Meet your African writers: Yewande Omotoso and Sandile Memela

Posted on August 25, 2016

In celebration of National Book Week, the Department of English, in collaboration with the Department of Library Services, cordially invites you to attend this event.

South Africa commemorates National Book Week the first week of September every year. It is an initiative of the South African Book Development Council (SABDC) in collaboration with the Department of Arts and Culture. National Book Week helps spread the love of books and reading to every corner of South Africa.

Date: Friday, 2 September 2016

Time: 9:30 – 12:00

Venue: Auditorium, Level 3, Merensky 2 Library, Hatfield Campus

More about our writers:

Yewande Omotoso: Yewande was born in Barbados, she grew up in Ile-Ife, Nigeria and Cape Town South Africa and currently lives in Johannesburg. An architect, she completed a Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Cape Town. Her debut novel Bomboy (Modjaji Books), was shortlisted for the 2012 Sunday Times Fiction Prize, the MNet Film Award and the 2013 Etisalat Prize for Literature. It won the South African Literary Award First Time Author Prize. Her short stories include Two Old People in the anthology Speaking for the Generation: Contemporary Stories from Africa, How About The Children published in The Kalahari Review, Things Are Hard in the 2012 Caine Prize Anthology, Fish published in The Moth Literary Journal and The Leftovers published in One World Two. Yewande was a 2013 Norman Mailer Fellow and a 2014 Etisalat Fellow. In 2015 she was a Miles Morland Scholar and was awarded a JIAS Fellowship in 2016. Yewande's second novel The Woman Next Door (Chatto and Windus) was published in May 2016.

Sandile Memela: Memela is one of South Africa's well-known journalists, writers, cultural critics and polemicists. At beginning of August 2015, he joined SARS to be the new media executive and spokesperson. Previously, he was a civil servant working for the Department of Arts & Culture. When he left after 10 years, he was the Spokesperson for the Minister of Arts & Culture, Mr Nathi Mthethwa (and Pallo Jordan earlier).He was also Chief Director: Social Cohesion (April 2012 – June 2014), Acting Editor for the Sunday World (1999 – 2004) and Assistant editor at City Press (1986 – 1999). Well known for his provocative views, Memela has recently published his fourth book, Zenzele: Young Gifted & Free (Porcupine Press 2014) that is aimed at motivating youth from disadvantaged background to take personal responsibility to exercise personal leadership. But His Master's Voice published by Mamelang Publishing (2012) remains his most important book where he explores the dilemma of being a professional in a capitalist corporation. His debut novel was Flowers of the Nation (Kwa-Zulu Natal University Press, 2005) which was among the first to deal with the subject of AIDS through fiction. He has also contributed short stories to Soweto Inside Out (Zebra Press, 2004) and Crossing Over (Kwela Books, 1994). A well-known journalist and public intellectual, he is a frequent commentary contributor Thoughleader.co.za and serial letter and article writer to The New Age, The Star, Business Day, The Argus, Mail& Guardian, Sowetan, Pretoria News, The Argus, City Press and Daily Dispatch, to name a few. Memela is a Communications graduate of Fort Hare University. He holds a post-graduate in Journalism from Stellenbosch University. He was awarded fellowships to University of Wales (1992), University of Maryland in the USA (1997) and Duke University in South Carolina (2000.) He lives in Midrand, South Africa with his spouse and two small boys.

Target audience: UP staff and students

RSVP electronically for refreshment purposes:by Thursday, 1 September 2016

Enquiries: [email protected] or 012 420 2617

- Author Zenzile Msweli

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Meet your African writers: Yewande Omotoso and Sandile Memela

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