The pictures in the Independent Newspapers’ “Spud Around the World” competition – click here for a sampler – are in, and it’s time to judge who will win the hamper of signed books from author John van de Ruit. (He will help with the judging, and will hand over the prize personally!) Sally Scott, who initiated the competition, summarises the results and the next steps:
From the top of Kilimanjaro to Paris, London, New York, Crete, Berlin, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Vancouver, Bolivia, India, Mauritius to Thailand, young Spud has been there and done it. Spud author John van de Ruit and a small panel of judges will be making the difficult choice (we even had an underwater pic), tomorrow, on who our winner will be.
Here’s a terrific feature on Eastwood’s latest from Zane Henry, writing in IOL Tonight, that includes a review, a summary of Eastwood’s role in getting the film off the ground, and a video interview with Morgan Freeman:
Two questions can be asked of Invictus. Should it have been made? And, could it have been made better? Well, yes and no, respectively.
The film tells a cracking good story with absorbing, if rather gentle, narrative developments. It is entertaining and, yes, inspiring.
The 1995 World Cup is an event most South Africans will remember with fondness. The film, and John Carlin’s book Playing The Enemy initially, throw some light on exactly why it is so memorable. It charts Nelson Mandela’s first few years out of prison and in the presidency and how he visualised using the World Cup to unite a divided land.
If it wasn’t for Clint Eastwood, the film might never have been made. Such is his Hollywood cachet that he could get a film about rugby and politics greenlit.
Have you entered our Spud Around the World competition? If not, grab that camera because the prize just got bigger.
Our prize will now include a day on the Spud movie set, starring as an extra in a crowd scene, along with a Penguin Books hamper of the Spud trilogy, signed by Durban author John van der Ruit.
Anisa Ussuph interviewed Pat Hopkins, one of the contributors to The South African Fact Book, on East Coast Radio on Monday. ECR is now offering you the chance to win one of five copies of the book, simply answer the following question: How many people contributed to The South African Fact Book? Email your answer with “SA Fact Book” in the subject line to buzz@ecr.co.za before noon on 14 December.
Pat, how did the idea for the book come about? The idea originated from the highly successful Penguin title: The Little Aussie Fact Book. But that is dry and we wanted to give this a fresh South African feel.
There’re so many SA factbooks out there – what makes this one different? The fun style, which makes it more accessible. There is no other where the reader can learn something about our wonderful country while having a good laugh.
To enter a Sunday Independent draw to win one of three complete sets of the initial Penguin African Writers Series publications, follow these instructions, published in yesterday’s paper:
To enter: SMS the letters TSI (space) followed by your name and surname to 34110. SMSes cost R2 each. General competition rules apply. The lines will be open from 6am [Sunday] until 11pm [Monday 19 Oct]. Winners will be notified telephonically.
The next titles to appear in the series are: A Question of Power by Bessie Head, From a Crooked Rib by Nuruddin Farah, Voices Made Night by Mia Couto and The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah. The competition closes on 28 September, and the artist whose work is chosen will be paid R1200.
For details of the books that have already appeared in the series, see below. Meanwhile, here’s the complete cover art brief:
Independent Newspapers’ Sally Scott has put together a fun competition for her readers to celebrate the fact of John van der Ruit’s first two Spud books being translated into Italian, Russian and Portuguese.
To win signed copies of all three books in the series, take the latest, Spud – Learning to Fly with you on your next trip outside SA, snap a photo of yourself with the book on foreign soil, and send it in to sally.scott@inl.co.za. Those who take the best snaps will win!
More details on the “Spud Around the World” competition, which ends Friday 11 December, here:
The idea is to submit a photograph of yourself, a friend or family reading the new book, Spud – Learning to Fly, (the cover must be clear) somewhere outside South Africa.
“Somewhere” can be anywhere.
Lying in the arms of a gondolier in Venice…, half way up Mount Everest, leaning out of that tower in Pisa, in Harare with Robert Mugabe and entourage in the background, doing a King Kong pose on that towering new office block in Dubai…
Location, location, location – that’s the key, but the location must be clear (no cheating!). Try also to get the name of the city, a flag, something specific to that country (ie Ayres Rock would obviously be Australia).
The Penguin African Writers series, launched in 2009, showcases writing from a diverse range of writers from Africa for contemporary readers in Africa and the rest of the world. The series launched with works from Chinua Achebe, Dambudzo Marechera, Véronique Tadjo, Lília Momplé, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Karen King-Aribisala.
In 2010 we will be expanding the series and this is a call for submissions for artwork to be used on the covers of these forthcoming titles. It is a wonderful opportunity for both established and new artists, with assured international exposure and the support of the Penguin Group.
Every book in the Penguin African Writers series is distinctly African and the illustrations should reflect a theme central to Africa. We are looking for creative representations of “African”, contemporary and/or traditional. The artwork’s connection to the title and content of the book does not necessarily have to be literal as the messages and themes are open to interpretation.
A detailed brief will be available from 7 September 2009. Artists who would like to submit artwork for possible inclusion in one of the upcoming Penguin African Writers books should contact Reneé Naudé at renee.naude@za.penguingroup.com for more information.
The pictures in the Independent Newspapers’ “Spud Around the World” competition – click here for a sampler – are in, and it’s time to judge who will win the hamper of signed books from author John van de Ruit. (He will help with the judging, and will hand over the prize personally!) Sally Scott, who initiated the competition, summarises the results and the next steps:
To celebrate the film release of 
Anisa Ussuph interviewed Pat Hopkins, one of the contributors to 
