The beauty of being awarded an uninterrupted time to write residency is that it is more than writers sharing space, it offers fellowship, enrichment through the exchange of ideas and knowledge, and the opportunity to be transformed by fresh insights.
In a month’s time ecstatic – Zubeida Jaffer, Gaireyah Fredericks, Kirsten Dean, Christoph Nix, Tertius Kapp and Temwani Mgunda – awarded the 2023 Jakes Gerwel Foundation / PEN Afrikaans, PEN South Africa. PEN Malawi and PEN Germany residency will step into the foundation’s Paulet House in Somerset East, Eastern Cape for their three weeks of just being writers.
“The only true instrument a writer has, is his or her own lived experience. Thus, the more experience, the more exposure, the better canvas the writer works on. This project does not only grant writers uninterrupted writing space, but also a space where the interaction and exchange of ideas between writers from all over the globe can be made possible. Writers become friends at Paulet House, and friends in other parts of the world can only be beneficial! It is a learning experience for all writers – learning from each other’s backgrounds, histories,” says JGF’s executive director Theo Kemp.
For lawyer/professor/author/theatre-maker Christoph Nix (PEN Germany) learning from his fellow housemates is key; “I want to learn from you. After all, my African novels are a presumption, written by a person from a country with a colonial past. My emancipation was the rebellion of 1968 and the struggle against racism and apartheid. So, I look forward to the spirit of Gert Johannes Gerwel, as an intellectual home of the left.
“When I heard in PEN that there was a chance to meet literary figures from Africa, I checked my prejudice whether South Africa was Africa for me and I found the question arrogant, now I can look from the South to the continent and write when I want and this in the home of an intellectual fighter: what more than the fear to fail: always fail, better fail, says Samuel Becket,” he adds.
A need for time to focus on her writing is what attracted veteran journalist, author, and activist Zubeida Jaffer to the residency which she is “delighted” to be spending in another part of the country and not abroad.
“Often once we gain experience, we share those with others from the North that are already privileged. Not that I reject such opportunities. But I do think we must plough back into people of the South. This residency helps us to do exactly that – to spend in Somerset East and to engage with writers who are local,
“Jakes Gerwel has done us proud in investing his earnings in a small town that he loved so much. We all must follow the example of developing creative institutions in local communities. They can only enrich community life,” says Jaffer.
The opportunity to “exchange ideas with fellow writers” drew writer Tertius Kapp who will be working on his first novel, to apply for residency. He also hopes to take time to “critically look at my creative methods.”
While “new experiences and fresh knowledge” are what Gaireyah Fredericks whose first collection of Afrikaans Muslim short stories and culture, is due to be published by Kwela, hopes to find besides wanting to “come back informed, refreshed, changed and even remodeled. I’m just open to add new to my life and world.”
Switching to Muslim Afrikaans, Fredericks says, “Om diè opportunity te gekry et was beyond. Et isse gift en ek kannie wag ommit te unwrap ie. I will be coming there at the house as a blank page and intend to leave there in volumes.”
Young poet Kirsten Dean who will be working on her collection of poems explains, “As writers, it can be very difficult to navigate our human expectations of work, finances, responsibilities and our responsibilities as writers.” And that is why she saw the call for candidates as a “blessing my higher power” and was drawn “to spend time in and with the world of writing.”
After three years of the residency being an exclusive JGF/PEN Afrikaans partnership, in 2022 there came a turning of the pages and PEN South Africa and PEN Nederland were invited to participate.
“We had lengthy discussions before about ‘opening’ up, because we wanted to stay true to Prof Gerwel’s immense love for Afrikaans. However, no speaker of any language lives in isolation, and therefore opening is not a threat. Instead, it puts Afrikaans in the greater context of the country, the continent, and the world. I see this residency as an enriching experience of not only the Afrikaans writers, but all writers,” says Kemp.
Catrina Wessels, PEN Afrikaans manager endorses that point by saying that having writers from various PEN centres around Paulet House’s well-appointed dining room table substantiates certain tenets in the PEN charter, notably “belief in literature as common currency, in shared humanity and mutual respect between writers from all over.”
“Based on feedback from last year’s residency, which saw the inimitable Dutch poet Emma Crebolder as the first international guest, it seems that it has been enriching, for sure. It has also provided a wonderful opportunity for local writers from PEN Afrikaans and PEN South Africa to share space and thoughts for longer, and in a less formal and structured environment than, for instance, a panel discussion or other literary festival event,” says Wessels.
Last month, in his article Twee onskatbare weke in die Paulet Huis on his participation in the JGF/Passa Porta residency, poet/journalist Danie Marais lauded the large amount of Afrikaans literary prize available for the picking. But what writers really needed are residencies like Paulet House, where for a few weeks they are freed from the daily grind to survive and are provided with uninterrupted time and space to just write, he wrote.
The author bios are as follows:
Kirsten Dean (PEN South Africa) obtained her Honours in English Literature and MA in Creative Writing at the University of the Western Cape. She is working on her first poetry collection, reflecting on living with her physical disability (Left Hemiplegia). uHlanga Press is interested in publishing this young and brave poet’s work.
Tertius Kapp (PEN Afrikaans) works mainly in film and theatre. He studied at the University of Stellenbosch, completing both an Honours B.Sc. in Physics and a MA in Creative Writing. He was awarded with the prestigious Hertzog Prize for his theatre work. During the residency, he will work on his first novel.
Temwani Mgunda (PEN Malawi) is one of Malawi’s contemporary writers with numerous works published. His The Slums of Mbayani won the 2022 African Writers Award in the poetry category. Mgunda works as Regional Editor at the London-based China Dialogue. He will finish his short stories anthology, A Bitter Harvest: A Collection of Short Stories, during his stay at Paulet House.
Christoph Nix (PEN Germany) obtained a PhD in both Law and Theatre Studies. He has published several novels and a series of crime novels set in African countries such as Uganda, Togo, Burundi and Malawi. In addition to his works of fiction, Christoph Nix has numerous publications in law and theatre studies.
Gaireyah Fredericks (PEN Afrikaans) holds a MA in Creative Writing (Rhodes University), after graduating in Afrikaans & Dutch Literature at the University of the Western Cape. She is a self-published author, and currently working on her first collection of short stories exploring the Afrikaans Muslim culture that will be published by Kwela.
Zubeida Jaffer (PEN South Africa) is an award-winning South African journalist, author and activist. Her work has earned her numerous local and international awards. These include the Muslim Views Achiever Award as well as the Medal for Distinguished Service to Journalism from the University of Missouri in the USA. She is currently working on a historic novel about the life of Charlotte Maxeke
