Hierdie N.P. van Wyk Louw-gedenklesings wat oor byna 'n kwarteeu aan die Universiteit van Johannesburg (die voormalige Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit) gelewer is, vorm 'n aanvulling tot Oopgelate kring – die eerste tien Louw-gedenklesings wat in 1982 verskyn het – en is 'n belangrike naslaanbron oor Louw se werk. Die titel is ook 'n historiese dokument, 'n dokumentering van Louw se invloed oor die afgelope kwarteeu. Met Die oop gesprek word hulde gebring aan N.P. van Wyk Louw by die herdenking van sy 100ste geboortejaar. N.P. van Wyk Louw troon bo sy tydgenote en nakomelinge uit as digter van wereldformaat, maar ook as intellektueel, iemand wat die spannings en verwikkelings van sy tyd beliggaam en daaraan rigting probeer gee het.

Agter hierdie boek le die verwondering oor ons vermoe om stip na letters op papier te kyk en dan te ervaar dat ons 'n ander wereld betree. Hoe kry ons dit reg om na aanleiding van die woorde wat ons lees, nie alleen inligting te bekom nie, maar 'n hele wereld tot stand te verbeel en daarheen te reis? Wat is die rol van die teks hierin? Wat is die rol van die leser? Waarom doen ons dit? Hoe help 'n begrip van ons reise na storiewerelde om ons "leefwereld" beter te verstaan? 'n Fokus op die werelde van stories maak dit moontlik om tekste krities binne hulle kontekste te lees, sonder om die spesifiekheid van elke teks te verwaarloos of om die betowering van storiewerelde te verloor. Willie Burger is professor in Afrikaanse letterkunde aan die Universiteit van Pretoria. Hy is die outeur van talle navorsingsartikels in verskeie akademiese tydskrifte en was ook as redakteur by publikasies oor vooraanstaande Afrikaanse skrywers betrokke: Sluiswagter by die dam van stemme (2002 - saam met Helize van Vuuren) oor Karel Schoeman; Die oop gesprek (2006) oor N.P. van Wyk Louw; en Contrary: Critical responses to the novels of Andre Brink (2013 - saam met Karina Szczurek). Willie het die Caxton Excellence Award in 2015 vir sy resensies in Vrouekeur ontvang, en in 2016 die kykNet-Rapport-toekenning as "Boekresensent van die jaar". Met sy resensies en rubrieke oor die letterkunde in verskeie populere publikasies probeer hy om literere navorsing ook buite die grense van die akademie te versprei.

Andre Philippus Brink (1935-) is one of South Africa s most distinguished, prolific and internationally best recognized writers. In South Africa, Brink rose to prominence as one of the Sestigers (Writers of the Sixties), a group of Afrikaans writers who challenged their literary establishment in the 1960s under the influence of European schools of thought and literary trends of the time, especially French existentialism.In his writing, Andre Brink interrogates power, violence, and inequality by probing silences: those of the past and those which threaten the new, democratic dispensation in South Africa. At the heart of his oeuvre lies the human condition as he turns to love, myth and history for inspiration. Published since the late 1980s, the criticism collected in this volume strives to be representative of the kind of research undertaken on Brink s work and give insight into a variety of its aspects, focusing primarily on its most significant part, the novels and their reception. The essays look at Brink s approach to the genre and its narrative techniques. They also contextualize Brink s writing in relation to existentialism, (post)colonialism, myth-making, magic realism, representations of gender and sexuality, the dialectic of history and fiction, the picaresque tradition, and the tensions between memory, narration and identity.The collection includes one of the best profiles on the life and work of Andre Brink, written by Nicholas Wroe of the Guardian, as well as an overview essay by Godfrey Meintjes which was originally published as three separate pieces. The combined text of the latter, like no other, introduces all of the important phases and influences of Brink s prose writing.The contributors are: A.J. Hassall, Neil Cochrane, Heilna du Plooy, Peter Horn, Richard Peck, Christell Stander, Nicholas Wroe, Isidore Diala, Marita Wenzel, Johan Anker, Lianne Barnard, Godfrey Meintjes, Monica Bungaro, Jochen Petzold, Ampie Coetzee, H.P. van Coller, Henriette Roos, Mathilda Bothma, Ute Kauer, Louise Viljoen, and Willie Burger."