Dive into our Franschhoek Literary Festival guide for beginners, with survival tips and back story from those in the know.
“Don’t book sessions back to back – you can’t absorb too much and honestly you need time to process all the information.” A surprising bit of advice from Shelagh Foster, director of the Franschhoek Literary Festival, who admits it’s probably counter-productive coming from her. “Truth is,” she says, “I just want everyone’s experience to be the best.”
And whatever else it may be, Franschhoek is one full-on literary experience. Founded in 2007, it’s arguably the mother of literary festivals in South Africa, and literati, readers and writers come from far and wide, some diligently attending every year since inception. But there’s always a first time, and if it’s yours here’s what you need to know…
Chapter 1 – How did it start?
“I’ll tell you exactly how it started,” says Jenny Hobbs, member of the founding team and former director of the festival. “Writer Christopher Hope and I were at a Sunday Times Literary Awards dinner in 2006, and I’d just interviewed him. As we were walking out, he said, ‘I’m looking for a place to start an English-speaking literary festival in South Africa. Any ideas?’ I said that I lived in Franschhoek and would ask about it. I guess the rest is history.
“We timed it for the third week in May, so we could keep guest houses open and jobs going after the tourist season. I’d been in journalism and publishing all my life, so I told all my friends about it. It was a great success, and publishers wanted to get involved. I think we sold about 1 300 tickets that first year – last year it was around 13 000. We never imagined it would get so big.”
Chapter 2 – Who talks?
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2019 من SA Country Life.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2019 من SA Country Life.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
The Little Car That Could
The new Hyundai Atos is proof that budget-friendly vehicles can be fun
Cowboys Never Cry
GEORGE ROBEY rides the range outside Ficksburg with one of Africa’s great cowboys
Family Stays
Make some beautiful memories at one of these countryside getaways
Art from the Heart
Watching blacksmiths at the forge, painters at the easel, cabinet makers at the chisel, and wandering the woods with a famous calligrapher in small, bespoke gatherings is what the Prince Albert Open Studios project is all about
Lighthouse Over Yonder
A shipwreck road trip from Bredasdorp to Danger Point is a fine way to spend a day drifting over the Agulhas plain
Up and Away In The Amatolas
A burgeoning settlement of people enjoys the good life among the mountains, mists and forests of Hogsback
The Salt Shepherd
ALAN VAN GYSEN finds out how a farm boy the Vleesbaai skaaplande became as dedicated to big waves as he is to sheep
Time Holds on Longer Here
Do not blink as you take the R62 that runs through the Eastern Cape Langkloof, warns OBIE OBERHOLZER. You might miss the strip of tar to the tranquil village of Haarlem
Place of Refuge
People have been escaping to the remote Winterberg mountains in the Eastern Cape for hundreds of years, writes MARION WHITEHEAD
The Place Of Roaring Water
In Augrabies Falls National Park, cultural projects are creating a thunder akin to the mighty Orange as it plummets into its famous gorge
