Talking at the Grahamstown Festival - July

I will be co-speaking with author James Clelland at Wordfest at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in July (barring any last minute objections from the organisers!)

James Clelland and I met at the launch of his novel, Deeper than Colour (published by Jacana), at the Book Lounge in Cape Town last year. He won the 2010 European Literary award for the work.

While the book is not about the Bush War, the main character was with a special forces unit in Angola.  The difficulties he is dealing with in middle age have a strong thread of post traumatic stress disorder running through.  It’s this theme that got me interested enough to attend my first ever book launch (I’ve since been to others organised by the Book Lounge!).

I will be with James to provide an “I was there” aspect to the talk in relation to novel’s war back-story.  However, the book has much more to it than the war theme.  It is told through the conversations the characters have with a psychiatrist.  It also has the intriguing idea of someone recording and reviewing his own life using webcams.  I highly recommend the book.

Read the book and come and join us in Grahamstown!