The Cheeky Natives’ Busy Weekend: Photos from Sisonke Msimang’s Book Launch, the Kingsmead Book Fair, & the May Edition of Live Literature Market

May 29, 2019

L-R: Alma-Nalisha Cele, Sisonke Msimang, and Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane. Photo by The Cheeky Natives.

For our colleagues at The Cheeky Natives, the past weekend was a busy, fun-filled one in Johannesburg. The dynamic duo behind the exciting South African literary podcast—Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane, who is a lawyer, and Alma-Nalisha Cele, who is a medical doctor—held conversations at three different events: on Friday, 24 May, the launch of Sisonke Msimang’s second book The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela at LoveBooks; on Saturday, 25 May, a session at the Kingsmead Book Fair in Rosebank, themed “First: Be True to Yourself,” and involving Rosie Motene, author of Reclaiming the Soil, and Landa Mabenge, author of Becoming Him: A Trans Memoir of Triumph; and on Sunday, 26 May, at Live Literature Market, their monthly literature-lifestyle bookselling event collaboration with Word N Sound at Outie Bakery and Cafe in Newtown—with Siya Khumalo, author of You Have to Be Gay to Know God, and Sihle Bolani, author of We Are the Ones We Need: The War on Black Professionals in Corporate, as the guests.

The Live Literature Market, which happens every last Sunday of the month, is planned by Word N Sound and The Cheeky Natives in a way that allows authors to interact with patrons, via Q&A sessions, and to sell their titles directly to literary enthusiasts at affordable prices.

“It is a community space and book market where they can buy the latest literature titles and interact with authors while watching live performances against a backdrop of music, food and summer drinks, a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon,” Mokgoroane tells Brittle Paper. “The aim of the Live Literature Market is to create a space for authors to sell their titles outside of a bookshop, thus offering buyers softer prices.”

Here are photos from the three events, courtesy of The Cheeky Natives.