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Books > Local Author Showcase > Sport & Leisure
Waders, or shorebirds, represent only a small percentage of the world's birds, but are unparalleled in popularity among birders. Identifying these seemingly anonymous grey birds, through a combination of shape, plumage and behaviour, is one of the most rewarding challenges in birding and the possibility of finding a rarity is an ever-present drawcard. Despite their delicate appearance, waders thrive in some of the most inhospitable environments on the planet thanks to remarkable structural and behavioural adaptations, dynamic life cycles and dramatic global migrations. More than two years in the making, this unique, lavishly illustrated book will help you not only to identify waders with confidence, but also to understand and enjoy these inspirational birds. It is the ultimate resource on the identification and biology of Southern Africa's wader species. However, because of waders' incredible worldwide migrations, most of the species in Chamberlain's Waders will also be familiar with readers from other regions of the world (only 30 of Southern Africa's 80 waders are NOT migratory). What makes Chamberlain's Waders different from other titles on waders? Firstly, it is written from a Southern Hemisphere perspective, unlike most European and American books. This shift of focus completely changes the picture. Secondly, it explains wader identification based on a background of biology and ecology instead of just listing all the tedious identification details. Thirdly, it is so much more than just a field guide. Some paragraphs really read like a love letter written to waders in celebration of their beauty, adaptability and triumph over seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Dié jongste bundel verse deur Philip de Vos is vir jonk én oud, en getuig opnuut van sy vakmanskap as digter, sy slinkse, aweregse humor maar ook sy fyn waarnemingsvermoë. Ritme dien as ruggraat vir elke vers, met ’n goeie skeut tong-in-die-kies stuitigheid, maar soms ook met ’n melancholiese, elegiese ondertoon. Daar is verse oor die Skepping, oor Moses en oor Lot, verskeie oor nig Mara en Maraaia, en ter afsluiting meer as ’n handvol stoute kwatryne.
Where do unfinished poems go – the early buds, the offcuts, all of the blooms that can’t be bunched together? In this beguiling bouquet of travel poetry, diary fragments, letters, works-in-progress and retrospection, Helen Moffett offers us a rare look into the workings, misfirings and triumphs of a literary mind. A collection of tentative moments and emotions, rendered in fleeting and experimental forms.
Desiree Ellis has been associated with Banyana Banyana, the South African women’s national football team, for 30 years – initially making her mark as a player (1993–2002), before transitioning to coaching. Taking the experience of 32 caps, including captaining the team when South Africa won the inaugural Cosafa Women’s Cup in 2002, she went on to become the most successful women’s coach in South Africa. After a stint as assistant coach to Vera Pauw, Desiree was officially appointed head coach in 2018 and continued adding to her outstanding resumé. A high point came in 2022 when she coached Banyana Banyana to the Wafcon title in Morocco. The win also earned the team automatic qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. But Desiree’s inspiring football journey began many years before on the streets of Salt River in Cape Town where she developed the strength and skills that earned her the nickname ‘Magic’ on the field. Back then soccer boots were only dreamed of and it was her Bata Toughees school shoes that suffered the wear and tear, often to the despair of her hardworking parents. In the early days of the Athlone Celtic women’s side, it was a family affair: (Uncle) Eddie took on the role of coach, (Mom) Natalie’s seamstress skills saw them all kitted out, and (Dad) Ernest handled everything else, from transport to scheduling games. When Desiree’s talent and dedication saw her become a serious contender at league and then provincial level, and finally gave her a chance to play with and against the world’s best, there was no stopping her. As South Africa emerged from sporting exile after the dark days of apartheid and stepped up to the international stage, Desiree proved to everyone who believed in her that dreams can come true.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare is anything but Shakespeare. Unless you’ve never read Shakespeare. This debut poetry collection by Matthew Freemantle is at times hilarious, at times snarky and at other times a concise mirror reflecting back the absurdity of modern life in South Africa - especially during multiple lockdowns. A high-brow toilet book that tackles personal reflections on toes, fatherhood, sex, commerce and identity.
Lucid and lyrical, Lucienne Bestall’s debut collection extends reflections on the seductions and limitations of language. With words and pictures borrowed from literature, contemporary art, art history, and mass media, Except for Breath asks after those experiences that elude simple description and turn instead to image and metaphor. The collected essays appear an unlikely gathering – taking as their respective subjects death, disappointment, divine love, an unfamiliar city, the news, and headaches. Yet while each is discrete, together they share subtle aff inities, their narratives shaped by memory’s imprecisions and dreams retold, by magical thinking and wishful thinking, and coincidence mistaken as sign. Pairing art writing and life writing, Bestall’s limpid prose is delicately revealing of her subjective encounter with a shared repertoire of familiar texts and images.
