Ople, nine books
Of uMshado weNkuku neNtlanzi, he said, “This kind of deals with the subject of interracial marriages – but more in a way that will make children think.”
For self-taught graphic designer Zandile “Maxet” Makina, from Queenstown, it was scary at first.
“It was not what I expected – but I got into it,” she said. Her team, working on Lonwabo, included editor Linda Nelani and writer Mihlali Kumalo.
Grocott’s Mail readers are familiar with Sarah Rose De Villiers whose work we published regularly this year under the epithet ARTicles.
Also a very capable writer, the fourth-year Writing and Editing student in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rho- des University was working at Book Dash as an illustrator.
“Quite breathless,” she said of the high-pressure experience. “But it’s a special thing to be surrounded by people who are giving their time and talent to grow South African literature for young minds.”
Unathi Dyani works at Boomtown in Port Elizabeth. He was the illustrator for uMbovane wala owonqenayo and it was his first Book Dash.
“A bit on the stressful side because of the pressure… but it’s cool. I like it,” he said.
Another fourth-year Writing and Editing student from Rhodes was Carol Kagezi – one of the team that has been producing the fresh new Makana Sharp for the past few months.
Clever Pig was the book for which she was editor, Lee-Anne Knowles the designer and Josh Morgan the Illustrator.
Morgan lives near Zithulele in the former Transkei and is a teacher with the NGO, Axiom Education.
His first book dash was “amazing, really cool – being in the same room as so many creative people”.
The only drawback was that you don’t really get to watch what other creative people are doing, he said.
Apart from the East London and Port Elizabeth participants, there was even a writer from Cape Town who participated.
All participants signed on the basis of arranging their own transport and accommodation.
Competition was fierce to take part.
“Please note that making a full children’s book in 12-hours is a challenge even for the best of creatives, so we only accept professionals or top-notch amateurs for these events,” Norrish had warned future would-be participants.
After the 12-hour marathon, participants and family members who were still awake at the time gathered in NELM’s stateof-the art auditorium, where the creative teams stood in solidarity as their writers read out their stories.
Illustrations and text were projected on a big screen for an appreciative – and tired – audience. Watch the video here:
bit.ly/GrocDash