Culture
Writers imagining another world at the Time of the Writer Festival
by Ashshema Hosany
Serving as a cultural marker of our times, the now well-acclaimed Time of the Writer 2008 Festival was hosted by the city of Durban on the 25th to the 30th March.
This 11th session brought together an eclectic group of eighteen writers, poets, investigative journalists, publishers and political thinkers from ten different African countries. Hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu Natal, the festival has earned its reputation as a hot seat of critical thinking, provocative words and political beliefs from some of Africa's most celebrated writing personalities. A wide-ranging line-up of workshops, publishing forum, prison writing programmes, youth interactions, discussions, book launches and readings, were major draw cards for various segments of the general public, as well as an ideal literary platform for exchange of ideas and opinions.
Starting with South African born Breyten Breytenbach's provocative opening speech on the politics of African governments, followed by a personal account on his journey back to his home country after seeking political exile in France, the week-long festival was a reflection and celebration of the power of words.
''To survive the conflicts around us, writers must come up with imagining the world differently, with writing becoming the movement of the heart and mind'', said Breytenbach.
Max du Preez' loud advocacy for sustained and honest investigative journalism in the media today was well received.
Africa was very much on the top of the discussions list, and writers like Shailja Patel spoke out on the political consequences and failure of the Kibaki government in Kenya to protect its citizens during the recent turmoil in the country. In her special Kenya Bulletin, Patel was not the only one seeking 'African solutions and problem-solving to African problems'. Her voice was strongly echoed by a rising African civil society demanding an end to injustice, centralization and abuse of power in respective governments.
''We cannot go back to normality in Kenya, and even if the task ahead is daunting and scary, justice makes more sense than injustice'', shouted an overwhelmed Patel at the end.
Francophone novelists and writers such as Emmanuel Dongala from Congo Brazzaville and Ananda Devi from Mauritius added their own peculiar touch to the festival. Dongala has been forced to flee his home country after the civil war to the United States, from where he wrote Johnny Mad Dog, a book covering the heartbreaking world of child soldiers in Sierra Leone.
Immigrant and refugee identity politics remain central to Simao Kikamba's award-winning Going Home where he explores contemporary daily life struggle of refugees to South Africa, inspired by his own experience as a political refugee to the country.
''At 26, when I went back to Angola, I was rejected by my own brothers and sisters as a 'returnee'. I was left feeling like a bat, isolated and rejected, so I write to find myself'', Kikamba revealed to the audience.
''Where are our new Ngugis, Soyinkas and others?'' a frustrated audience-member asked Kenyan-born publisher Henry Chakava and Zimbabwean, Irene Staunton. Post-independent homegrown African publishing from the 1960s has so far only partially achieved its aim of reaching out to the masses.
Both Chakava and Staunton place the blame of a lack of an African reading culture, on the education system whose motto remains 'education for achievement only'.
''There is a need to create a culture of literacy through home libraries, and address poverty which acts as a huge constraint to buying and reading books'', Staunton reflected.
''The status of the book in a country can be taken as a measure of its own development'', Chakava's final words reflect a sad African reality.
Perhaps the new Ngugis are within our midst already with the 'new voices' celebrated at the festival. South African debutante writer Kopano Matlwa, winner of the EU Literary Award for 2006/07, with her first novel Coconut, was amongst the few who spoke out on the role of the youth in post-apartheid integration.
It comes as no surprise that the main attraction of the festival remained the world-acclaimed investigative journalist, John Pilger who gave a Harold Wolpe lecture on 'Truth, Propaganda and Power'. Following a part-screening of his new film 'The War on Democracy', Pilger alongside Mail & Guardian's Ferial Haffajee and UKZN academic Patrick Bond engaged at length with the audience. Topics ranged from persisting economic apartheid in South Africa and civil society's actions in combating global capitalism and poverty in Africa, to the global success story of the Chavez government in defying the dictates of the US. Extended debates raged on about the menacing US military presence with the creation of US Africa Command (AFRICOM) based in Ethiopia, the modern version of the 'scramble' for Africa, and the new wars waged by media power today.
Pilger has been instrumental in bringing to the attention of the wider world through his books and documentaries, sustained US terrorism against several Latin American countries, Burma, Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan amongst several others.
''If we remain silent, victory over us is certain,'' reiterated Pilger over some of the world's most notorious acts of terrorism committed by powerful governments. This statement undoubtedly found a listening ear from the writers at the festival. Somewhat disappointing was how the filmmaker refused to give any best-fit solutions on how South Africans can work towards less monetarism and redressing economic apartheid, in his assertion that:
''It's up to you to organise, oppose and call into account an [economic] system that could end up calcified. You're South African; you know your society best''.
It would seem that writers are mostly like indicators of social process, sounding out the alarm, yet unable to instigate sweeping changes. But ultimately, that would not be expected from them in any case.
Ashshema Hosany is a freelance journalist. She is currently a PhD candidate at the School of life & environmental sciences.
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