth of the Province.