Simon van Schalkwyk
I spoke to Simon van Schalkwyk about his second poetry collection, Zero Summer, which confirms him as one of SA’s leading poets. I asked him to read his poem ‘Psychogeography’, in part because its title is a useful frame for his work in this volume. The video is a bit primitive (mea culpa), but Simon has very interesting things to say.
Sven Axelrad
On the day of the Kingsmead Book Fair, I spoke to Sven Axelrad about his new novel, The Dogs of Vivo. We talked in the outside smoking area of the Rosebank Hotel, to avoid the lobby music.
Reviews and recommendations
Talking to Karabo Kgoleng (and later Kate Rogan of Love Books) about some new and recent novels – Clown Town by Mick Herron, The Persian by David McCloskey, and Kin by Tayari Jones. At the end, Kate recommends three books newly arrived on her bookshop shelves.
Michiel Heyns
In March 2026, on my way to the Books on the Bay festival in Simon's Town, I spoke to Michiel Heyns about his 11th (!) novel, The Wildest Beauty: the story of twin brothers from the Cape caught up in the First World War. This was for one of Jonathan Ball Publishers' Pagecasts.
Edwin Cameron
In September 2025, for a Jonathan Ball Pagecast, I spoke to Judge Edwin Cameron about his book on SA prisons. Cameron heads the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services and was a key player in the exposure of the truth about murderer, rapist and fraudster Thabo Bester's escape from prison by faking his own death. Cameron talks about the minimum-sentencing laws and others that inflate prison populations, and what can be done.
Herman Lategan
In October 2023, I spoke to Herman Lategan about Son of a Whore, the English version of his memoir Hoerkind, something of a bestseller in Afrikaans. Lategan was born to an unmarried mother, earning the opprobrium of a conservative community (hence the book’s title). He spent much of his childhood in Cape Town's boarding houses, suffered the abuse of an older man, and later became a high-flying journalist.