2025 Programme

Jeffrey Archer

Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare, has sold over 275 million copies of his books in 114 countries and more than 47 languages. He is firmly established as one of the worlds bestselling authors. He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (nineteen times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries). Several of the Warwick series went to 1 on the charts in the UK, Australia, India, and South Africa.

After the William Warwick novels, Jeffery has another big idea which he has started to write, but he’s not telling anyone quite yet! Jeffrey has been married for 53 years to Dame Mary Archer DBE.

End Game will be released on September 23, 2025. The ultimate race against time is about to begin in the explosive new thriller from the the bestselling author. (William Warwick Novels)

Robert Berold

Robert Berold has published four collections of poetry and nine other books, ranging from a memoir, a biography, and (as editor) a farming handbook, a book of interviews with poets, and an anthology of South African poetry. In the 1990s, he edited the poetry journal New Coin. He coordinated the MA in Creative Writing at Rhodes University from its inception in 2011 until 2015. As a poetry book editor, he has worked on 50+ collections by South African poets, many of them published by his small press Deep South.

www.deepsouth.co.za

Andile Cele

Andile Cele is a writer and communications specialist, born and raised in Stanger, KwaZulu-Natal. Andile has a degree in Journalism from the Tshwane University of Technology, and a Creative Writing and Theory of Literature degree from the University of South Africa. She is an MA candidate at Stellenbosch University, where she is examining the depiction of intergenerational trauma in selected South African women’s writing. She is the current holder of the Gwen Knowles-Williams Bursary, administered by the English Academy of Southern Africa. Braids & Migraines was a runner-up in The Island Prize for unpublished African novelists in 2023.

Mangaliso Welcome Buzani

Mangaliso Welcome Buzani was born in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth in 1978. He trained as a jeweller in Tshwane. He achieved his MA in creative writing with distinction at Rhodes University. His first collection, Ndisabhala Imibongo written in isiXhosa, won the 2015 South African Literary Award for poetry. A Naked Bone is his first book in English and won the African Poetry Book Fund’s Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry. His work is described as a ’fragile sort of beauty that poignantly captures a deeply personal suffering.’

Manni Coe

Manni Coe is the second of four brothers. He grew up in Yorkshire and Berkshire. He studied Latin American History and Culture at the University of Edinburgh, which took him on adventures to South America before he finally settled in Spain. He now lives between Dorset and a tiny village in Andalusia called Archidona. He works as a private guide in Spain and around the world.

In the quiet months of the pandemic, Manni began writing his first book, which is still to be published. It had to take a back seat when Manni received a text message from his brother Reuben. They didn’t know it then, but the brothers were about to embark on an emotional journey that would change the shape of them and their brotherhood, forever. “brother. do. you. love. me.” was born

Darryl Earl David

Darryl David, maverick extraordinaire, is the most experienced pioneer of book festivals in South Africa, having curated more than a hundred over two decades. Many of the festivals are in far-flung areas such as ours in Richmond, our fairytale town, Darryl branded as Africa’s only Book Town in 2007. Darryl also managed against all expectations to have the city of Durban elevated to a Unesco City of Literature and later Hermanus to a Unesco City of Gastronomy. Both Unesco projects were firsts on the African continent. He is also the only Indian lecturer of Afrikaans in South Africa.

Darryl is not only a lover of books but a lover of dogs and will be talking about his book Doggone Days at this years festival. He is the author of several coffee table books and a bold autobiography, “BookBedonnerd: The road to elsewhere.” We look forward to Doggone Days given Darryl’s off the cuff wit, warmth and proneness to tears.

Lisa Fugard

Lisa Fugard is a South African writer and actor. She was born in Port Elizabeth and is the only child of playwright Athol Fugard and the novelist Sheila Meiring Fugard. She pursued a successful acting career in numerous stage roles in the United States and in 2006 wrote her debut novel, Skinner’s Drift, a story of a daughter’s return from the United States to her father’s rural Afrikaner community in post-Apartheid South Africa. The novel was a finalist for the LA Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

She is also a writing mentor and freelance editor. She teaches online and in person in Encintas, California, where she lives and is currently finishing her second novel.

