Nikiwe Solomon and Lucas Bessire share their experiences of researching and writing about rivers in Cape Town and aquifers in Kansas. They contemplate the language of denialism, depletion and toxicity, anthropology as activism, redefining value, and responding to the planetary crisis.
Julie Otsuka talks to Bongani Kona about her three novels: When the Emperor was Divine, The Buddha in the Attic and The Swimmers. Their conversation engages with painting, memory, community, the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War 2, book bans, writing in the first person plural and more.
Wamuwi Mbao asks Julian Lucas about the role of the critic, the value of criticism, working outside the academy, his writing process and what he’s reading next.
zethu Matebeni chairs a conversation with Venita Blackburn, Thenjiwe Mswane and Lindiwe Nkutha. They touch on depictions of girlhood, family life, bodies without compromise and intimacy in their work.