Adult programme 2024

09:30 - 10:30
Jonathan Ancer (Bullsh!t: 50 Fibs That Made South Africa ) delves into the overlap between private life and the wider political landscape with Marion Sparg (Guilty and Proud) and Khulu Radebe (Comrade King).

11:00 - 12:00
David O’Sullivan (Rassie) asks Olympic athlete Caster Semenya (The Race to Be Myself) and veteran athletics commentator Ian Laxton (The Final Lap) what it takes to stay on track in sports, writing and life.

12:30 - 13:30
Sunday Times Books online editor Mila De Villiers chats to forensic experts Ryan Blumenthal (Risking Life for Death) and Hestelle van Staden (Blood Has a Voice) about what it is like to see dead people.

14:30 - 15:30
Bongani Luthuli (The Struggle for Visibility) chairs a kgotla featuring Greg Mills (Rich State, Poor State) and Bronwyn Williams (Rescuing Our Republic), to discuss where we are as South Africans – and where we might be going.

16:00 - 17:00
Police reservist Andrew Brown (The Bitterness of Olives) guides Daniel Steyn (The Thabo Bester Story), Naledi Shange (Killer Cop - The Rosemary Ndlovu Story), Karl Kemp (Why We Kill: Mob Justice and the New Vigilantism in South Africa) and Nechama Brodie (Domestic Terror) into the minds of murderers both famous and anonymous.

09:30 - 10:30
Sunday Timesbooks editor Jennifer Platt adds light and shade to a long-running South African question with Lynsey Ebony Chuteland Tessa Dooms (Coloured: How Classification Became Culture) and Nadia Kamies (Off Centre and Out of Focus: Growing up 'Coloured' in South Africa).

11:00 - 12:00
Tarryn McLaren (Head: Kingsmead Junior School) takes notes as she chats to Marion Scher (Big Bully) and Naomi Holdt (Bounce: How to Raise Resilient Kids and Teens) about the challenges they face at school and elsewhere.

12:30 - 13:30
Karina Szczurek (Hair: Weaving & Unpicking Stories of Identity) asks Kim Ballantine (Hot Tea and Apricots: A Memoir of Loss and Hope) if it’s smart to trust your gut.

14:30 - 15:30
Lorraine Sithole (Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu) chats to Shafinaaz Hassim (Darlings of Durban), Jo Watson (Love at First Flight), Busisekile Khumalo (Sunshine and Shadows) and Zibu Sithole (The Thing with Zola and I Do … Don't I?) about creating new work for women, by women.

16:00 - 17:00
Dylan Rogers (Hot 102.7 sport presenter) celebrates the glory of large men, funny-shaped balls and defending the Rugby World Cup with Hendrik Hanke (Onkant! - 'n Rugbyliefdesverhaal), Lloyd Burnard (Insights into the Rugby World Cup) and David O’Sullivan (Rassie).

09:30 - 10:30
Dawn Garisch (What Remains) confirms, with Diane Awerbuck (Inside Your Body There Are Flowers), Frankie Murrey (Everyone Dies: A Series), Alex Latimer (Love Stories for Ghosts), and Barbara Ludman (Moving On), that brevity is the soul of wit. And drama. And romance.

11:00 - 12:00
Nerine Kahn (Kingsmead College Chair of Council) unpacks the challenges of our complex country with Dr Vishwas Satgar (A Love Letter to the Many), Oscar van Heerden (Is the Party Over?) and Prof Letlhokwa Mpedi (From the Baobab to the Mosquito).

12:30 - 13:30
Mandy Wiener sees if Hilary Joffe (Tipping Point: Turmoil or Transformation), (Busani Ngcaweni (Liberation Diaries II - Reflections on 30 Years of Liberation), Oyama Mabandla (Soul of a Nation) and Phumlani Majozi (Lessons from Past Heroes) can explain what’s gone wrong – or right – with South Africa 2.0.

14:30 - 15:30
Shubnum Kahn (The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil), in discussion with Farai Mudzingwa (Avenues by Train), Sven Axelrad (God's Pocket) and Joseph Howse (Girl in the Water), considers the interpretation of the literary voice.

16:00 - 17:00
Sewela Langeni (Making Friends with Feelings) explores the trials of the liberation struggle with Barry Gilder (At Fire Hour) and Barbara Boswell (The Comrade's Wife)

09:30 - 10:30
Fiona Snyckers (The Hidden) asks Owen Salmon (A Weakness to Die For) and Andrew Brown (The Bitterness of Olives) to unpack the male gaze in storytelling.

11:00 - 12:00
Greg Mills (Rich State, Poor State) navigates a tricky issue with Lebogang Seale (One Hundred Years of Dispossession: My Family's Quest to Reclaim Our Land) and Wandile Sihlobo (A Country of Two Agricultures) whose slice of which soil belongs to whom?

12:30 - 13:30
Gail Schimmel (Little Secrets) delves into the past through a novelist’s filter with Penny Haw (Woman at the Wheel), Pip Williams (The Dictionary of Lost Words) and Justin Fox (The Wolf Hunt).

14:30 - 15:30
Arts writer Bruce Dennill (pARTicipate/www.brucedennill
.co.za) looks at both the deep – Justin Fox (Place) – and the fun – Jonathan Ancer (Bullsh!t: 50 Fibs that Made South Africa) and Katlego Thulare (Jou Ma Se Boek).

16:00 - 17:00
Colleen Higgs (My Mother, My Madness) talks about parent-related pain with Moshitadi Lehlomela (The Girl Who Survived Her Mother), Lisa Lazarus (Flight of the Dancer) and Nozibele Mayaba (Positively Me - Daring to Live and Love Beyond HIV).

