Wordfest offers varied line-up this week

[caption id="attachment_39834" align="alignright" width="600"] EDWIN CAMERON, ZAKE MDA and JOHN CARLIN[/caption]

WORDFEST, which advertises itself as South Africa's only national multilingual festival of languages and literatures with a developmental emphasis, is in full swing in Grahamstown and continues with book launches, lectures, performances, workshops and open mike events until Saturday.

This weekend Justice Edwin Cameron has launched Justice: A Personal Account, with a panel chaired by judge Jeremy Pickering, and Maureen Quin her magnificent art book, Quin. Sihle Khumalo spoke on his humorous travelogue, Almost Sleeping My Way to Timbuktu, and Angela Makholwa launched Black Widow Society, a tale of vigilante justice for and by women trapped in abusive relationships.

Zake Mda is launching his new novel, The Sculptors of Mapungubwe this afternoon at 4.30pm, while authors still to come include Ingrid Winterbach, Kgebetle Moele, Patricia C Henderson, Mzukisi Qobo, Geoff Haresnape, Hazel Crampton and Vusi Pikoli.

Banting diet aficionados can quiz Prof Tim Noakes at the launch of The Real Meal Revolution on Friday, and poet and editor Denis Hirson will launch a new anthology earlier that day.

Journalist John Carlin will wrap up the programme by launching his new book, Knowing Mandela, which has been described as a "superbly written perspective of Madiba from the inside". Carlin wrote the book Playing the Enemy on which the film Invictus was based and will be speaking as part of the Dalro Samro event.

The open mike events at 3.30pm each day are another popular feature of Wordfest, with Harry Owen convening a space for new and established poets and writers. The line-up for the week varies, but features poets on more than one day, with Port Elizabeth's Helenvale poets joining Owen on Thursday.

The programme at Eden Grove, just below the Botanical Gardens, aims to foster a culture of reading and writing in South Africa and also to promote innovation and excellence in "word arts" through close to 100 activities each year.

If you are in Grahamstown, make sure to get a copy of the WordStock literary newspaper for more details on the events. - Gillian McAinsh