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THE WORD is coming to Durban.
The 20th Time of the Writer International Festival, hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Centre for Creative Arts, runs from Monday to Saturday.
Themed The Past Paving the Future, the festival will pay tribute to the centenary of the sinking of the SS Mendi and see the launch of the original isiZulu version of the late Professor Mazisi Kunene's uNodumehlezi kaMenzi (Emperor Shaka the Great).
Announcing this year's line-up, the centre's director, David wa Maahlamela, said: "The 20th edition's emphasis is on alumni, writers from KwaZulu-Natal and, more importantly, less known national writers who are indisputably deserving.
"The often overlooked genre of short story writing is central in this year's festival, while on the other hand we give special focus to the adaptation of literature into film."
Among the participants are:
-- EKM Dido, who was instrumental in having Afrikaans acknowledged by the International PEN as the indigenous language of some South Africans. Most of her work is prescribed material for Grades 3 to 12 in South Africa and Namibia, and at degree level in South Africa and abroad.
-- Fred Khumalo is the author of Dancing the Death Drill, about the sinking of the SS Mendi, Bitches' Brew (winner of the European...