Cape Town Book Fair events: thanks to Colleen Higgs, generous independent spirit

by Louis Greenberg on Jul 19th, 2010

I’d like to say a word of thanks to Colleen Higgs, aka Modjaji Books, for her generosity. She has organised three brilliant panels at this year’s Cape Town Book Fair, and instead of using them to promote Modjaji books and writers only as any other publisher would do, she has kindly invited some others of us who are not represented by our publishers at this year’s fair to join in the fun.

That’s wonderful generosity, and is most appreciated.

These are the panels Colleen has arranged:

Saturday 31 July, 12 to 1.00: panel on women’s fiction: Tracey Farren, Fiona Snyckers, Cynthia Jele, Rosie Kendal

Sunday 1 August, 1.00 to 2.00: panel on autobiography: Jane Katjavivi and Sindiwe Magona

Monday 2 August, 11.00 to 11.45: panel on short stories chaired by Ben Williams, with Arja Salafranca, Sarah Lotz, Meg Vandermerwe, Louis Greenberg and Henrietta Rose-Innes.

(Also on Saturday, at 1pm, Helen Moffett, Liesl Jobson, Fiona Snyckers, SA Partridge and I will be meeting and greeting and signing copies of Home Away at the ANFASA stand.)

Cats: South Africa
Tags: Arja Salafranca, Ben Williams. Louis Greenberg, Cape Town Book Fair, Colleen Higgs, Cynthia Jele, Fiona Snyckers, Henrietta Rose-Innes, Jane Katjavivi, Louis Greenberg, Meg Vandermerwe, Rosie Kendall, sarah lotz, Sindiwe Magona, South Africa, Tracey Farren
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Great review of Home Away by Shafinaaz Hassim »

Recent comments:

Sally
July 19th, 2010 @14:16 #

Big *like* Thanks so much Louis and Colleen!
Fiona
July 19th, 2010 @15:44 #

Yes, yes! I would like to add my voice to this. Thank you, Colleen for organising the fantastic women's fiction panel. I am so looking forward to it, and have a feeling it's going to be one of the highlights of the fair. And it wouldn't even exist without your inititative and organisational skills.
Helen
July 19th, 2010 @17:20 #

Thirded... I hadn't fully realised that the most interesting panels at the Fair were Colleen's. I have a great publisher. *beam*
Ingrid Andersen
July 19th, 2010 @18:10 #

What Helen said!
Richard de Nooy
July 20th, 2010 @00:32 #

I tempted to say "from zero to hero" - but you were never a zero and always a hero. Heartwarming goodness, Colleen.
Colleen
July 20th, 2010 @08:56 #

I'm tempted to pretend I didn't see this very kind post by Louis. Because then I could pretend that really I am a truly good person etc. However now I feel I ought to explain. Modjaji didn't have the necessary resources (loose cash lying around) to book rooms at this year's CT Book Fair for events, so instead of giving up, I thought of a way to serve both the CTBF and my own interests simultaneously. Voila! And was nudged by a request from Ron Irwin with regard to the Women's Fiction panel.
Louis Greenberg
July 20th, 2010 @09:07 #

Well, your strategy serves all of us writers who are unrepresented this year very well, and makes up the most entertaining panels (imho) on the programme, so you'll remain a magnanimous philanthropist in my books!

If you couldn't afford bookings, you could have always, ahem, arranged 'guerilla events' behind pillars and so forth, but you didn't. Your audiences and your writers - and we - get chairs to sit on.
Helen
July 20th, 2010 @13:29 #

That's Colleen for you -- lateral thinking and community-mindedness win over loose cash any day :)
Henrietta
August 1st, 2010 @20:47 #

Schedule change! Monday’s CTBF panel discussion “Who reads short stories anyway? What do short stories have to offer readers?” is now being held at 12:00-12:45 at the Poetry Café.
(not 11.00 at the Fish Bowl as previously advertised.)
Looking forward to chatting with Arja, Meg, Sarah and Ben, although sadly not Louis.

(btw, I posted this info as a new post earlier this evening, but it didn't come up in Book Chat ... but it did get tweeted by "a major sports fan" in Miami ... I'm confused about how/why this happened. Or am I just not getting the concept?)
Lisa
August 2nd, 2010 @07:59 #

Weren't you that quarterback who scored a last minute touchdown for the Miami Dolphins?
Ben - Editor
August 2nd, 2010 @08:16 #

What happened was, you posted it to your blog -

http://henriettaroseinnes.book.co.za/blog/2010/08/01/ctbf-short-story-panel-venue-and-time-change/

- rather than to BOOK Chat. So it showed up in the "Latest community posts" area on our front page, instead of here.

Also, I'd bet cash money that Lisa was referring to Doug Flutie's 1984 Hail Mary pass for Boston College, against the U of Miami Hurricanes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Flutie
Henrietta
August 2nd, 2010 @10:34 #

Huh!
the FISH BOWL, right? ... this could mean a whole new career for me.
thanks.