Die meeste sterre is lankal dood is die bekroonde digter Johann de
Lange se dertiende bundel. Dit bestaan uit ses afdelings, deurgaans
gewy aan vlietende oomblikke vasgevang in 'n vers ("om met woorde die
onsegbare te sê"). Die bundel het 'n elegiese toonaard, en word
oorheers deur 'n bewustheid van verlies & verganklikheid, van
"inskaduwings van die lig". Verse oor die skryfproses figureer as
teenvoeter vir die verbygaande aard van mens wees. Dit is verse vir "my
mooi dooies". In "Oggendmusiek" beskryf die digter 'n vroegoggendkoor
van voëls voor sonsopkoms, elders 'n koorddanser, voetjie vir voetjie
oor die spantou. Soos in sy vorige werk is die erotiese verse 'n
hoogtepunt in die bundel, bv in "Ode aan die mielie": "Nét so, nog aan
die oggend tussen die syige bene van die dag staan hy, volryp,
pittig & reg."
Krog is ’n internasionaal gerekende digter maar ook plaaslik geliefd. Vyftig jaar ná haar opspraakwekkende debuut, Dogter van Jefta, verskyn daar ’n splinternuwe versameling waarin meer as honderd gedigte uit haar elf bundels saampraat. Verse oor eerste liefde, oor moederskap, oor die landskap, en oor onreg; oplaas ook oor ouer word. 'n Vry vrou bevat gunstelinge uit Krog se oeuvre maar ook minder bekende dog ewe verrassende verse. Saamgestel deur Karen de Wet.
“I had endured enough spaghetti arms and failed take-offs to last a lifetime. I wanted to, once again, move forward with my surfing. It took a simple idea to make that a reality” Death of a Weekend Warrior is the story of Bernard’s surfing journey. It describes the highs, lows, people, places, and waves he has experienced over the past thirty years. For Bernard, a weekend warrior represents a plateauing of performance, a stagnation. The death of a weekend warrior represents his progression and development. In this book, Katz unpacks his own insecurities and reflects on the many facets that make up the world of the average weekend surfer. His personal journey is intertwined with descriptions of famous surf spots and explanations of some of the nuances of surfing, localism, surfboard design, the art of tube riding, and more.
’n Stuk of 50 stories waarin Dana Snyman besin oor enigiets van fopnuus tot ’n 40ste skoolreünie. Hy vertel van sy kennismaking met Eugène Terre’Blanche en van die Bogosi-gesin wat by hom op Jacobsbaai gewoon het. Hy vertel hoe mense na mekaar probeer uitreik in die land. Hoe ons mekaar soek en nie altyd vind nie. Ten slotte vertel hy van sy verloofde se selfdood en hoe hy daarná byna al sy besittings weggee en die pad vat.
What does it take to win gold at the Olympic Games? How many years of hard work and dedication does it take to prepare for such a feat? How many disappointments do you have to endure on this journey? Danielle Brittain has walked this journey over and over again – her two sons won Olympic gold for South Africa in rowing, all four of her sons have rowed at top levels, and she is currently the team doctor for the SA rowing team. Danielle has faced her own battles with cancer and then watched as her son battled Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during his Olympic training and overcame it and went on to win gold after his recovery in this high-performance sport. The Olympic wins for the South African teams at the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics were iconic moments for South Africa and Brittain’s descriptions of what the wins meant for the individuals in the teams, their families, the coaching staff and ordinary South Africans demonstrates the power of sport to unite the country. A rowing story, a family story, a cancer survival story, a South African story – and the story of a mother watching it all unfold.
’n Oorsig van Breyten Breytenbach se digkuns is 'n voëlvlug oor 'n wye era: vanaf die jare sestig tot vandag, waarin beide Europa en Afrika hulself radikaal herdefinieer het. In hierdie herdefiniering staan Breyten Breytenbach, die digter, mens en denker soos ’n skakelende deurpos. Elke gedig is soos ’n tekening of ’n skildery waarin tekens en betekenis in vloeiende verbande tot mekaar staan en waarin gunstelingtemas weer en weer ter sprake kom – elke keer uniek geskommel soos kwashale op die doeke van Jackson Pollock se skilderye of die stippels in ’n kaleidoskoop wat nooit ophou draai nie. Die gedigte is chronologies gerangskik volgens die digter se lewensgang: jongmenslewe in Kaapstad, Parys, effektiewelike bannelingskap weens sy huwelik, terugkeer en tronkstraf, die buiteland. En oplaas ’n onrustige pendelaarslewe tussen noorde en suide van die aardbol, waarin volledige tuiskoms slegs in die arms van die liefde is.
In 2018, kort op die hakke van sy topverkoper-memoires oor die Camino, Elders, en die kykNET-reeks Elders: Die Camino, reis Erns Grundling met ’n TV-span na Japan om ’n nuwe Elders-reeks te gaan verfilm oor die land waar die Rugbywêreldbeker 2019 sal plaasvind. Sushi en shosholoza is sy verslag van die reis. Kom stap weer saam met Erns, dié keer op die plek waar talle Suid-Afrikaners laat in 2019 die Bokke sal gaan ondersteun. Konnichiwa, Japan!
