Momo, ’n klein, verflenterde dogtertjie, woon aan die rand van ’n groot stad in die ruïne van ’n amfiteater.

Sy besit niks buiten dit wat sy vind of wat sy van ander ontvang nie, maar sy het ’n buitengewone gawe: Sy luister werklik na ander en gee vir hulle tyd. Een dag ruk die gruwelike grys menere met hulle loodgrys aktetasse en sigare in die groot stad op en begin om die kosbare tyd van die mense te steel.

Momo is die enigste een wat die donker mag van die tyddiewe kan beteuel.

Hierdie verhaal is vol van avontuur, misterie en romanse. Dit is 'n lekkerleesboek wat die leser se aandag tot die einde behou. Toe 'n vreemde man onverwags op Rietkuil as plaasbestuurder begin werk, is dit die begin van 'n reeks onverklaarbare gebeure. Waar Rietkuil eens op ’n tyd die rustigheid self was, bring die nuweling op die werf ’n vlaag van misdade met hom saam en selfs harte bly in die slag. Dan sien Tant Annie een spookagtige aand die vreemde man met 'n groot, donker bondel in sy arms haastig in die donker skaduwees verdwyn. Wie is hierdie man? Wat is sy regte naam? Waar kom hy vandaan? Wat steek hy weg? Met Man uit die vreemde prikkel Kas van den Bergh die leser se nuuskierigheid met volgehoue vernuf, sodat die boek nie neergesit kan word voordat die ware identiteit van die vreemdeling bekend is en al sy geheime onthul is nie.

Die drama speel af in die Karoodorpie Willowmore. Die rol van die kerk, verkragting, verlies en familie is van die temas wat aangeraak word.

Lekas kyk na 'n kind se weerloosheid en na die familie se verantwoordelikheid om na haar om te sien. Die watermeid (waternimf of meermin) is die mitiese figuur wat tot die dorpie se redding moet kom en drie kinders in die stuk hoop sy sal hulle kom red.

Dit raak egter gekompliseerd wanneer die skuldige persoon 'n belangrike figuur in die gemeenskap is - die dominee.

Gert Garries: ’n Baaisiekel-babelas word in 2002 by die KKNK opgevoer en gee vleis aan ’n karakter uit Etienne Leroux se roman Magersfontein, O Magersfontein! Die plaaswerker Gert Garries ry vir drie dae met die verbrande liggaam van sy kind op sy fiets rond. Hy wil ’n doodsertifikaat bekom, ’n voorvereiste voordat hy die kind kan begrawe. Weens sy velkleur word hy egter deur die burokrate van bakboord na stuurboord gestuur. Na sy ontmoeting met Le Grange, ’n empatiese verkeersbeampte, ontstaan ’n sonderlinge verhouding tussen hulle. Hierdie verhouding suggereer ’n beter toekoms en menslike identiteit vir Gert, terwyl die kind simbool word van ’n bitter en wrang verlede. Eindelik begrawe Gert sy kind saam met die room van die Engelse.

Die gehoor volg Gert Garries op sy drie dae lange fietsrit en beleef saam met hom ’n prutpot van emosies.

Die drama word gepubliseer in 2019 as Gert Garries: ‘n Baaisiekel-blues.

Hans van Rooyen is a former police general raised by two women who survived the 1899 South African War. He finds himself being cared for in an old age home by the daughter of liberation struggle activists.

At 80, he carries with him the memories of crimes he committed as an officer under the apartheid government. Having eluded the public confessions at the TRC for his time in the Border Wars, he retained his position in the democratic South Africa, serving as an institutional memory for a new generation of police recruits.

Zoe Zondi is tasked to care for the old man. Her gentle and compassionate nature prompts Hans to review his decision to go to the grave with all his secrets. Zoe has her own life story to tell and, as their unlikely bond deepens, strengthened by the isolation that COVID-19 lockdown brings, they provide a safe space for each other to say the things that are often left unsaid.

Wat Frederik de Jager se verhale uniek maak, is die feit dat dit om mense sentreer, dat dit fyngetekende portretstudies is.

Of dit nou Jan Rabie, die enigste dogtertjie op ’n seunskoolbus, Mal Marina die klawerkoningin is of die seun op die speelgrond wat so stip kon kyk, of sy laerskoolvriend die aksieheld, dis karakters waarmee elke leser kan vereenselwig. Soms is die onderwerp die skrywer self, die skaam seun wat Sartre se selfbewustheid as bewustheid verstaan, die een wat weier om die klavierspelende sissie te wees. Die skryfwerk is dus tydloos en universeel.

