Doek Literary Festival returns with second edition

Creating a platform for creative expression
The biennial event is an opportunity for lovers of fiction, non-fiction and poetry to learn from the best in world literature.
Michael Kayunde
Doek, in partnership with Bank Windhoek, has announced the second installment of the Doek Literary Festival, slated for 21 to 24 August. The biennial event is set to take place at the Goethe-Institut in Windhoek under the theme 'IndePENdence: Freedom through reading and writing'.

The festival celebrates the works of writers, poets and visual artists who have contributed to Doek! Literary Magazine, which seeks to showcase the best of Namibian literature alongside works from Africa and the African diaspora.

“The festival is integral to Doek’s mission to nurture and grow the country’s reading and writing culture while providing a creative and immersive space for encountering the works of Namibian and African writers, poets and visual artists,” a press release courtesy of Bank Windhoek read.

With the bank as the festival’s official sponsor, the 2024 Doek Literary Festival is a coming-of-age gathering that boasts an exciting roster of award-winning authors, poets, photographers and musicians. Festival attendants can look forward to panel discussions, creative writing workshops and musical performances focusing on this year’s theme.

Eclectic collection

The eclectic collection of writers, poets and visual artists - from Namibia, Angola, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe - curated in the line-up will explore the delights, dangers, past dreams, present conditions and future challenges of storytelling in the country, Africa and the world with their published works as the backdrops for exciting enquiry.

“Thanks to Bank Windhoek’s ongoing support, the second edition of the Doek Literary Festival has been able to draw on literary talent from as far as Jamaica and the United States to bring local readers and writers in contact with storytellers of the highest calibre,” Rémy Ngamije, Doek’s founder, chairperson and the current festival director, said, adding that for photography lovers, two of Namibia’s most promising photographers will also exhibit their works and talk about how they approach their craft.

Co-sponsored by the Windham Campbell Prizes, the festival continues an ongoing collaboration with international literary organisations, supporting Doek’s work to establish Namibia as a vibrant community of readers and writers and a literary destination. In 2022, the inaugural festival was hosted by the University of East Anglia’s International Chair of Creative Writing.

“The planning, organisation and hosting capacities needed to make this festival a success are almost immeasurable, thus, I am delighted that Doek - through the support of its patron, the honourable Justice David Smuts, and the board of trustees - was able to secure a Namibian cast of festival partners to help make it a success,” Ngamije said.

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Namibian Sun 2024-07-07

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