Marita van der Vyver talks about South African book tour — Daily Maverick
South African writer Marita van der Vyver, after three weeks of a book tour in South Africa, spoke about meetings with adult readers and schoolchildren, as well as the film adaptation of her young adult novel Al wat ek weet. According to her, the film was presented at the Silwerskerm festival in Camps Bay, where it won several awards and became an audience favourite.
As Daily Maverick reports, the novel Al wat ek weet was first published 10 years ago and republished ahead of the film's release in cinemas. The film is due to begin screening in South Africa on 30 October. The English edition of the book is titled All I Know, while the French edition is titled Tout ce que je sais.
Meetings with schoolchildren
During the tour, van der Vyver spoke with adult readers about the nonfiction book My jaar van vrees en vryheid. It was shortlisted for two Afrikaans literary prizes in the nonfiction category.
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The writer also visited schools and spoke with teenagers about two of her books for young adult audiences. She noted that speaking to large groups of schoolchildren is more difficult than speaking to adult readers: some pupils are already familiar with her works, while others hardly read books. The author considers it particularly important when teenagers who were initially uninterested begin listening or borrow her books from the school library after the meeting.
New book and trip around South Africa
This month, the novel Twee halwes maak ’n hele was released, becoming the winner of Tafelberg publishing house's young adult book prize. According to van der Vyver, the work has not yet been translated into other languages or adapted for the screen.
During the trip, the writer visited Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Hermanus and other places in the Western Cape province. At the Norval Foundation museum in Cape Town, she attended a tasting of South African wines, including Huilkrans Chenin Blanc from Alheit Vineyards. According to her, on the same day British Master of Wine Tim Atkin named this wine the wine of the year in his annual report.
