Johannesburg
Johannesburg – Upon Lawrence Anthony’s untimely death, instead of returning to her successful life in Paris, Francoise stayed and fought against the odds to become the owner of Thula Thula and save the remarkable family of elephants whose exploits have since captured the hearts of people around the world.
Frankie, the sassy matriarch of the herd, knows who is in control at Thula Thula, and it’s not Francoise. Francoise is in a race against time to save her beloved elephants after Frankie is ill and the authorities threaten to remove or cull a portion of the herd if the reserve does not expand.
This amusing and touching book eloquently describes the pleasures and tribulations of a life committed to conservation. Will Thula Thula survive the pandemic, a poacher invasion, and the prospect of a mining firm seeking access to its land?
As Francoise endures her most challenging years to date, she realizes once more that elephants have much to teach us about wisdom, resilience, and social relationships.
Pillage by Antjie krog
This new book, “Pillage,” which won the Hertzog Prize for Poetry in 2017, features Krog’s usual themes of family, body, and land, but in the harsh light of pillaging, whether by nature, by humans, or by old age.
The poems convey a painful fragility, irritation, and even, at times, ecstatic jubilation as the author seeks alternative methods to deal with erosions in the present.
Then there is finding solace and being nourished by extraordinary moments of beauty: the thrill of an egret in a vlei, seeing a young child discover the world, and recalling the raptures of love. Karen Press, a poet and translator, translates “Pillage.”
Krog is one of the best poets in South Africa. She was awarded the Hertzog Prize for “Lady Anne” (1989) and the Mede-wete Prize in 2000. (2017). Her account of the TRC, “Country of My Skull,” won several accolades, including the Hiroshima Foundation’s Medal for Peace and Culture. Since 2004, she has held the position of Extraordinary Professor of Literature and Philosophy at UWC.