Archive for the ‘Biography’ Category
by Amy on May 21st, 2013
Come and enjoy an incredible five course dinner and wine pairing while listening to Roger Lucey’s music and his inspiring story, as told in his memoir, Back in from the Anger.
The event will be held on Friday 24 May at 6:30 PM for 7 PM at Cassia Restaurant in Durbanville. Tickets costs R290 and include dinner and wine.
Don’t miss it!
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by Amy on May 16th, 2013
Noor-Jehan Yoro Badat from The Star interviewed Vanessa Goosen before the launch of her biography, Drug Muled, at Hyde Park Corner shopping centre. Goosen spoke about the depression that she experienced while imprisoned in Thailand and how she overcame it after a stranger approached her and reminded her to think about her daughter, Felicia, who was born in the prison and sent to live with Goosen’s friend in South Africa.
Goosen also discussed how difficult it was returning to South Africa after having been incarcerated for more than 16 years. She had to learn how to use a cellphone and get re-accustomed to wearing shoes and sleeping in a bed.
It’s been more than two years since Vanessa Goosen returned from Thailand. For 16 years, six months and 16 days the former Miss SA semi-finalist was incarcerated in Lard Yao women’s prison in Bangkok.
Goosen claimed to have been duped into carrying four engineering books, which were found to have compartments in the front and back hardcover and spine containing 1.7kg of heroin.
Babalwa Shota from City Press attended the launch and took some photographs of the event:
Exclusive Books in Hyde Park Corner Shopping Centre was a hive of activity this week when book lovers braved a nippy Joburg evening to attend the launch of a book penned by Joanne Joseph.
Drug Muled: 16 Years in a Thai Prison, about beauty queen turned drug mule Vanessa Goosen, has caused a buzz in publishing circles. And if the turnout at this launch is anything to go by, it will be on the bestseller list soon.
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by Amy on May 14th, 2013
Second edition of Bram Fischer: Afrikaner Revolutionary by Stephen Clingman, with a new preface by the author:
In 1964 Bram Fischer led the defence of Nelson Mandela in the Rivonia Trial. In 1966 Fischer was himself sentenced to life imprisonment in South Africa for his political activities against the policies of apartheid.
Before his sentencing he had spent nine months underground, in disguise, evading a nationwide manhunt. He was South Africa’s most wanted man, his cause recognised and celebrated around the world.
What had brought him to these circumstances? And what led to his untimely death after nine years in prison? This meticulous and finely crafted biography follows a fascinating journey of conscience and personal transformation.
Fischer was born into one of the most prominent Afrikaner nationalist families, yet came to understand that to be a South African in the fullest sense he had to identify with all of South Africa’s people. A Rhodes Scholar and distinguished lawyer, endowed with gifts of intelligence, charisma and integrity, he abandoned the temptations of power and prestige to ensure human rights and justice for all. Drawn to communism in order to solve problems of race, he offered revised versions and visions of both.
Covering more than one hundred years of South African history, this book ranges from the stories of Fischer and his wife, Molly, to the courtroom drama of South Africa’s great political trials, to the political intrigue of the 1960s and beyond. It is a remarkable story, remarkably told. Weaving the personal and public, Stephen Clingman’s biography is an account of tragedy and transcendence, showing how the miracle of South Africa’s transition to democracy was deeply connected to the legacy of Bram Fischer.
About the author
Stephen Clingman is the author of The Novels of Nadine Gordimer: History from the Inside, and editor of Nadine Gordimer’s The Essential Gesture: Writing, Politics and Places. Born in South Africa, he is currently Chair of the English Department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
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by Amy on May 9th, 2013
Vanessa Goosen, whose story has been captured by Joanne Joseph in the book, Drug Muled: Sixteen Years in a Thai Prison, spoke to Jacaranda FM about her harrowing experience. At age 21, Goosen was tricked into carrying books with 1.7 kilograms of heroin hidden in them at the Thai airport. She was caught and jailed for drug trafficking.
In the following podcasts, Goosen discusses receiving a death sentence, commuted to life, and how she was eventually granted amnesty. She also talks about learning Thai and having her child taken away from her in prison.
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by Amy on May 3rd, 2013
Sam Marshall interviewed author Barry Gilder on his SABC2 show Morning Live about his book on the ANC, from liberation movement to government, titled Songs and Secrets.
During the interview, Gilder says that he didn’t really write Songs and Secrets as a memoir, but rather tried to tell the story of the liberation struggle.
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by Amy on Apr 30th, 2013
Join MFBooks Joburg, Jacana Media, eNCA, Brooklyn Mall and Weylandts as we launch one of the most anticipated books of the year, Drug Muled: Sixteen Years in a Thai Prison: The Vanessa Goosen Story by Joanne Joseph, writen with Larissa Focke.
On Tuesday 7 May, Vanessa Goosen, Ilse Salzwedel (who also wrote a biography of Dubai prison survivor Selna Visser) and Joanne Joseph will be in conversation with RSG presenter Suzanne Paxton at Weylandts Brooklyn Mall. The event starts at 6 PM for 6:30 PM.
