Durban - An online book festival, scheduled for mid-November, is in the pipeline.
Its initiator, book festival organiser Darryl David, plans to make Durban its central base “because this is the city I pioneered as a Unesco City of Literature”, he told The Independent on Saturday.
Since putting word out of the idea, he has managed to create a list of 47 slots and 35 authors.
“This is only a third of the programme. I have only been working on the programme for less than a week. I still have to approach the majority of South African writers. I have used time to send out another 50 invitations to overseas authors. Some of the superstars have agents and publishers, and they take a lot of time to get around at the best of times.”
David said the really big, but unknown locally, new kid on the block is Irish writer John Connell who is scheduled to talk about his titles The Cow Book and The Running
Book.
“He has sold more than 3 million copies. He is unknown to South Africans but this is a coup,” said David.
“There are two Christopher Nicholson slots. Christopher Merrill is royalty. This was the man who helped us immensely in the Unesco City of Literature bid. And then, Chris Abani is the other legend.”
David said he was exploring a few models.
“The one model is that we go live through a platform like Google Chat or Zoom. Writers from around the world come online, maybe 30 minutes before their slot, to ensure they are ready for their speaking engagement.”
David said the weakness here was that there would be little audience interaction.
“But, given the challenges, I think we are going to have to strike a happy balance between these two models. We are busy talking to experts in the field, seeking advice all the time.”
He stressed that this had never been done in the literary world on such a scale.
Time zones present another problem. “But the response of writers, all over the world, has convinced me these problems are worthwhile. In South Africa’s case, we have never had an international festival of this scale before. We will literally be making history with this festival.”
On the differences between an online festival and a real festival, David said: “(Author) Etienne van Heerden described it so beautifully.
“With a virtual festival you have to overcome the coldness of glass. The glass of your cellphone screen. The glass of your laptop.
“The beauty of a real literary festival is the warmth of the interaction. To be able to see your favourite writer in the flesh. To be able to take a photograph of them speaking. To pose with them after they sign your book.
“With the online version it can be a very lonely experience. A writer sits in front of his computer. He does not know his audience. He can make a joke and will never know the satisfaction of a packed hall bursting out in laughter. He will never know the rapture of applause.
“Maybe interviews are the way to go. At least then you have a modicum of interaction. My idea is to have small pockets of people at venues where writers are speaking, so that there is at least a small cohort constituting a live audience,” David said.
“The book-buying experience is diminished. Waiting in the line and meeting new friends while waiting to buy your book. But the positive is that we get to listen to speakers we would otherwise not have the privilege of hearing.
“And then of course there is the benefit of Durban finally being able to celebrate its status as a Unesco City of Literature in style.
“And for writers the world over, being able to interact with kindred spirits after the Covid-19 pandemic robbed us of this joy,” he said.