The Centre for Creative Arts have partnered up with the INK (Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu) Area Based Management of the Ethekwini Municipality to provide free transport and tickets to the evening sessions of the 12th Time of the Writer festival taking place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in Durban from March 9 to 14, 2009.
Sixty free tickets will be available daily for residents of the INK areas, and a bus will be available to transport people to and from the festival.
Every evening for the duration of the festival a bus will depart from the INK area office in KwaMashu E-section (next to the police station and library) at 5:30pm sharp, and will drop people at the bus stops closest to their homes at the end of the evening.
Tickets are on a “first come first served” basis, and must be reserved. To reserve a ticket contact either Brenda Toko on (031) 311 4600 or Tiny Mungwe on (031) 260 2506.
Writers from nine countries arrive in Durban for a stimulating week of words, books, ideas, and talk at the festival. Coordinated annually by the Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal), the festival has developed an extensive programme that draws perhaps the most diverse literary audience in the country, cutting across race, class, and age. The festival features a customary strong South African and African presence this year, with a diverse gathering of novelists, short story writers, journalists, cartoonists, and political commentators, presenting their ideas in the public arena. Writers this year include: Sade Adeniran (Nigeria), Fatou Diome (Senegal), Mia Couto (Mozambique), Max du Preez (South Africa), Moses Isegawa (Uganda), Billy Kahora (Kenya), Mandla Langa (South Africa), Siphiwo Mahala (South Africa), Angela Makholwa (South Africa), Mthutuzeli Matshoba (South Africa), Dinaw Mengestu (Ethiopia), Deon Meyer (South Africa), Mike Nicol (South Africa), Futhi Ntshingila (South Africa), Kole Omotoso (Nigeria), Margie Orford (South Africa), Zachariah Rapola (South Africa), Valerie Tagwira (Zimbabwe), Marlene van Niekerk (South Africa) and Zapiro (South Africa)
The 12th Time of the Writer festival is supported principally by the Department of Arts and Culture, Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation (HIVOS), French Institute of South Africa, Stichting Doen and City of Durban.