Lisa joins us on line as we honour the life of her father Athol Fugard. She will be sharing her memories of him as a man and a father.

Peter Godwin

Peter Godwin was born and raised in Zimbabwe. After working as a human rights lawyer and a foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times and the BBC, he has authored six non-fiction books, including Mukiwa, which won the George Orwell Prize and the Esquire, Apple, and Waterstones award, and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, which won the Borders Original Voices Award. His book, The Fear, was selected by the New Yorker as a best book of the year. Godwin has taught writing at Wesleyan and Columbia and served as President of PEN American Centre. His latest book is Exit Wounds: A Story of Love, Loss and Occasional Wars, which has garnered critical acclaim.

Dorian Haarhoff

Dorian Haarhoff is a writer, poet, storyteller, mentor and speaker. A former Professor of English at the University of Namibia, where he taught literature and creative writing. He has also taught creative writing at the University of Victoria in Canada and been a visiting Fellow at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

His approach is based on his definitive The Writer’s Voice, a workbook for writers in Africa. (1998) Many people have used this as a source and a resource. He offers retreats, which he calls wordshops and acts as a one-on-one coach. He builds confidence and encourages people to write in their own voices. He is passionate about developing innate creativity and imagination and believes in the power of stories to create new realities, to bring healing, and to build our belonging. Dorian has published 30 books, some self-published, including poetry, children’s stories, stories for business and how-to-do books, and has also edited works of aspirant writers published for the first time.

Route 77 is an autobiography and poetic travelogue, it is wisdom, it is esoteric, it is fun. Spirituality gets Dorian’s attention, as does nature, philosophy, psychology, animals, and dreams. It offers a paradox of mysticism and the concrete, where eclectic material jumps around like beans in a sizzling pan (he includes a Greek recipe). Dorian dubs this original format a kind of Babushka with seven dolls. Imagine each doll decorated with eleven symbols and images. Holograms.

Alex Hamilton

Alex Hamilton was born in the South African Great Karoo in 1969 and has been an independent artist for 30 years. Influenced by street art stencil graffiti and classic Warhol Pop art, his investigative, adventurous works reflects the current and historic obsession with celebrity culture. One of his most notable exhibitions is “Cast and Crew” a collection of over 3000 hand-cut pop culture handcut stencil portraits, launched in 2009 and still popular today.. His many curatorial accomplishments include a Fiesta Award in 2017 as Visual Art Curator for the Woordfees Literary Arts Festival,

Kerry Hammerton

Kerry Hammerton lives in Cape Town and has an MA in Creative Writing (cum laude). She has published poetry and prose in various South African and international literary journals and anthologies. Her fourth poetry collection, afterwards, was published in 2023 (Karavan Press) and was longlisted for the HSS Awards in 2024. She has twice been longlisted for the Mslexia Poetry Competition (UK) and her poem ‘Dancing’ was placed third in the 2023 National Poetry Competition (South Africa). Kerry is a freelance tutor and supervisor for the Rhodes School of Literature and Language on their Master’s in Creative Writing programme and is the editor of the In Other Stories flash anthology. You can find her on Instagram: kerry_hammerton and Substack: kerryhammerton.substack.com

Claerwen Howie

Claerwen Howie is a retired Senior Lecturer of Rhodes University and lives in Newlands. She has published three books. Agent by Accident is a non-fiction account of her father-in-law’s experiences during World War 11. Two illustrated children’s books followed Vumile and the Dragon about the endangered Cape Dwarf Chameleon and Tom Kallas and the Tortoises about the critical endangered Geometric Tortoise. Shadowed Lives is her first novel.

