I have the immense pleasure of interviewing the following authors at this year’s Franschhoek Literary Festival:

DOUBLE EDGE OF ANGER

• 15 May, 2026

• 13:00 – 14:00

• Church Hall

In this searching conversation, Annemarie van Niekerk and Karina Szczurek explore how violence refracts through memory and language. Beginning with a devastating loss, Under a Blood Red Sky, interrogates belonging, estrangement and the uneasy relationship between private grief and public discourse.

LIVE POETRY READING

• 16 May, 2026

• 16:00 – 17:00

• Ebony Curated, Bordeaux St.

In this intimate live reading, Dominique Botha (The Crying Bride & Other Hallucinations) and Siphokazi Jonas (Weeping Becomes a River) share new and selected work that navigates intimacy, identity and place, revealing how poetry remains one of the most resonant forms of storytelling. Hosted by Karina Szczurek.

BON APPÉTIT IN THE BUSH

• 17 May, 2026

• 10:00 – 11:00

• Congregational Church

Françoise Malby-Anthony (Dining with Elephants) joins Karina Szczurek to share stories and recipes from her bush kitchen – where elephants stroll past the breakfast table, and cheeky monkeys steal the croissants. South African ingredients meet French flair in this delicious celebration of food, wildlife, and life in the wild.

Full programme: FLF 2026

Tickets: Webtickets