Pretend You Don’t Know Me brings together in one volume the best of Finuala Dowling’s funny, poignant and idiosyncratic poetry from four earlier prize-winning collections, with a section devoted to new poems. This new collection contains her iconic poem ‘To the doctor who treated the raped baby and who felt such despair’ as well as Dowling’s tragi-comic cycle of poems on the theme of her mother’s dementia, and the hugely popular poems ‘Butter’ and ‘The abuse of cauliflowers’. At the heart of the book are the funny and poignant connections we make with other people, and the lifelong effort to stay whole. ‘Pretend You Don’t Know Me, by South African Finuala Dowling, is a witty and wise collection of new and selected poems. Her sequence about her mother’s dementia is very touching. Elsewhere, these vital works will have you crying with laughter.’ – Jackie Kay, The Guardian (Books of the Year 2018)
Radbraak is Jolyn Phillips se digdebuut in Afrikaans. In dié digbundel verbrokkel sy taal, draai sy die rug op haar vel-taal, ‘radbraak’ sy haar eie taal. Dit is die enigste medium wat sy het, maar sy breek dit, sy vernuwe dit, sy ont-taal dit. Phillips is ’n nuwe stem in Afrikaans – soms liries maar deurgaans skreiend en ook uitdagend. Volgens bekroonde digter Petra Müller is Radbraak ’n ‘klein aardbewing van ’n bundel’.
Now in its third year, the AVBOB Poetry Project has garnered several industry prizes. I Wish I'd Said: Volume 2 includes 101 poems with English translations: 55 specially commissioned poems and 44 poems drawn from the 2018 competition. And, following the blueprint of the first volume, we pay homage to the Khoisan languages, by including two poems by the |Xam poet Dia!kwain. South African poets old and new were asked to submit poems on loss, grieving, love and consolation in their mother tongues. This new collection – and the online poetry portal – forms a space where the voiceless may be heard, and where we find common ground. Loss is a universal language and poetry its voice.
Duduza. Bopha. Imbiza. Phapha. Asixoliseni. Amapopeye . . . What is the power of a single word? Six days a week, advertising creative Melusi Tshabalala posts a Zulu word on his Everyday Zulu Facebook page and tells a story about it. His off-beat sense of humour, razor-sharp social observations and frank political commentary not only teaches his followers isiZulu but also offer insight into the world Melusi inhabits as a 21st century Zulu man. Over the past few months he has built up a big and a loyal following that include radio host Jenny Crwys-Williams and Afrikaans author Marita van der Vyfer. He pokes fun at our differences and makes us laugh at ourselves and each other. Melusi asks critical questions of everyone, from Aunty Helen, Dudu-Zille to Silili (Cyril Ramaphosa) and even Woolworths (why are their aircons always set on ‘jou moer’?). His fans love him for his honesty and commitment to pointing out subtle and overt forms of prejudice and racism. Melusi’s Everyday Zulu holds up a mirror that shows South African society in all its flaws and its sheer humanity. Most importantly, he shows the power of words and that there’s umzulu in all of us!
The 28th edition of Road Atlas South Africa.
• Updated Place name changes
Sasol Eerste Veldgids tot Spinnekoppe & Skerpioene van Suider-Afrika bied aan die jong leser Æn fassinerende blik op die ryke verskeidenheid spinagtiges wat in die streek voorkom. Met behulp van volkleur fotoÆs en maklik leesbare teks, sal die jong volwassene en ontluikende natuur liefhebber die algemene spesies in Suider-Afrika identifiseer.
The River People is a revelation of poetry, art (sculptures and beadworks), songs, interactive teachings, quotations, counsel, stories and reflections. Barbara Fairhead offers us a work that combines memoir and testimony with recent questions and learnings. The book is a gift of an uncompromising creative spirit, determined to be faithful to the last to the sacred sovereignty of her visions, dreams and experiences. A multi-genre limited-edition Art Book that contains professional photographs of Fairhead’s original bead and sculpture artworks as well as poetry, songs, memoir, and reflections. Incorporates the introduction to the earlier edition of Word and Bead by the late Stephen Watson and a foreword to this edition by Ian McCallum. Printed on high quality matt art paper, thread sewn with cover flaps in a landscape format.
A handy, all-in-one photographic field guide to the wildlife of South Africa, this guide covers the region's mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs and trees that are most likely to be seen. Concise accounts and distribution maps are included for each species. A brief introduction discusses geology, climate, vegetation zones, wildlife hotspots, and tips on watching wildlife. This convenient presentation of South Africa’s most visible wildlife in a single volume will find favour with tourists and local enthusiasts alike.
Coverage includes Johannesburg; East Rand; West Rand; Alberton; Benoni; Boksburg; Brakpan; Edenvale; Germiston; Kempton Park; Krugersdorp; Midrand; Randburg; Roodepoort; Sandton; Soweto and Springs. Content
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