Books on the Bay

12/03/2026

Books on the Bay starts tomorrow!

The wait is almost over. Tomorrow, Simon’s Town transforms into a gathering place for readers, writers and ideas as Books on the Bay begins.

Across the weekend, you can enjoy conversations with some of South Africa’s most exciting authors, discover new books, hear powerful stories and experience the unique atmosphere of a literary festival by the sea.

From history and memoir to fiction, travel, culture and current affairs, there is something for every curious mind.

If you haven’t planned your weekend yet, now is the time. Bring a friend, explore the programme and come spend the weekend surrounded by books and great conversation.

📍 Simon’s Town
📅 This weekend

We can’t wait to welcome you. See you tomorrow.

11/03/2026

Artist, curator and scholar Pippa Skotnes is a research professor at the Centre for Curating the Archive. She has published several books on nineteenth century archives of hunter gatherer history, including Sound from the thinking strings, which won the UCT Book Award, and Rock art made in translation. Drawing on records made by Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd when a small group of |xam men and women told them their folklore, Skotnes’s latest book, When the World Was, is a story for children in rhyming verses. Each verse introduces an idea that once animated the |xam world, such as ‘the sun whose light came out from his armpit’. When the World Was found its form when the author discovered how much her own grandson loved to sound the clicks of the |xam language.

11/03/2026

Paul Weinberg’s career as a photographer, filmmaker, writer, archivist and educationist began at a time when photography was a crucial weapon against the apartheid state. He became a founder member of Afrapix and South, agencies which gained international recognition for their role in documenting apartheid and popular resistance. Later the IEC would appoint him to document the 1994 election process, during which he famously photographed Nelson Mandela’s first experience of voting. He has taught photography at Duke University and lectured in Documentary Arts and Visual Anthropology at UCT. Exhibitions of his work have been accompanied by several photographic books, including Earth Songs, Traces and Tracks, Then and Now, Moving Spirit and Travelling Light. His latest book, Between The Cracks, A Retrospective spans a career of over four decades. The cover is a photo from a series taken on Church Street in the centre of Pietermaritzburg.

11/03/2026

Books on the Bay 2026 kicks off on Friday 13 March with one of South Africa's great wordsmiths. Fred Khumalo. The book might be almost eight years old, but like good wine, it has aged well and has enjoyed a long and successful run in theatres around the world. In SA publishing circles, it is very rare for an 8 year old novel to still be in circulation. But Dancing the Death Drill is a rarity- an ultra distance runner in an industry dominated by sprinters.

Join us for one of the most highly anticipated sessions this Friday at the Dockyard Chapel as Fred Khumalo takes us on the last voyage of the S.S. Mendi. Darryl David . Darryl David.

Fred Khumalo – Dancing the Death Drill

Join acclaimed author Fred Khumalo at the Naval Museum Dockyard Chapel for a compelling conversation with Darryl David about his powerful historical novel Dancing the Death Drill.

Inspired by the tragic sinking of the SS Mendi during World War I, the novel brings to life one of South Africa’s most moving and often overlooked stories.

Fred Khumalo is an award-winning writer whose work ranges from humorous columns to deeply researched historical fiction. His novel Bitches’ Brew won the European Union Literary Award, while his memoir Touch My Blood was shortlisted for the Alan Paton Prize.

In this session, he reflects on the real history behind Dancing the Death Drill and discusses why historical fiction continues to resonate so strongly with South African readers.

🕘 09:00 – 10:00
📍 Naval Museum Dockyard Chapel

Don’t miss this fascinating discussion about storytelling, memory and bringing hidden history to light.

11/03/2026

Fred Khumalo – Dancing the Death Drill

Join acclaimed author Fred Khumalo at the Naval Museum Dockyard Chapel for a compelling conversation with Darryl David about his powerful historical novel Dancing the Death Drill.

Inspired by the tragic sinking of the SS Mendi during World War I, the novel brings to life one of South Africa’s most moving and often overlooked stories.

Fred Khumalo is an award-winning writer whose work ranges from humorous columns to deeply researched historical fiction. His novel Bitches’ Brew won the European Union Literary Award, while his memoir Touch My Blood was shortlisted for the Alan Paton Prize.