De Jager het ’n fyn oog en ’n slag met die woord. Soos Dana Snyman kan hy ’n emotiewe snaar raaktokkel en nostalgie opwek. De Jager is egter eerder prosaïs as volksverteller. Hierdie verhale is raak woordprente wat die uitsonderlikheid van gewone mense vasvang, met deernis, humor en ’n skeut hartseer - Op een na het al hierdie stukke verskyn in die tydskrif Vrouekeur van 2015 tot met die sluiting daarvan in 2020, as aflewerings in die rubriek “Mense onderweg”. Die laaste, langer stuk was ook in Vrouekeur, maar as alleenstaande artikel.

In this lyrical, fragmented novella, Lethokuhle Msimang uses autobiographical and poetic interventions to lead the reader through landscapes of loss and longing, travelling between France, China, Spain and South Africa, to explore the troubled terrain of leaving and finding home.

At once exhilarating, heart-breaking and haunting, The Frightened speaks to the complexity of relationships, the pain of love, the effects of trauma, the necessity and constant work of healing, and the unfulfillable wish to feel a true sense of belonging.

It is the story of finding one’s voice amidst inherited violence, and the importance of art and creativity in that process.

Shadow Play is a powerful novel of subterfuge, betrayal, risk and deep bonds of friendship formed during a time of struggle and pain while a new nation, determined to rise, faces seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

When confronted with his call-up papers for the apartheid army, with his fellow student activists either scattered or in jail, Matthew chooses exile in Europe. In Amsterdam, he reconnects with his friend Oliver, who is studying music there. As he falls into a different rhythm of life, as contented as he is in a loving relationship and a job in a music store, the pull of his homeland never leaves him. When he receives an unexpected call from a former activist comrade, he makes a decision that will put at risk everything he has built in his new life. And when he meets Mandla for the first time, he knows there will be no going back.

For Matthew, the reality of living as a refugee and an immigrant in Europe begins to intrude and with it a new and sometimes disquieting understanding of protest politics and the liberal ideal. For Mandla, directions to a liberated country that were once clear to him and untainted by self-interest and the seduction of power, become blurred at times and increasingly uncomfortable. Both men have to search deep in their hearts when they are asked to make choices that challenge them morally, personally and politically.

(Author Gerald Kraak passed away in 2014. Kraak was in the process of writing Shadow Play when he died, leaving an unfinished draft in the care of his literary executor with the novel evenutally being completed by Alison Lowry).

In the Shadow of the Springs I Saw is an exploration, and stories, of people who live in the Art Deco buildings of Springs.

It is the imagined lives of those who live in a space that is not theirs historically but one that they have reclaimed.

This work, in times of doom and complaint, creates a new narrative: one of revival, vigour and celebration.

Cape Town lawyer Peter Truman struggling to care for his wife, who is recovering from cancer, and be a father to their daughter, agrees to hire an au pair.

Left with a huge debt by her runaway ex-husband, Lexi Taylor is out of money and out of luck. In search of a new beginning and determined to be on her own, she returns home to sleepy Graaff-Reinet and becomes the manager of the inn at Apricot Farm. Free of the burdens of her old life, Lexi finally feels she’s getting back on track – until American Carter O’Brien arrives in town.

South Africa is a long way from his home in Texas, but it’s the fresh start Carter needs – and his last chance. A former musician and the wayward son of an oil industry tycoon, he has been sent to the Karoo Basin in search of shale gas, and is expected to succeed. Harbouring serious mistakes in his private and professional past, he can’t afford any distractions, no matter how alluring.

Carter was prepared for potential problems – angry farmers, anti-fracking protests, tricky negotiations – but fighting his attraction to Lexi wasn’t one of them. As Lexi is drawn into Carter’s work and his complicated life, the pair must confront danger from an unexpected enemy in the Karoo … and from their own hearts.

The first book of the Many Shallows series.

For a year, Felice had lived in the rundown house on the hill. She had moved there when her mother unexpectedly decided to remarry. Felice had never had a father, Frank would be her first. Shy and secretive, she wants nothing more than to be invisible, to be left alone to explore the strange forest that surrounds her new home. A tragic turn of events brings Felice and Frank closer together, but still she is drawn to the forest and its promise of freedom.

