Henrietta Rose-Innes's Blog, page 16
June 25, 2015
Writing South Africa in Cambridge
Looking forward to the Writing South Africa Now colloquium in Cambridge, 26-27 June. I feel very privileged to be part of a reading and discussion with the eminent biographer Lyndall Gordon on the 26th; and will enjoy readings and talks by Kelwyn Sole, Rita Barnard, Malika Ndlovu, Isobel Dixon, Kate Kilalea, Graham K. Riach and others. Read more about the writing South Africa collective and their ongoing colloquia here.
June 24, 2015
Green Lion launch in Joburg – in photos
The website Art-Movie-Book put up some great photos from the Green Lion launch at Love Books, Johannesburg, and a review.
“Henrietta’s commentary on how society allegorises things, especially animals that are close to extinction and beyond human reach, brings some very strange scenes to the page …”
Read the full review here.
June 23, 2015
“A lovely book” – Green Lion
Louise Ferreira reviews Green Lion for Die Burger newspaper (Afrikaans):
Die karakters se hunkering na ’n diep verbintenis met ’n ander wese eggo ’n menslike desperaatheid om die natuur te behou, maar ook om iets groters as hulself aan te raak … Green Lion is ’n lieflike boek.
(The characters’ longing for a deep connection with another being echoes a human desperation to preserve nature , but also to touch something bigger than themselves … Green Lion is a lovely book.)
Read the full review here.
June 22, 2015
Chatting about Green Lion: podcast
I had a studio chat with Michele Magwood recently about my novel Green Lion – I found the conversation really rewarding.
“In this book, I wanted to examine what I see around me, which is modern human beings’ strange love affair with other creatures, non-human creatures,” she says.
“It seems to me a poignant, sad contradiction that as we are losing species, particularly these iconic, big, beautiful animals that have always held such meaning for human beings, they are becoming more central to us, culturally.”
Here’s the podcast.
June 13, 2015
Green Lion in the Cape Times – “dreamlike, lyrical beauty”
“Rose-Innes has been a spectacular writer since her first novel, Shark’s Egg, and each of her subsequent works has been a finely wrought delight. She delivers again in Green Lion with startling and satisfying results.” – Jennifer Crocker
June 9, 2015
Green Lion: in conversation with Hedley Twidle
Here’s a lovely write-up of the launch of Green Lion at the Book Lounge. Hedley Twidle from the University of Cape Town asked all the right questions: sensitive, historically aware and searching. And I apologise for “harrowing” the audience. :)
“A remarkable narrative … The all too painful reality of the rapid disappearance of species … was somewhat tempered by the relief that an author of the calibre of Rose-Innes is giving the topic the literary treatment it merits. It offers one, somehow, a sense of hope and a moment of redemption.”
June 1, 2015
The everyday mysteries: Green Lion interview
I did a lovely interview recently with Louise Ferreira for the books pages of Netwerk24. Read it here (in Afrikaans).
“Ek is geïnteresseerd in daardie splinter van ervaring waar die werklike en die alledaagse ’n onheilspellende gevoel aanneem; iets wat nie fantasie is nie, maar ’n verwringing of verskerping van die werklike. Dit is die essensie van die sonderlinge, iets wat jy ken, maar ook nie heeltemal nie. Ek is geïnteresseerd in die moontlikheid dat die regte wêreld ’n soort misterie kan bied.”
A “travel” tale for SA High Times
A fun little “travel” piece I did for an airline magazine recently: exploring ancient hippie ruins.
May 31, 2015
A year of reading African women: Readwomenwrite reviews Nineveh
Big thanks to blogger Jen Thorpe for her brief but insightful review of my 2011 novel Nineveh on Readwomenwrite. “The end of a story is often referred to as a climax, and in Nineveh that word finally seems appropriate.” While you’re there, do browse through the other reviews on Jen’s fantastic blog, which documents her year-long project to read only African woman writers.
Green Lion now available as eBook
I’m happy to say Green Lion is now available as an eBook – although unfortunately only in South / Southern Africa so far because of rights issues. You can download it for Kindle on Amazon (link below) or in ePub format here.