Michael de Jongh

Michael de Jongh’s book Truly South African is the fascinating story of Coenraad de Buys (1761-1821), who was born on a farm in the Langkloof. His father was Jan de Buys, the second-generation descendant of French Huguenots Jean du Buis and Sara Jacobs. He lived a nomadic life and was known as a cattle raider. In the early 1780s, he lived on a farm in the Zuurveld with a woman of Khoi and slave descent, Maria van der Horst, with whom he had seven children. He was one of a number of white people who sided with the Xhosa during the frontier wars against the Boers and then the British. Michael de Jongh is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of South Africa. His books include Roots and Routes: the Karretjie People of the Great Karoo; A Forgotten First People – the Southern Cape Hessequa; The Forgotten Front – untold stories of the Anglo-Boer War in the Karoo, and The Land Speaks. He lives in Plettenberg Bay.

Popina Khumanda

We are delighted to announce that Popina Khumanda will be opening Boekbedonnerd Book Town Richmond 2025

Popina Khumanda was born in 1995 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the age of five, her village was attacked, and she was captured by rebels along with her twenty-one-year-old sister. After spending five years in captivity, they managed to escape and, in search of safety, walked to South Africa. Despite facing immense challenges such as a lack of schooling, language barriers, and financial hardship, Popina completed her matric in 2013. She went on to earn a degree in Information Technology from Nelson Mandela University, followed by a specialisation in cybersecurity from the University of Cape Town. Today, Popina is a cybersecurity lecturer at a tertiary institution and serves as a Cybersecurity Engineer at one of the world’s leading cybersecurity companies, Zhero Cybersecurity IT Support Company. Popina uses her inspiring journey to empower others through education and advocacy.

The Smallest Ones is a harrowing and powerful account of survival and resilience in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo in the early 2000s. Popina, her family and friends were captured by rebel soldiers and were subjected to torture and rape. After several years of captivity, Popina and her older sister managed to escape, and began an epic journey all the way to South Africa. But even there, their nightmare was not over. Written with raw emotion and unflinching honesty, The Smallest Ones takes readers on a journey through the darkest corners of human experience, yet it is also a testament to the enduring power of hope and the will to survive. This is not just a story of tragedy, but a poignant exploration of the human spirit’s capacity to endure and overcome.

After eventually finding refuge in a children’s home in Despatch in the Eastern Cape, Popina started building the life she dreamt of as a child. Having had no schooling, she now found herself in a classroom and held a pen for the first time. And so began her journey to education and freedom.

Anton Krueger

Anton Krueger In the last few years, Anton has been experimenting with improvised spoken word collaborations with a variety of musicians and DJs, including Tony Bental, Warrick Sony, Geoffrey Tracey, Zanethemba Mdyogolo and Francois le Roux (the HA! man). He’s performed readings of Everybody is a Bridge with jazz piano improvisations by the legendary Paul Hanmer in Durban for Poetry Africa (2023) and as part of the curated programme of the 2024 National Arts Festival in Makhanda. Anton has also published plays, memoirs, short stories, criticism and arts journalism. He lives in Makhanda, where he heads up the Department of Literary Studies in English at Rhodes University. Still, Anton considers himself an amateur, inspired by love rather than profit.

Anton, whose session last year was hailed as ‘spellbinding, brilliant and unmissable’ will be reading from his latest poems, to music, including his contributions to a Zen anthology celebrating Poplar Grove, Anton Osler’s retreat centre in the Karoo

Christopher Nicholson

Christopher Nicholson has spent all of his 80 years in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A former human rights lawyer, he defended victims of apartheid before democracy in 1994, earning two awards for his work. In 1995, he was appointed as a High Court judge.

He is the author of nine books, a play, and two novels, with his first two works shortlisted for the Alan Paton Prize for non-fiction. His writing spans history, politics, sport, and fiction.

Christopher is married, with two daughters and three grandchildren.

Tom Nancollas

Tom Nancollas is a building conservationist and writer based in London. Of Cornish ancestry, Tom maintained a love of seascapes during his work in the capital and became fascinated with offshore rock lighthouses, which were the subject of his critically acclaimed first book, Seashaken Houses: A Lighthouse History from Eddystone to Fastnet (2018), pre-empted by Penguin.