Many Shallows reimagines the lives and afterlives of Franz Kafka’s three great loves: Felice, Milena, and Dora. Rather than side notes in the famous writer’s life or vehicles for his desire, these women are reincarnated as the protagonists of their own surreal, macabre worlds. Felice is the protagonist in The Well, the first book in the Many Shallows series. The Well explores complex themes of social anxiety, loss and early sexual experiences.

Shelley Jacobsen is in her 40s and feels trapped. The coffee and décor shop that she opened with her bestie is proving to be a gilded cage. Meanwhile, her husband is consumed with Jewish guilt since having their twins, which reminds Shelley that she will always be a Shiksa to his family. Then she hires Wayde Smith, a sexy 22-year-old surfer who smells like a Pina Colada Coconut Vanilla Dessert, as a barista. He makes her feel young and Shelley just wants some fun. But will it stay harmless?

Whiplash is a gut wrenching story of a Muizenberg Sex worker, Tess who Pops painkillers by the handful and sells her body to strangers. When a condom breaks, Tess's life swings one eighty degrees. She gives up her drugs until she can get to an abortion clinic. Her cold turkey opens up a window in her mind, whipping Tess into a shattering understanding of how she got here. Tess's quirky humour, raw honesty and deep love of beauty lead her to find redemption in astonishing places. This book has a huge heart, like Tess, revealing that there is something in everyone that cannot be touched. Not by human hands. Not ever.

Meet Tannie Maria: the loveable writer of recipes in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette.

One Sunday morning, as Maria stirs apricot jam, she hears her editor Harriet on the stoep. What Maria doesn't realise is that Harriet is about to deliver a whole basketful of challenges and the first ingredient in two new recipes - recipes for love and murder.

A delicious blend of intrigue, milk tart and friendship, join Tannie Maria in her first investigation. Consider your appetite whetted for a whole new series of mysteries . . .

The SMS said, ‘don’t look for me’. I died right there. MaZwane, please no matter what happens, we can fight until we mutilate each other but do not leave me. Anelisa, I hope you have spoken to her seriously. We are married, we don’t leave each other. We stay for better or for worse, through thick and thin. The three of us do not part ways no matter what caused the misunderstanding. They both look at me attentively, I can’t be more serious than this.

Thirteen year old James Clarke is always being picked on in school. He hates sports, and he particularly hates Stingers, a schoolyard game in which children throw tennis balls at each other. The other kids always seem to throw the ball harder, when it's at him.

His physical education teacher, Mr Evans, has no sympathy for the boy, believing he just needs to toughen up a bit. When James returns home from school after a rough game of Stingers, his mother is mortified when she sees the bruises on his arm and chest. She phones the school to try and put a stop to the cruel bullying of her son. But her phone call only makes things worse, as the bullying escalates to levels that nobody imagined possible.

Ravaged Souls follows the lives of four friends.

Luxolo and Vuyolwethu Ndamase are childhood sweethearts and are happily married until they lose their only son to an accident caused by Vuyo. From there life changes for them as they deal with their grief and loss, finding comfort outside their union.

Lubabalo Sobukwe is a pastor’s kid hiding his sexuality from his family and close friends. He lives a lie until he meets Ryan Cook and falls madly in love. He now has to decide whether to keep living the lie and jeopardise his chance at happiness or own his truth and risks killing his father and losing his family. Ryan on the other side still battles with scars of being abandoned and disowned by his family for his sexuality. He also has to deal with lies about his paternity. He has found a sense of belonging with Lubabalo but can he risk his mental health and give him a chance.

Met hierdie klassieke verhaal oor die lewe van ’n mossiegemeenskap skep Hickey ’n werk vir oud en jonk. Kuif Kwaster en sy familie – ’n voorbeeldige en vername mossiegesin in die bodorp – neem die leser op ’n reis wat nie vir mense beskore is nie. Saam met Skeel At en Kuif verdedig lesers die mossie-eer teen die wraaksugtige en rebelse Beatnik-bende; en saam met Meks en Maja word daar vir die mannetjies in die bodorp flikkers gegooi.

Oor die ontstaan van hierdie uitmuntende werk skryf Hickey: “Gedurende April 1961 het ek by my skryftafel gesit. Deur die oop venster kyk ek na die doen en late van ’n elftal mossies. Hulle is bra baie vir ’n enkele gesin, maar daar is tog ’n intimiteit wat die indruk skep dat hulle meer is as terloopse kennisse.

