Jen Thorpe reviews FLUID: The Freedom to Be
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Author Archives: Karina
BUCKET BOY at Masambe Theatre, Baxter Theatre Centre
THE CREATIVE TEAM BEHIND THE HIT SHOW, APPLE FACE, ARE STAGING AN EXCITING NEW PLAY AT THE BAXTER MASAMBE THEATRE IN NOVEMBER.
Director Adrian Collins, together with writer Pierre Malherbe, bring you BUCKET BOY, a dark, yet poignant comedy set in a DVD store in the not-too-distant past of the late 2010s.
John Maytham plays the part of Baardmann, the long-suffering owner of the store, who is failing to keep his business afloat as the declining popularity of DVD’s makes way for online streaming.
Pierre Malherbe plays the part of Duncan, a struggling songwriter and one of the store’s customers, who takes on a part time job at the store, to supplement the income of his main job as a musician.
But Baardmann has a secret obsession that is linked to his mysterious past and soon these two men from similar, but different backgrounds find their histories colliding in a comedic play full of wit, nostalgia and suspense.
BUCKET BOY will be onstage at the Baxter’s Masambe Theatre from 31 October until 15 November 2023. The show carries a 16 age restriction for language and sexual references.
Tickets are available online through Webtickets at a price of R180 per person.
I had the pleasure of reading the play in advance and cannot wait to see it on stage. Absolutely loved it: the characters, the story and the wonderful humour laced with regret and loss.
Production: Bucket Boy
Written by Pierre Malherbe
Directed by Adrian Collins
Performed by John Maytham and Pierre Malherbe
Stage design by Adrian Collins
Poster designed by Bruno Morphet at Plan B Design
Dates: 31 October – 15 November 2023
Venue: Masambe Theatre, Baxter Theatre Centre
Bookings: Webtickets
Festival of Poetry and Cape Flats Book Festival 2023
The 4-5 November weekend promises a lot of literary joy. The Cape Flats Book Festival is taking place that weekend and the one-day Festival of Poetry is happening on the 4th. Karavan Press authors are well represented at both, and I am also playing a role in my diverse capacities.
4 November | Bertha House and Youngblood-Africa
5 November | West End Primary School
I had great fun at the Cape Flats Book festival last year; I am so looking forward to returning. And I am thrilled about the Festival of Poetry. A weekend of inspiration and enlightenment awaits!
Better than ever: Open Book Festival 2023
I wrote about my experience of the Open Book Festival this year for LitNet. You can read the article here:
Better than ever: Open Book Festival 2023
Exclusive Books Homebru: FLUID – The Freedom to Be
This year’s Exclusive Books Homebru list includes our anthology, FLUID: THE FREEDOM TO BE.
Contributors and editors were asked to share their thoughts about the anthology and all Homebru authors had to come up with a South African proverb.
See our answers below and above.
To order your copy of the book and earn your Fanatics points, click here:
FLUID – HOMEBRU
At the Open Book Festival 2023
Six years after publication, The Fifth Mrs Brink is making her last official appearance at a festival before going out of print. The Book Lounge will be selling the remaining copies of the original edition of my memoir.
But no worries, Future Readers, Karavan Press is going to bring out a new edition of the book soon.
Karavan Press is “seriously punching above its weight” at this year’s festival. You can read about it here: Karavan Press and Friends at Open Book Festival.
I will be participating in two panels, one in which Mervyn Sloman of The Book Lounge will be chatting to Mbali Sikakana of NB, Eugene Ashton of JB, and me about the future of publishing. It will be fun!
And then, I will be chairing a session with Sue Nyamnjoy, Zibu Sithole and Diane Awerbuck and we will be talking about writing journeys.
Diane Awerbuck is a prizewinning writer, reviewer, editor and teacher. She writes femme/goth thrillers (Home Remedies); memoirs (Gardening at Night); pandemic cowboy thrillers (South, as Frank Owen; North, as Frank Owen); doctorates on trauma (The Spirit and the Letter); holy-wholly poetry (As above, so below); and short story collections (Cabin Fever; Inside your body there are flowers). She hopes you are sitting comfortably.
Zibu Sithole lives in Johannesburg with her son. She is a journalist with more than 10 years of experience writing for television and radio as well as print and digital media. She is a published ghostwriter of mainly romance novels. The Thing with Zola is Zibu’s first novel published under her own name.
Sue Nyamnjoh is a Cameroonian-born creative currently residing in Cape Town. She has a background in media studies and languages and holds a BA(Hons) from the University of Cape Town. Earlier this year (2023), Sue released her debut poetry collection. The anthology, [un]ravelling, explores universal themes of love, grief, joy, and loneliness from a deeply personal lens. Beyond literary pursuits, Sue enjoys large doses of music, food, and people, in no particular order. She is mother to a feline named Shola and various plants in questionable states of existence.
You can book your tickets here:
OPEN BOOK FESTIVAL 2023
CLAWS Raffle!
RAFFLE ALERT!
You can win a Karavan Press book hamper – among many other fantastic prizes – and support CLAWS (Clanwilliam Animal Welfare Society), an initiative that does miraculous good for animals in the Clanwilliam area.
R50 per entry.
For more details see this video: CLAWS Raffle
I wrote about CLAWS here: The furry magic of CLAWS
Thank you!
Smoothie ( — 31 July 2023)
A furry family member went to Cat Heaven today. Smoothie did not live with us at Driekatfontein – she lived with my love – but she was also my family, and I loved her dearly. No one knows how old she was, but I always teased her that she had nineteen lives and was the ultimate survivor. She was spirited; her vet file came with a warning. We visited the vet regularly to make sure that her quality of life remained high despite diverse health- and age-related vulnerabilities. The estimate is that she was at least seventeen. When she started losing weight again earlier this month, it was difficult to believe that with the help of our wonderful vet she would not bounce back as she did so many times before, defying all odds and expectations. But she was living her nineteenth life already, and it became clear very quickly that the time to say goodbye had arrived. She had a good life. She made our lives a lot better because of her determined, devoted, loving presence. We are hurting today and missing her unbearably, but we also know that Cat Heaven is a brighter, feistier and more purring place tonight, because Smoothie has arrived.
May you rest in peace, beloved Smoothie. I miss you so much …
Artistic longings
I recently participated in one of Gabriella Kaplan’s art workshops and LOVED the experience. If you ever thought of exploring your artistic longings, here is another opportunity:
I cannot recommend this enough. For a few weeks this was a space of exploration, musings, self-care, meditation and discovery. One of the things that I enjoyed the most was playing with a different medium than words. I love working with words, but there was something truly special about escaping into sculptures, images and collages for a few hours every week. I will let a few of the ones I created speak for themselves:
Through the workshops, I have also been inspired to continue creating visual artworks alone at home. A precious gift one can give to oneself.
If you are reading this, thank you, Gabriella! I hope to join another workshop in the near future.
FLF 2023: Hope in times of chaos
The Franschhoek Valley does golden autumn like no other place I know in the world. Once again, the season was on full display during this year’s Franschhoek Literary Festival (FLF). I drove into town on Friday and could not help feeling elated just by looking at the bright reds and yellows of falling leaves bathed in the soothing morning sun. The scene was perfectly set for what was to unfold. I have never seen Franschhoek so packed during the festival. The place was heaving with writers and festivalgoers from all over …
Continue reading: LitNet
Karina Magdalena 