See you there!
Event Details
- Date: Tuesday, 07 May 2013
- Time: 6:00 PM for 6:30 PM
- Venue: Weylandts
Shop 45
Brooklyn Mall
Design Square
309 Veale Street
Pretoria | Map
- Guest Speakers: Vanessa Goosen, Ilse Salzwedel, Suzanne Paxton
- RSVP: admin@zebrasquare.co.za
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by Amy on Apr 26th, 2013
Colin Bundy taught a UCT Summer School course on “Govan Mbeki and the place of ideas in the National Liberation Struggle” earlier this year.
The lunchtime talk explored Mbeki’s career as an activist and intellectual. Bundy considered how Mbeki was distinctive in the ANC leadership “for his belief that the movement should engage with rural people and their struggles and for his writings, produced over fifty years, which sought to link theory with practice, ideas with actions.” Bundy’s book, Govan Mbeki: A Jacana Pocket Biography, was recommended as reading material for the lecture.
Listen to the podcast of his talk:
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by Amy on Apr 18th, 2013
New from Jacana, Drug Muled: Sixteen years in a Thai Prison by Joanne Joseph with Larissa Focke:
On the verge of a big break in modelling, Miss SA finalist, 21-year-old Vanessa Goosen is caught up in every traveller’s nightmare. Duped into carrying books with 1.7 kilograms of heroin hidden in them, Goosen is arrested and tried on drug trafficking charges.
Deaf to her pleas of innocence, the Thai courts sentence Goosen to death. On appeal her sentence is commuted to life, to be served in Bangkok’s notorious Lard Yao prison.
Pregnant, terrified and desperately alone, Goosen begins a harrowing 16-year journey behind bars. Forced to part with her beloved daughter three years later, Goosen’s story traces the joy and hurt of motherhood behind bars, the depression that comes with long-term incarceration and separation, and her return to a hugely changed South Africa in 2010.
About the author
Durban-born Joanne Joseph is a familiar face to South African viewers, having presented television news for the past fifteen years. In her current role as afternoon news anchor on 24-hour news channel, eNCA, Joseph interviews many high-profile individuals and brings viewers regular updates on national and international stories and breaking news. She is most passionate about finding the human angle that moves beyond the facts and figures of a story and finds the extraordinary stories of ordinary women intriguing. Joseph has a Master’s degree in literature from Wits University. This is her first book.
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by Amy on Apr 17th, 2013
Sue Grant-Marshall has written about Redi Tlhabi’s book, Endings and Beginnings, that tries to make sense of her childhood friendship with “gangster, murderer and rapist” Mabegzo.
Tlhabi grew up in Soweto and was protected by Mabegzo after another man threatened to rape her on her way home from school. For eight months Mabegzo walked her home and told her about his life.
In the book, Tlhabi’s investigates his life and their unusual friendship after he was killed on the street corner where they usually met:
The timing of Redi Tlhabi’s book about her Soweto childhood, her near rape and the violence that swirled around her growing years, is uncanny, coming as it does when SA seems to have reached a tipping point about violence against women. Yet it is pure synchronicity. The radio and TV host spent seven years writing Endings and Beginnings: A Story of Healing (Jacana). Indeed, Tlhabi was reluctant to let the book go, repeatedly repossessing it from her editor’s clutches.
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by Amy on Apr 12th, 2013
From the pen of award-winning writer Marianne Thamm, author of I Have Life – Alison’s Journey, comes the touching tale of Craig Schonegevel in The Last Right:
The Last Right is the true story of Craig Schonegevel who suffered from the extremely variable condition known as Neurofibromatosis Type 1. In Craig’s case his life was mostly one of operations, pain and suffering and his brave attempts to slay the NF 1 dragon that kept on gnawing at his life and his body. His extraordinary courage in the face of this disease is to be admired and provides some relief from the anguish and sadness that pervades the book. Craig was 28 years old when he decided he had had enough, his symptoms began to worsen and the agony was too much to bear so he sought self-deliverance.
“…this story of Craig’s life and his death will not only bring meaning to his suffering, strength and determination but also open the way for others with terminal illnesses or life-threatening diseases who believe that they too have a last right to die in peace.” – Marianne Thamm
The Last Right asks the reader to put themselves in Craig’s shoes, to get to know how the disease Neurofibromatosis Type 1 affected him and finally to decide whether they would have considered making the same choice that Craig did. It is the true story of how one family, their friends and the community they live in were forced to deal with one of life’s most devastating events – the dying and death of a loved one. Each role player in Craig’s journey to self-deliverance faced monumental ethical, moral and spiritual questions. This is as much their story as it is Craig’s.
About the author
Marianne Thamm is an award-winning writer, columnist, journalist and satirist who has authored several works of non-fiction, including the best-selling I Have Life – Alison’s Journey. Her columns have amused, stimulated and sometimes enraged readers for the past 25 years.
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Download this eBook at LittleWhiteBakkie.com
Download this eBook at LittleWhiteBakkie.com
