Where many literary festivals are about retreating from the city to the countryside, Open Book Cape Town is one fest that firmly embraces the cityscape. Taking place from 21 to 25 September 2011, this five-day affair saw more than 25 top international and over 80 local authors introduced to thousands of festivalgoers.
“Open Book started with a burning question,” explains the Book Lounge’s Mervyn Sloman (and co-founder of the festival), “How do we make books, the written word, available and accessible – and relevant – to the larger public, especially the youth. Literature and literary festivals can sometimes be closed-door discussions. We wanted to host something that opened up doors and debate, between Capetonians themselves, between South African authors and the international publishing scene, between those who read and those who write, and hopefully those who don’t read – yet. We wanted to open up this city through stories.”
Events were staged at key locations around the city – the Fugard, District Six Museum, the old Slave Lodge, 6 Spin Street – and included everything from serious discussions around searching for leadership in South Africa (driven by thought leaders Jay Naidoo and Jonathan Jansen) to interpretations of literary works through music (such as cellist Robert Jeffery interpreting Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo). Key to the celebrations was a youth festival on Heritage Day, which started with the library opening at Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School, moved to Harare Library in Khayelitsha where Sifiso Mzobe and Cynthia Jele read from and spoke about their novels, and ended at the District Six Homecoming Centre, where the life stories of youth who live on the Cape Flats – collected in the book Edge of the Table – were dramatised by the Human Rights Media Centre.
Given more than 150 events over five days, what was the festival’s highlight? “One of the most rewarding components was undoubtedly stocking Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School’s library,” says organiser Frankie Murrey, “thanks to the generosity of festivalgoers and publishers. The relationship with the school, its students and teachers, is one we feel strongly about and will build on through projects like the reading club we’ve begun. Our mentoring project will kick off soon, and while it isn’t focused at Matthew Goniwe students, we are excited about the impact it will have on aspiring writers.”
What has been festival feedback? Hear it from acclaimed authors themselves:
“I can say without stint or reservation that I had a glimpse of a different sort of Cape Town, a kind of literary heaven, where I had one of the best times I can remember in the nearly thirty years I’ve lived here… I know a lot of other people feel the same way. Open Book was really wonderful.” – award-winning South African author and playwright Damon Galgut
“Open Book 2011 was just terrific. Cape Town audiences and the book shop and Fugard crowd are very warm, smart, chatty, occasionally inebriated on Leopard’s Leap cabernet sauvignon. They make you feel the years of scribbling are worth it.” – comedy writer, author and performer Jane Bussmann
“Open Book offered a variety of intriguing and beautiful venues, and writers from all corners of the globe, speaking on subjects of many kinds, but I appreciated above all that through Open Book, the Matthew Goniwe High School library in Khayelitsha is now stocked with books, for school students now, and in future years to come. This reaching across from the literary community, to a less privileged community, is something I have seldom seen, but it is surely essential to the building of a better world. Thank you, Open Book, for leading the way!” – South African-born, Toronto-based author Dawn Promislow
“Open Book Cape Town is the friendliest and most fertile of festivals. The organisers run it with commitment to engaging the community that transcends the navel-gazing that can happen at these events. Cape Town itself is a key player, offering a magnificent and complex backdrop for the entire schedule.” – New York-born, Melbourne-based author Steven Amsterdam
“Open Book dazzled in its debut year – delightful venues, exceptionally well-organised and a feast of exhilarating talks and readings. Set against the unbeatable backdrop of Table Mountain, Open Book is sure to become a much-loved fixture on the international literary calendar.” – deputy director-general at the Brenthurst Foundation Terence McNamee
If you’d like to find out how you can help make Open Book 2012 in Cape Town bigger, better and even more inclusive, contact Frankie at frankie@openbookfestival.co.za.
This report back on Open Book 2011 was initially published in the November edition of City Views, on Cape Town as an innovative design city. Image courtesy of Sydelle Willow Smith
