Cape Town’s Open Book Festival is here – what booklovers and budding novelists should know

It’s that time of the year where book lovers flock to the Mother city to attend one of the country’s youngest, but biggest literature festivals.

The festival starts today and runs up until the 10th of September.

With an influx of local and international authors arriving on our shores, it’s the perfect opportunity for readers to get the chance to meet authors, discover new reads and get tips and advice on how to publish their own novels.

Open Book is a cultural hive of activity that not only gives us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the world of literature, but provides us as South Africans and foreign visitors with the opportunity to experience the nuances of our vibrant city with events that are taking place in and around the city.

From walking tours taking place from the District Six museum, to launches and activities based at the Fugard Theatre, libraries around town, photo galleries and The Book Lounge (to mention but a few), the settings for the festival is one that perfectly lends itself to a world that speaks to bibliophiles on every level.

Meet some of your favourite local and international authors

This year’s line up includes a plethora of authors from in and around the country, as well as a authors from countries like the US, Canada and Finland.

You can look forward to some fascinating panels from investigative journalists like Caryn Dolley (News24) and Karabo Rajuili.

Karabo will be inconversation with Mamphela Ramphele about her book Dreams, Betrayal and Hope. She’ll also be joining a panel with Sylvia Vollenhoven, Mark Heywood and Hennie van Vuuren where they’ll be chatting about the obstacles to open access and Apartheid.

You can catch Caryn shedding light on the shady criminal activity of Cape Town’s underworld, particularly diamond miners and those profiting from the social grants system.

READ MORE: Showcase: Underworld unmasked

In terms of local authors, you can catch writers like Pumla Gqola, Yewande Omotoso, Paige Nick, Nadia Davids and Mike Nicol at various different panels. International authors like Ali Land (you have to read her book Good Me Bad Me – if you haven’t do make sure you pick it up at the Book Lounge), Scaachi Koul (writer for Buzzfeed Canada and author of One Day We’ll All be Dead and

None of This Will Matter) and Nathan Hill will also be in conversation with various speakers at the event.

For a full list of authors or the event programme, head here:

There’s something for everyone

If you have kids and worry that you’ll either need to leave them at home with a babysitter or that they won’t have fun at if taken along – fear not.  There are loads of activities that will keep them busy.  

You can join the storytelling events for the little ones (we’re particularly looking forward to Friday’s event with international author and illustrator Mylo Freeman and local author Alex Latimer).

You can also have your older kids join comics fest workshops where they can learn to create and draw new characters.

What’s particularly wonderful is that there’ll be trilingual reading sessions as well – author Refiloe Moahloli, who wrote the marvellous How Many Ways Can You Say Hello? will be teaching everyone just that.

From politics and youth literature to poetry and crime thrillers to love stories and comics,  the Open Book festival is as much a celebration of words as it is a love letter to the immersive world of literature.

Visit www.openbookfestival.co.za for more information.