The book is a series of journeys to lighthouses around the coast of Great Britain and Ireland, looking at the history and architecture of these most romantic and often enigmatic of buildings, and what they can tell us about our relationship with the sea. The paperback was a Waterstones Non-Fiction Book of the Month in August 2019.

In his latest moving and original new history, The Ship Asunder (Particular Books, 2022), Tom Nancollas goes in search of eleven relics that together tell the story of Britain at sea. The Times called this rich celebration of Britain’s seafaring tradition ‘remarkable and poignant’ and The Spectator described it as ‘a fascinating voyage of discovery.’

Dr Rob Parsons

Dr Rob Parsons, OBE, is an international keynote speaker and bestselling author. His books include The Heart of Success, The Sixty Minute Father, and his most recent book A Knock at the Door – the story of Rob and his wife Dianne inviting a homeless man in one Christmas, who lived with them for over 45 years until his death. He has spoken across the world to more than a million people in live events. Rob and Dianne have two children and five grandchildren.

Malcolm Pearse

All the Hills are Home is the memoir of a man who has lived an extraordinary life, spanning three different careers. More than a collection of remarkable stories. the two volumes contain a wealth of information on hiking, photography and the natural history of places. Here is an astonishing amount of material to guide you, tried and tested itineraries, advice on overseas trekking companies, photographic tips and philosophical discussions.

Malcolm Pearse grew up in the foothills of the Drakensberg and, in his youth, spent many holidays exploring the nearby mountains with his father, Reg Pearse, author of three books on the Drakensberg, including the classic Barrier of Spears. In time, Malcolm would lead a large number of groups into the Berg, as well as undertake many climbs on his own. He set up an adventure company, Summit Ventures, for outdoor enthusiasts to travel to the far corners of the world: “from the Galápagos Islands to the heights of Tibet.” These included no less than 50 expeditions to the Himalayas over 25 years. He is also an internationally recognised photographer.

Malcolm Pearse will be speaking in a further session about Alan Paton, the groundbreaking author of Cry the Beloved Country, and he will be entertaining us with tales about the Comrades Marathon.

Rory Riordan

Rory Riordan was born in Port Elizabeth and matriculated at St Patrick’s Marist Brothers College in Walmer, before reading philosophy at Rhodes University. He founded the Human Rights Trust in 1986 and its magazine Monitor. He worked extensively in the war-torn townships of Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage in the late 1980s. A former columnist for the Eastern Province Herald, Riordan now lives with his wife, Melissa, in Schoenmakerskop, Gqeberha. Rory Riordan will be talking about his upcoming book Athol Fugard and his Port Elizabeth Years.

Peter Ross

Peter Ross is the bestselling author of Steeple Chasing: Around Britain By Church; A Tomb With A View: The Stories & Glories of Graveyards, and the recently published Upon A White Horse: Journeys in Ancient Britain & Ireland. Festival Director Darryl David, who has written three of his own books on churches, has found a soul mate. Peter Ross says about Steeple Chasing, “I wrote it, in part, for myself. I had been feeling bleak about the state of the world, not hopeful for the future, and so thought to console myself – and hopefully readers – with a deep dive into the past. I wanted to lose myself in these beautiful old churches. I thought the world would look better through stained-glass eyes”.

He is an Orwell journalism fellow. He lives in Glasgow, Scotland.

Milton Schorr

Milton Schor’s book Addict is a tumultuous journey through addiction and recovery, offering profound insights and inspiration. It captures the raw essence of his experiences, from the depths of addiction to the triumphs of recovery. At the age of seventeen, he faced a life-altering moment that could have led him down an irreversible path. Instead, he chose to confront his demons, ultimately leading him to two decades of sobriety.

Milton Schorr is not only an accomplished author but also a talented actor known for his roles in blockbuster films such as Tomb Raider and Resident Evil. His literary accolades include the award-winning magical fiction novel Strange Fish, published in 2021, and the gripping hitchhiking adventure tale A Man Of The Road, based on his own experiences, released in 2022.

