Authors delight book worms at launch
Toti book worms were highly entertained by SA playwright, actor, satirist and author, Pieter-Dirk Uys at the launch his new novel, Panorama at the Book Boutique on Tuesday morning, 7 October.
Pieter was accompanied by Brent Meersman, a Cape Town-based theatre critic, restaurant reviewer and travel writer, for the launch of his third novel, Five Lives at Noon.
Both novels are set in the period when SA was re-born as a democratic country. Panaroma is based on a play Pieter wrote in 1987, but in his words ‘the characters wanted to tell their story to a new generation’.
For twenty-four hours in 1987, Sibi Makhale is allowed to visit her dying father in the maximum security prison. The daughter of banned parents, Sibi comes face to face with two suspicious and frightened white Afrikaans school teachers who are resident on the island.
Over two decades later, Sibi returns to the island – now a World Heritage Site – with her two born-free sons. It is an attempt at closure for her, an adventure for her boys, and for the reader, a remarkable journey back from the dark past.
“I want to be remembered as Pieter-Dirk Uys the writer,” he said to a packed room at the launch. “We must keep reading. If we don’t, we will lose our eyes.”
Five Lives at Noon follows a generation of young South Africans who are in their 30s during the turbulent years from the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 to the day of the first democratic election in 1994.
“This period was very violent, but opportunistic,” said Brent. “It is based in KZN. What happened during this time shaped the ANC’s policy, so it is very relevant for today. This is the story of my generation.”
