Henning van Aswegen writes folktales and children’s stories about the Free State’s warm-hearted people and amusing little animals from his childhood along the Sand River. In VrystaatStories, we meet Mossieman and Geronkie the Donkey, who lead locals into mischievous adventures and pranks. The stories are original, humorous, and suitable for ages 8 to 80. At the festival, Henning will not only read aloud: he also brings along old toys and demonstrates them so children can see how people used to play, while learning about respect, empathy, and care.
Henning van Aswegen, born in Bloemfontein, served as a commissioned officer in the South African Defence Force and in civilian intelligence services. While studying at Potchefstroom University, he worked as a stringer for South African Associated Newspapers and later became a political correspondent for the Perskor Group. He is an intelligence historian and author, known for works such as Spioenmeesters, The Spymasters of South Africa, Die Buro, Training Intelligence Officers, and Russian Espionage in South Africa.
On 23 August 2021, a quiet, hardworking single mom was shot down as she drove home. Her name was Babita Deokaran, chief accountant at the Gauteng Department of Health. The izinkabi paid to kill her were caught, but who ordered her murder, and why? Crime reporter Jeff Wicks’s pursuit of answers would profoundly change, and even endanger, his life. This is an explosive investigation into state capture and a moving tribute to the cost of integrity.
Jeff Wicks is a Johannesburg-based investigative journalist with News24. Over nearly two decades, he has focused on organised crime and targeted killings, leading probes into the murders of Charl Kinnear and Babita Deokaran. A two-time winner of the Taco Kuiper Award for investigative journalism, he received the Nat Nakasa Award for courageous journalism in 2024. He co-authored the bestseller Eight Days in July.
We live in a time of rewriting, where books are “read,” and films and dramas are “watched” through consulting reviews. Novels and even short stories are often intermedially rewritten or “translated” into dramas or films. Rewriting is never neutral and depends on the historical, ideological, social, and literary context in which it is newly represented. This book, Herskrywing, representasie en intermediasie, is a theoretical, historical, and practical reflection on, and illustration of, these processes.
Hennie van Coller is a professor of Afrikaans at the University of the Free State and a highly respected literary scholar. As a critic, editor, and poet, he is best known for Perspektief en profiel. Over the decades, he has made major contributions through research, publications, and reviews, and has received several awards, including the Jan H Marais Prize.
Anthea van Jaarsveld studied drama at the University of the Free State and later became a drama teacher at Eunice Girls’ School. She subsequently joined the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch as a lecturer, focusing on the drama genre in Afrikaans, and therefore never left the field of drama and theatre.
In early 1976, as white South Africans danced to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” the Soweto uprising of 16 June shattered any sense of normality. As a young reporter, Max du Preez witnessed the first stones and shots that morning. Raised in a conservative Afrikaner Christian Nationalist family, he began questioning his upbringing and has since witnessed South Africa’s darkest and brightest moments. In The End of Normal, he reflects on apartheid’s roots, the lasting impact of 16 June, and how ordinary people supported injustice.
Max du Preez is a South African author, columnist, and documentary filmmaker, and was the founding editor of Vrye Weekblad. Vrye Weekblad Online was launched on 5 April 2019, again with Du Preez as editor. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his journalism. This is his eleventh book.
The author of Die Menslike Dieretuin publishes a new book that weaves together three strands of human development – biological, ecological, and technological. François Durand traces humanity’s journey from the African savannah to the brink of the Sixth Extinction, highlighting the ecological consequences of technological progress, from stone tools to agriculture. Unlike optimistic narratives, he shows how civilisation’s peak – art, science, and culture –was reached at nature’s expense, and how our triumph may ultimately become our downfall.
Prof. François Durand of the Department of Zoology at the University of Johannesburg is widely known for his four decades of radio talks and public lectures on nature, health, and history, and for his regular appearances onRSG. An accomplished artist, his work appears in books, stamps, and gold coins. His latest book, Nemesis, is richly illustrated.
101 Remarkable South African Women brings together, for the first time, 101 extraordinary women who shaped the country’s past and present. From the prehistoric Eve of the West Coast and Krotoa to Olive Schreiner, Miriam Makeba, Thuli Madonsela, and Tyla, their stories span centuries of history, politics, art, music, sport, and activism. Inspiring and accessible, this book celebrates our ancestresses while showcasing contemporary role models too often left out of the record.
Lizette Rabe, emeritus professor of journalism at Stellenbosch University, is a former magazine editor with over 20 years’ industry experience, a PhD, and a long academic career as head of the US journalism department. She has authored and edited significant works on South African media and has received multiple top teaching and research awards, including the Chancellor’s Award and the Stals Prize.
The poet Johann Lodewyk Marais was born 70 years ago in Hillbrow, but grew up on the farm Sans Souci in the Harrismith district, where he became fluent in Sotho. As a farm child, he developed a deep love for nature. He began reading avidly in high school, and his first poem was published in Die Vaderland while he was in Grade 11. His first poetry collection, Die somer is ’n dag oud, was published in 1983 and awarded the Ingrid Jonker Prize in 1984. His work has been highly praised and is often described as “sensitive to nature.” He has also written travel books and biographies.
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Zama Zama exposes the hidden workings of South Africa’s illicit gold trade through interviews with miners, syndicate insiders, intelligence agents, and law enforcement agents. It explores a violent underworld of gang wars, corruption, and brutal enforcement, detailing how gold is smuggled, laundered, and reintroduced into the global market via private refineries, fake permits, and VAT scams. The book also traces the illicit gold trade’s international reach, showing the links between underground mining and organised crime, terrorism financing, and global corruption networks.
Graham Coetzer is an award-winning South African investigative journalist and television producer. His work has taken him on many adventures across Africa. He won the National Press Club Journalist of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the prestigious Taco Kuiper Award, as well as the Global Shining Light Award. He lives in Pretoria.
Die Tyd van Verwoerd does not seek to justify or condemn apartheid or Dr Hendrik Verwoerd (1901–1960), but to describe and contextualise it honestly. LJ Bothma traces history from Jan van Riebeeck to the 1948 election and beyond. He portrays the rise of the National Party as a chess game between conflicting ideals, with Verwoerd at its center. Tensions culminate dramatically at Sharpeville in 1960.
LJ Bothma is a South African author and independent publisher specialising in military history, particularly the South African Border War and the experiences of soldiers in the army. His work, known for thorough research and firsthand accounts, offers insight into soldiers’ experiences and historical context. His published works include Die Buffel Struikel.
Stella Blakemore was born 120 years ago near Lindley. She is known as a writer of school stories that, especially in earlier years, gained her loyal readers among boys and girls. Her best-known works are the Maasdorp and Keurboslaan series. For the Keurboslaan series, she used her Afrikaans grandfather’s name – Theunis Krogh. The series has been reprinted numerous times and remains popular to this day. Blakemore published around 50 books and made a remarkable contribution to Afrikaans youth literature.
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