In this session, he reflects on the real history behind Dancing the Death Drill and discusses why historical fiction continues to resonate so strongly with South African readers.

🕘 09:00 – 10:00
📍 Naval Museum Dockyard Chapel

Don’t miss this fascinating discussion about storytelling, memory and bringing hidden history to light.

11/03/2026

Born in Durban, Elleke Boehmer is Professor of World Literature in English at the University of Oxford, and Executive Director of the Oxford Centre for Life Writing.

Elleke is the author of six novels, two volumes of short stories, as well as a wide range of other publications, including Indian Arrivals (ESSE prizewinner 2016).

In 2025-26, Elleke published a trio of books about the ‘far southern edge of the world’, including Southern Imagining (Princeton/Wits UP), and her latest novel, Ice Shock.

Ice Shock asks how we go on falling in love when the planet is melting under our feet. In the novel, an Icelandic volcano has thrown an ash cloud into the atmosphere and, across the world, planes have stopped flying. Beneath skies that are severely blue, two young people in love grow strangely restless.

10/03/2026

Excitement is building for the 2026 Books on the Bay Literary Festival!

CapeTalk’s Saskia Falken is joined on Weekend Breakfast by organiser David Atwell.

Listen in:

Primedia+ is your brand-new online content hub, home to the iconic radio stations you love 947, 702, Kfm, CapeTalk, and EWN all in one convenient location. It's more than just radio and news, it's an all-encompassing online content hub. Diving into a treasure trove of information about your favorite...

09/03/2026

James Whyle's conscription into the SANDF and discharge on the grounds of insanity inspired the play National Madness which won him an Amstel Playwright of the Year merit award.

A short story of his was selected by J.M. Coetzee as the winner of the 2011 PEN/Studzinski competition, and his first novel, The Book of War, won the M-Net Literary Award for best debut.

His dystopian novel, The Excavations, a History of the End of the World, although described as ‘a masterpiece’ and ‘wonderfully strong … completely captivating’ by independent readers, was rejected by publishers. It exists as an eBook.

His latest publication, We Two From Heaven, is an unconventional memoir that weaves episodic flashes of his own early life and conscription experiences with letters his father sent from the Western Front during the First World War.

Books on the Bay is an annual literary event that celebrates the love of reading and storytelling. The festival brings together authors, illustrators, and book enthusiasts for engaging discussions, book signings, and interactive sessions, all set against the beautiful backdrop of the bay.

06/03/2026

Anwar McKay was twenty-two and in his final year of studies when he met Marc Lottering through a newspaper advert. He has been with the famous comedian for over two decades. He describes his memoir, The Invisible Boy from Bramble Way, as ‘the book that wanted to be written’. It tells the story of a shy gay boy from a Muslim background who grows up in Bonteheuwel. Despite his mother’s fierce love, he experienced the quiet trauma of feeling unseen. The shy boy grew up and found his voice and identity.

He tells Ingrid Jones more.

Saturday, 14th March at the Simon's Town Museum Lecture Room from 10:15 to 11:15.

04/03/2026

Ashwin Desai is unable to join us at this year’s festival, but we’re very pleased that Michael Behr will be stepping in to talk about the fascinating story of Captain Jonathan Morris who investigated a number of high-profile crime cases with a 99% success rate. Michael Behr is a seasoned journalist whose behind-the-scenes coverage of the Shrien Dewani honeymoon bride murder case produced a series of UK front page scoops, as did his coverage of several more high-profile murder trials.

Saturday, 14th March at Simon's Town Methodist Church, 15:45 to 16:45.

Books on the Bay is an annual literary event that celebrates the love of reading and storytelling. The festival brings together authors, illustrators, and book enthusiasts for engaging discussions, book signings, and interactive sessions, all set against the beautiful backdrop of the bay.

03/03/2026

Roger Lucey began his musical career in his hometown of Durban in the 1970s and 1980s.

His new book, How to Build a House in the Mountains, is the story of building his Breede River Valley house, his reconciliation with the security policeman who had ended his youthful musical career and the path that led him out of the darkness of his past back into the light of his music.

Saturday, 14th March at Town Hall from 18:30 till 20:00