Since 2002 the KZN Literary Tourism project has been quietly archiving writers linked to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province – both past and present. Students, researchers and academics from different walks of life have contributed to the project over the years.
However, our archive remains skewed towards writers that are male, white and older. Furthermore, the majority of the written works reflected in our archive are English. While KZN Literary Tourism is proud of the writers we have archived thus far, we realise that this is not a complete representation of the diverse literary talent linked to our province.
Time of the Writer 2016 has opened up a dialogue on decolonising literature and including marginalised voices. In the spirit of the festival, the project calls on mainstream publishing houses and their fiction writers (who are the linked to the province) to come forward. We’re looking to include profiles on KZN-linked writers that:
are black, Indian or coloured.
OR
are female.
OR
have produced works of fiction in other languages besides English.
OR
are contemporary authors.
“Our archive provides an invaluable resource to researchers, writers and lovers of KZN literature,” says Lindy Stiebel, project head of KZN Literary Tourism. “We hope that our challenge will be taken up with enthusiasm by all who wish to celebrate our province’s rich and diverse literary history”.
Material or suggestions related to author profiles can be directed to Lindy Stiebel at lindybl@iafrica.com
About KZN Literary Tourism
KZN Literary Tourism is a research project that has built an online archive of KZN writers, created literary trails and promoted local literary events. The project defines a “KZN writer or author” as one who was born in the province, or lived in the province, or who has featured the province extensively in their work/s.
For more information on KZN Literary Tourism, visit the project’s website. The project can also be followed on its Facebook and Twitter pages.
