On 14-15 October 2021 the Unit for Academic Literacy (UAL) at the University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at the University of the Free State and DIRISANA +, hosted the 1 st Joint Virtual Conference on Academic Literacy and Writing Centre Practitioners response to Covid-19 and the move to Online/Blended Teaching and Learning.

The conference was hosted on UP’s Learning Management System (LMS). The two keynote speakers included Dr Kabelo Sebolai (Stellenbosch University) and Dr Laura Dison (University of the Witwatersrand). Both keynote presentations focused on highly topical issues pertaining to academic literacy and writing centres and were extremely well received by attendees. The conference saw close to 160 attendees register, 30 papers being presented and representation from a host of higher education institutes, both nationally and internationally.

The conference also provided the opportunity for the soft launch of the South African Association of Academic Literacy Practitioners (SAAALP). In discussions related to future collaborations on the second day of the conference, it became evident that there is a dire need to create further opportunities for such dialogue for academic literacy and writing centre practitioners. The organising committee intend to satisfy this need through the newly formed association. There are already plans in place to host the second joint conference in 2022. The overall feedback from attendees on all aspects of the conference was very positive as evident from the survey administered.