The Honourable Gayton McKenzie, the South African Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture, will deliver the 12th International African Writers’ Day Lecture at the Africa Century International African Writers’ Conference on November 7, 2023 at Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History in Pretoria, South Africa.
In 1991, the Conference of African Ministers of Education and Culture in Cotonou, Benin, voted to designate November 7 as International African Writers’ Day, which is currently observed across the continent. This year marks the 33rd year of this crucial day when Africans commemorate African writers’ contributions to the continent’s growth. Each conference subject focusses on the challenges and potential of African writing.
The theme of this year’s conference is Artificial Intelligence (AI), Social Justice and Social Change: The future of literature in Africa. Quo Vadis?”
Mr Morakabe Raks Seakhoa, Director of the Conference, says: “This year we are turning our gaze towards Artificial Intelligence and its impact on literature, social justice and social change, and what the future portends in the creative and cultural space.”
Respondents to the keynote address and discussants within the conference theme include Dr Monicca Thulisile Bhuda, Napjadi Letsoalo, Tlou Meso, Yanga Majola, Moffat Sebola, Messrs Lesego Motlhankane, Kyle Seakhoa and Sinoyolo Nokutywa.
Last year’s conference focused on Decolonisation and Decoloniality: African Literary Return to the Source and the keynote lecture was given by Ibrahima Aya, a Malian author, editor, agronomist, and co-founder of the literary festival Rentrée Littéraire du Mali.
President Thabo Mbeki presented the inaugural edition’s keynote address in 2012. Ms Samia Nkrumah, Prof Micere Mugo, Minister Nathi Mthethwa, Prof Mandla Makhanya, Prof Zodwa Motsa, and Prof Kwesi Kwaa Prah, as well as Prof Puleng LenkaBula and Dr Gcina Mhlophe, delivered addresses in subsequent years.
This year’s conference will culminate in the 19th Annual South African Literary Awards (SALA) prize ceremony. Since 2005, these distinguished literary awards have acknowledged more than 300 authors across 16 categories and 11 official South African languages. “It’s quite fitting that the International African Writers’ Conference ends with SALA honouring writers and translators who continue to make a mark in various spheres of African literature,” concludes Seakhoa.