The 17th c. Emperor of Mali overturned Egypt’s economy by giving away gold dust.
In their latest collab, The Three Comma Club, South African journalists Gus Silber and Jonathan Ancer explore how billionaires emerge, how they maintain their fortunes, and what happens when they fall from grace.
Find the book on our shelves now at Love Books.
NEWS24 GREAT GNU DEBATE: COALITION OR CALAMITY?
Is South Africa’s Government of National Unity stabilising the country, or delaying a political reckoning? Tara Roos (Where to From Here?) Geordin Hill-Lewis and Justice Malala join News24’s Adriaan Basson to debate the future of the uneasy coalition.
WHEN THE DEAD SPEAK
In the quiet of the mortuary, evidence waits to be uncovered.
Drawing on years of forensic experience, Ryan Blumenthal
(Trace: Case Studies of a Forensic Pathologist in Africa)
explores how the science of death serves the pursuit of truth
and justice. In conversation with Nicole Engelbrecht (Bare
Bones), he reveals what the dead can teach the living.
MOST WANTED: SMOOTH CRIMINALS
Bestselling crime authors know how to keep readers gripped. From crooked cops to reluctant detectives and charming killers, Deon Meyer ('Skorpio', H&R) and Marina Auer ('Three Echoes', Kwela Books) on Saturday at FLF took Joanne Joseph inside their darkly compelling worlds and the ideas, obsessions, and experiences that shaped them.
WILL THE TRUTH OUT
In the interrogation room, truth is rarely straightforward.
Captain Jonathan Morris (Confessor Cop) reflects on
cases where persistence and psychological insight led to confession, while Sam Human examines the personality traits - including narcissism - that shape how perpetrators respond under pressure.
SALTWATER GIRLS
The ocean has always called to storytellers, but for Veruska De Vita (Deep Blue) and Serai Dowling (A Guide to Wild Swimming in the Western Cape), it’s more than a backdrop. With Bruce Jack (The Jack Journal), they’ll explore the ocean’s depths, where water becomes a metaphor for joy, healing, and belonging.
LIFE OF A WRITER
Career authors Deon Meyer (Skorpio), Tony Park (Die by the Sword) and Mike Nicol (Falls the Shadow) share the joys and challenges of the writing life. From the manuscripts that never made it to bestsellers, they share lessons, trade secrets, and stories best told off the record.
LOVE ACTUALLY, LOCAL
Romance is the most read genre in the world – and one of the least taken seriously. On Saturday at FLF, romance reader extraordinaire Danielle Weakley chatted to South African romance writers Qaanitah Hunter ('Why Am I Like This?', Kwela Books) and Zibu Sithole on reflecting desire, identity, modern womanhood and joy with unique local love languages, realities and tropes.
THE HEALING POWER OF TELLING
Memoir can be an act of courage — a way of naming pain and reclaiming voice. Rachel Kolisi (Falling Forward),
Nozipho Tshabalala (After the Fires) and Eve Simmons (What She Did Next: What to Do When the Life You Planned Is F**ked Up) join Africa Melane to reflect on telling their own stories, and what writing makes possible when healing begins with truth.
UNDER THE CITY OF GOLD
Venture deep into South Africa’s illegal mining world and its labyrinth of risk, survival and corruption with Graham Coetzer (Zama Zama) and urban planner and researcher Dr Tanya Zack. In conversation with journalist Micah Reddy (Malema), they unpack the human cost of this thriving underground economy and the systems that allow it to endure.
DANGEROUS LIAISONS
What makes a relationship feel dangerous – or irresistible? Lebo Mazibuko ('Fabrics of Love', Kwela Books), Mpho Boshego, Sven Axelrad, and Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane on Saturday explored writing intimacy shaped by cultural taboos, moral boundaries, power imbalances and why transgression remains one of fiction’s most compelling forces.
Yesterday at the Franschhoek Literary Festival, small-town living was anything but quiet. Bonnie Espie (Lifting The Lid, Kwela Books), Sally Andrew and Tom Eaton took audiences deep into the humour, secrets and hidden darkness that simmer beneath South Africa’s small towns and striking landscapes. A fascinating conversation filled with wit, storytelling and unforgettable local flavour.