Paul Sinton-Hewitt

Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE is a South African-born British social entrepreneur best known as the founder of Parkrun, a global network of some ten million runners who take part in free, weekly, timed 5k runs in local parks. His book One Small Step chronicles Paul’s extraordinary story. His contribution to the world of running came about through his own love of the sport; after an injury prevented him from running, he began an informal 5k run around his local park one Saturday morning with just 13 runners. His vision was rooted in community, inclusivity, and physical well-being, making fitness accessible to all. In recognition of his contributions to public health and community development, he was awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2014.

Tammy Southby

Tammy Southby’s job as regional franchise manager for a global manufacturer in the automotive industry took her across South Africa, travelling by road. She started documenting her travels on Facebook, calling her blog Sunshine Simplicities, and her following grew, proving there was a hunger for good news and positive stories. Her page has 34,000 followers and a reach of over two million a month.

Sunshine Simplicities – South African Adventures tells the story of her travels and the discovery of South Africa’s hidden gems. It is both a travel companion and a book of short stories written in a conversational style, to enjoy any time, any place. Revealing small town treasures, coastal splendours and the exquisite natural beauty of the region. Her tagline, she says, is ‘finding the sunshine in the simple things – all that is beautiful and positive in our country’.

Riana Steyn

Riana Steyn is op Winburg gebore en het op hulle familieplaas in die distrik Dewetsdorp grootgeword. Sy is met Deon getroud en hulle kinders is Luke en Sarah-Anne. Riana is ‘n voormalige lektor en navorser in Antropologie aan die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika. Hier verwerf sy ‘n Magistergraad wat oor die Karretjiemense van die Karoo handel. Die titel van die verhandeling is Childhood: An Anthropological Study of Itinerancy and Domestic Fluidity Amongst the Karretjie People of the South African Karoo.

Gedurende 2011 het haar pad dié van Athol Fugard gekruis. As eerbetoon aan sy Afrikaner moeder wou hy sy eerste, uiteindelik ook sy laaste, drama in Afrikaans skryf. Dit moes ‘n Karoo verhaal van ‘n Karretjiegesin wees wat sy in die 1930’s teëgekom het en waarvan sy hom dikwels vertel het. In sy soektog na inligting oor die Karretjiemense, het Athol op Riana se verhandeling afgekom. Sy het hom toegang tot haar navorsing gegee en hulle het uiteindelik saam aan die drama geskryf. Die toneelstuk Die Laaste Karretjiegraf het in 2013 sy première in die Fugard Teater in Kaapstad gehad. Die drama is gepubliseer en word sedertdien vir graad 11 leerders in Afrikaans, Eerste Addisonele Taal (EAT) voorgeskryf.

Riana Steyn will be talking about a Karoo trip she took with Athol Fugard in search of the Karretjie family she used to visit over many years and who eventually became the main characters in Die Laaste Karretjiegraf.

Chantal Stewart

Chantal Stewart is a medical doctor, author and poet. She works full-time in a government hospital and in her spare time facilitates creative writing workshops. She has published poetry and short stories in Women Flashing (2006), Writing the Self (2008), Twist (2006), and Stanzas (2021, 2023). She lives with her husband and two dogs.

The Veil of Maya. Lena Brown, a geneticist who spends her days in Cape Town comfortably engrossed in laboratory work, receives a call to investigate an outbreak of madness amongst a group of men in a small town in rural Swaziland. She is excited to revisit the place of her childhood holidays. However, she does not realise how this journey will change her, challenging her beliefs and her perceptions of the world. The novel is both a medical mystery and a love story. Just before leaving Cape Town, Lena meets the charismatic astronomer Gabriel Powell, and finds herself attracted to the mystery which she senses within him. Circumstances intervene that force her to confront issues of trust and deception, secrets and loss.

