Podcast, Season 5 / 04 Aug 2022

S5E1 Girlhood, Bodies and New Possibilities of Being

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.

Podcast, Season 4 / 15 Jun 2022

S4E7: Grassroots Movements, Housing and Hope

In our final episode of season four, Edward Webster chairs a conversation with Akira Drake Rodriguez and Trevor Ngwane about their books.

Podcast, Season 4 / 09 Jun 2022

S4E6: Behind the Scenes at Africa Is a Country & The Johannesburg Review of Books

In our sixth episode of season four, Sindi-Leigh McBride interviews Sean Jacobs and Ben Williams.

Podcast, Season 4 / 02 Jun 2022

S4E5: A Language for Healing and Tenderness

In our fifth episode of season four, Barbara Boswell interviews Natalie Diaz and vangile gantsho about their poetry.

Podcast, Season 4 / 26 May 2022

S4E4: Resistance, Revolts and Resilience in Graphic Novels

Hlonipha Mokoena chairs a conversation with Rebecca Hall and Richard Conyngham about their graphic novels.

Podcast, Season 4 / 19 May 2022

S4E3: The 70th Anniversary of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

Sikhumbuzo Mngadi and Aretha Phiri assess the South African legacy of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, 70 years after it was first published.

Podcast, Season 4 / 12 May 2022

S4E2: SA and US Foreign Policy, the Russia-Ukraine war and the United Nations

Our guests discuss South Africa’s and America’s foreign policy in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Podcast, Season 4 / 05 May 2022

S4 E1: District Six – A Landscape of Memory

In our first episode of season four, Nadia Davids, the President of PEN South Africa, interviews Ciraj Rassool, Senior Professor of History at UWC.

Podcast, Season 3 / 10 Mar 2022

S3 E7: Moving Through Cities and Sentences

In our final episode for season 3, Cape Town-based Masande Ntshanga interviews American writer and artist Renee Gladman.

Podcast, Season 3 / 03 Mar 2022

S3E6 Community Radio: WRFG Atlanta, Bush Radio and Alex FM

Our sixth episode is devoted to community radio in South Africa and the USA.

Podcast, Season 3 / 24 Feb 2022

S3 E5: Home, Identity and Belonging

In this episode, we explore the search for home, identity and a sense of belonging.

Podcast, Season 3 / 17 Feb 2022

S3 E4: Photography and History

A conversation about the intersection of photography, history and black identity.

Podcast, Season 3 / 10 Feb 2022

S3 E3: Jazz and Freedom

Welcome to the third episode of Season Three of The Empty Chair. Writing teacher, editor, freelance cultural writer and music industry researcher Gwen Ansell chairs a conversation with pianist, composer and songwriter Thandi Ntuli; saxophonist, improviser and composer Linda Sikhakhane and…

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Podcast, Season 3 / 08 Feb 2022

S3 E2: Revolutionary Reading

In this episode, Mandisa Haarhoff, chairs a wide-ranging conversation with C.A. Davids, and Prof Farah Jasmine Griffin.

Podcast, Season 3 / 03 Feb 2022

S3 E1: Black History Month and Children’s Literature

In the first episode of Season Three of The Empty Chair, Mandisa Haarhoff, lecturer in English and Literary Studies at the University of Cape Town, interviews Jehan Jones-Radgowski, author and Acting Public Affairs Officer for the US Consulate General in…

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Podcast, Season 3 / 02 Feb 2022

The Empty Chair Season Three Trailer

Introducing Season Three of The Empty Chair, a podcast from PEN South Africa.

Podcast, Season 2 / 27 Jan 2022

S2 E6 Poetry and Social Justice: Writing to ease the weight of silence

In the sixth and final episode of Season Two of The Empty Chair, PEN SA president Nadia Davids chairs a conversation about poetry and social justice with Esther G. Belin and Toni Giselle Stuart. Esther is a citizen of the…

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Podcast, Season 2 / 20 Jan 2022

S2 E5: Theatre and Social Justice — Creating a Sense of Belonging and a Space to Dream

In the fifth episode of Season Two of The Empty Chair, Yvette Hardie chairs a conversation about theatre and social justice with Mino Lora and Mandla Mbothwe. Yvette is a theatre director, producer, educator and advocate, focusing on theatre and…

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