09:30 - 10:30
Bronwyn Williams (Rescuing Our Republic) dives into getting business done with Catherine Black (Small Business – Big Plans), Fred Roed (Heavy Chef: Side Hustles and Start-Ups) and Costa Ayiotis (My Big Fat Greek Taverna).

11:00 - 12:00
In today’s interconnected digital landscape, wealth invites attention. Ron Derby and Emma Sadleir talk us through the do’s and don’ts of social media, and why managing your digital footprint is important to preserve your wealth and family legacy.

12:30 - 13:30
As families prepare for the phenomenon that is the Great Wealth Transfer, it is important to understand how intergenerational attitudes towards money can influence financial decision-making. Don’t miss our panel discussion, where we examine the links between emotional intelligence and financial behaviour.

14:30 - 15:30
In matters of estate planning, inaction is an action. Join Nokuzola Cossie as she provides an in-depth view of the importance of intentional intergenerational planning as the foundation for securing lasting legacies.

16:00 - 17:00
Shafinaaz Hassim asks not what AI can do to you, but what it can do for you, with expert Arthur Goldstuck (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI).

09:30 - 10:30
Craig Higginson (The Ghost of Sam Webster) explores the meaning and magic of movement with Gregory Maqoma (My Life, My Dance, My Soul: The Story of Gregory Maqoma).

11:00 - 12:00
Playwright Bruce Dennill (Actress) looks at where fact and fiction and the personal and the past mix together in the work of Darrel Bristow-Bovey (Finding Endurance) and Megan Choritz (Lost Property).

12:30 - 13:30
Georgina Geddes asks Alistair Mackay (The Child), Craig Higginson (The Ghost of Sam Webster), Shubnum Khan (The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil) and Amy Heydenrych (Bad Luck Penny) what it is that makes stories ‘literary’.

14:30 - 15:30
Karina Szczurek (editor of Fluid: The Reason To Be) talks to Kobby Ben Ben (No One Dies Yet), Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu (Lucky Girl) and Buntu Siwisa (Paperless) about how it feels to be foreign.

16:00 - 17:00
Alex Latimer (Love Stories for Ghosts) discovers if the future is fantastic or frightening with Mandla Moyo (The Fallen Angel), Sarah M Naidoo (A Remedy for Death), Alistair Mackay (The Child) and Babette Gallard (Future Imperfect).

09:30 - 10:30
Barbara Adair (In the Shadows of the Springs I Saw) takes a guided tour of a beloved but bruised metropolis with Ivan Vladislavic (The Near North).

11:00 - 12:00
Naledi Shange engages Melinda Ferguson (When Love Kills: The Tragic Tale of AKA and Anele) on the profoundly concerning topic of gender-based violence.

12:30 - 13:30
Diane Awerbuck (Inside Your Body There Are Flowers) answers the call of nature with Adam Welz (The End of Eden), and Nick Norman (The Woodpecker Mystery: The Inevitability of the Improbable).

14:30 - 15:30
Joanne Joseph (Children of Sugarcane) doesn’t know what to believe: Pontsho Pilane (Power and Faith) and Dr Sam Human (Maria's Keepers) set her straight.

16:00 - 17:00
Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele (The Cheeky Natives podcast) asks Alastair McAlpine (Prescription: Ice Cream) and Chantal MacKenzie (Bulletproof) if the kids are alright.

09:30 - 10:30
Melinda Ferguson (When Love Kills: The Tragic Tale of AKA and Anele) talks to Nikki Munitz (Fraud: How Prison Set Me Free) about how punishment can have benefits.

11:00 - 12:00
S’fundo Sosibo looks at LGBTQIA+ in literature with Wisani Mushwana (A Soft Landing), Sthandiwe Langa (Unlabelled) and Kobby Ben Ben (No One Dies Yet).

12:30 - 13:30
Kate Sidley (Katie Gayle – Julia Bird Mysteries) asks Saaleha Bhamjee (Home Scar), Anna Stroud (Who Looks Inside) and Janine Jellars (When the Filter Fades) what it takes to really own your writing space as a woman.

14:30 - 15:30
Amy Heydenrych (Chasing Marian) sees if she can find a reason why the characters created by Ashling McCarthy (Down at Jika Jika Tavern), Marina Auer (Double Edged), Femi Kayode (Gaslight) and Natalie Conyer (Present Tense) need to worry about their welfare.

16:00 - 17:00
Gail Schimmel (The Finish Line) prods Angela Makhlowa (The Reed Dance Stalker: A Novel) and Fiona Snyckers (The Hidden) to see if they’ll reveal how to keep secrets from their readers.

09:30 - 10:30
Teresa Ulyate (Cupcakes and Couscous) shares kitchen tales from Cape Town with Tamara Le Pine-Williams.

11:00 - 12:00
Aiden Pienaar (Mexico in Mzansi) shows Hot 102.7’s Tara Penny how to add a South African spin to popular Mexican dishes.

12:30 - 13:30
Chef, recipe developer and photographer Di Bibby (Bibby’s More Good Food) shares the importance of making food look as good as it tastes with Hilary Biller (Food editor: Sunday Times).

14:30 - 15:30
Zanele van Zyl (Senidlile Kodwa?) explains food as a love language with Kate Sidley (The Agony Chef).

16:00 - 17:00
Sally Andrew (Recipes to Die Live By: A Tannie Maria Cookbook) filters her culinary creativity through her character for Saaleha Bhamjee (Owner of Upcycled Cafe).