Die groepie is verteenwoordigend van enige gemeenskap (daardie vaal, verkeerdeveer-wyfietjie lyk juis soos ’n skinderbek!) met die goeies en die minder goeies …”

Die sukses van hierdie eiesoortige werk kan gemeet word aan die feit dat die boek vanaf 1961 drie-en-twintig keer herdruk is.

Dora en Whashiela patsy graag op lit aande in die holte van Hoerikwaggo se skaduwee. Die girls is nie op hul bek geval nie. Maar albei weet ook die veilige hawe van sisterhood kan hulle nie beskerm teen die geweld wat snags op donker sypaadjies sluimer nie.

Een oggend op Bellville-stasie gebeur iets wat hul lewe onherroeplik verander.

Dianne Du Toit Albertze se debuutroman is ’n aangrypende ondersoek na identiteit, na huis en behoort. Opreg, vlymskerp én hartverskeurend.

Na vele mislukte verhoudings, staan privaatspeurder Willem Vasbyt Loriet uiteindelik op trou.

Dankbaar dat hy die groot stao kan neem viirdat hy 40 is, pak hy die taak aan om van seker aandenkings ontslae te raak. Dan gebeur daar skielik 'n klompie dinge bykans tegelyk.

Hy sien 'n man raak wat hy nie kan plaas nie, maar glo dis ;n skelm wat hy tevore teëgekom het en wil hom graag identifiseer en weer ondersoek.

Soon to be a major motion picture!

Poppie Nogena’s arduous journey covers 40 years of South Africa’s history, sweeping through the riots of Sharpeville, Soweto and Cape Town, on to an indefinite but unpromising future. The plot reflects the brutality and injustice of the Apartheid system, while Elsa Joubert’s characterisations reflects the courage and fortitude of people in the face of hardship and difficulty.

Poppie’s contented childhood in the Cape’s countryside came to an end when she married a migrant worker, and was forced by the authorities to move with him and their young family to the unfamiliar and bewildering city of Cape Town.

No sooner had she established her roots in the new township, when the laws changed and she was informed of her obligation to relocate to the Ciskei, her husband’s homeland. He, as a migrant worker, was permitted to remain in the Cape to work.

Over a ten-year period, Poppie fought the heinous ‘pass law’ system, winning limited extensions to the permit that would allow her to live and work in Cape Town and enable her to keep the family together and provide an education for her children.

Her own anger was shared by thousands and inevitably the brooding undercurrent of discontent exploded throughout South Africa. Suddenly, there were no further extensions. Poppie and her children were forcibly removed from their home and ‘resettled’ in a new township, hundreds of miles away near East London.

The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena is an epic tale of the endless adversity and struggle of a humble black woman under Apartheid laws. Poppie emerges from being a simple country girl to becoming an archetypal heroine of South Africa.

Temperature is the result of the Karavan Stories Workshop & Anthology project, now in its second year.

The theme – temperature – was inspired by global and intimate, personal developments. Climate change continues to dominate our weather and news cycles. Heated international debates require cool and collected thinking for the sake of all our futures around the world. It has been an exceptionally difficult year for many – what allows us to survive, and thrive, is the warmth and kindness of our connections. Temperature is a testimony to this simple truth.

The stories which emerged interpret ‘temperature’ in the most innovative ways, but they have one thing in common: hot off the press, they inspire reflections on interdependence – between individuals, communities and continents, as well as between humanity and our environment.

Contributing authors include: Sue Brown, Christine Coates, Gail Gilbride, Kerry Hammerton, Karen Horn, Karen Lijnes, Ciaran R. Maidwell, Firdose Moonda, Consuelo Roland, Anne Schlebusch, Joëlle Searle, Philisiwe Twijnstra, Alexandra Wood.

Naa muthu u langula hani tshileme tsha ifa, ngeno a si na zwikili zwa u ita zwivhuya zwe khotsi awe vha sia?

Davha ­la Maviavhathu ndi bugu i vha kombetshedzaho u vhala ine vhabvumbedzwa vhayo a vha tou vha zwine vha ambelwa zwone. Vho ­diimisela kha ndingo dzavho nga – u sa fushea, vhufhura, tshand­a nguvhoni na mabulayo nga mishonga – uri vha bvelele. Fhedzi, hone aya maitele a a sumbedzisa zwiitisi magumoni azwo?