Dietloff van der Berg

Dietloff van der Berg, gebore 30 Maart 1950 in Germiston, het na ’n jaar in die Valskermbataljon sy BAHons aan Stellenbosch voltooi en by St. Andrew’s Kollege, Grahamstad, begin onderrig. Hy behaal ’n MA oor Hans Lodeizen aan Rhodes en word in 1979 lektor aan die Universiteit van Natal, waar hy sy PhD voltooi en hoof van Afrikaans en Nederlands word.

Hy het die kursus Skeppende Skryfwerk ingestel en 40 jaar lank Letterkunde en Vertaalkunde doseer. Hy was Moderator vir die Matrikulasieraad, het Die Skrywerskring in Maritzburg meer as 20 jaar gelei, en ontvang in 2005 die Hoofstad Skakel Kultuurprestasietoekenning (Goud). Sy gedigte verskyn al meer as vyftig jaar in toonaangewende tydskrifte, aanlyn platforms en versamelbundels, insluitend flikker-gram (2024) en Merang (2025).

Sedert sy uittrede in 2010 fokus hy op sy digkuns, publiseer Rumi: Liefdesverse en aanhalings (2023) en Feesmaalgang (2025), en dien as mede-administreerder van die Cordis Trust se Ghasel-kompetisie. In Richmond gaan hy uit Feesmaalgang voorlees en bespreek.

Hein Viljoen

Hein Viljoen is in Pretoria gebore en het grootgeword op Krugersdorp-Wes, Lindley in die Vrystaat en Potchefstroom. Hy studeer aan die destydse PU vir CHO en behaal later sy MA-graad aan die Universiteit van Pretoria Pretoria met ’n stilistiese studie van die poësie van Breytenbach. In 1980–1981 studeer hy aan die Universiteit Utrecht en behaal in 1985 die DLitt-graad aan die PU vir CHO met ’n proefskrif oor literêre sisteme.

Tot met sy aftrede in 2016 was hy professor in Afrikaans en Nederlands aan die Noordwes-Universiteit. Tans is hy buitengewone professor in die Navorsingsfokusarea: Tale en literatuur in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks aan die Noordwes-Universiteit. Viljoen is medeskrywer (saam met C.N. van der Merwe) van Alkant olifant (1988), ’n inleiding tot die literatuurwetenskap, en ook twee bundels opstelle, naamlik Storyscapes (2004) en Beyond the threshold (2007). In 1982 verskyn sy debuutdigbundel, Waterkristal, gevolg deur Holtrom en groot kabaal in 2007. Sy gedigte verskyn ook in Literator en op Versindaba.

In 2013 verskyn ’n derde bundel opstelle, Crossing borders, dissolving boundaries (2013). Viljoen se derde poësiewerk, ’n postmoderne epiese gedig met die titel Brisant, is in 2019 deur Naledi uitgegee. ’n Nuwe bundel, Vyf kleur blou, het in April 2023 by Naledi verskyn. Van sy jongste werk is opgeneem in die feesbundel Merang. Sy navorsing is tans hoofsaaklik gefokus op die wisselwerking tussen letterkundes en tussen letterkunde en visuele kunste.

Paul Weinberg

Between the Cracks is an astounding book that covers the remarkable photographic journey across southern African cultural, social and environmental landscapes from the 1970s to the contemporary. Weinberg’s career began after having been conscripted into the apartheid regime’s army. His camera became a weapon, ‘taking sides’ against the very regime which he had been forced to serve. But Between the Cracks covers far more than just the ‘witnessing’ of political protest. It includes his iconic anti-apartheid photography, his sociological work with the San, his transcultural observations, his interests in landscape and his celebrated documentary work for the Independent Electoral Commission in 1994. Weinberg is a photographer, curator, filmmaker, writer, educationist and archivist.
Together with David Goldblatt, he founded the Ernest Cole Award for photography in South Africa. He has worked extensively in photographic archives and is presently the curator for the Photography Legacy Project.

www.plparchive.com