"IF WE WERE TO LOSE THE ABILITY TO BE EMOTIONAL, IF WE WERE TO LOSE
THE ABILITY TO BE ANGRY, TO BE OUTRAGED, WE WOULD BE ROBOTS. AND I
REFUSE THAT." - ARUNDHATI ROYMany South African readers and activists
are angry, disappointed, and broken-hearted at not having received
tickets to An Evening with ARUNDHATI ROY IN JOHANNESBURG, despite
having sent email responses long before the RSVP deadline of 13
August. (See here
[https://www.facebook.com/theresa.mallinson/posts/10160769824075224]
and here
[https://www.facebook.com/theresa.mallinson/posts/10160786993010224] for
my personal take on the situation.)
We will be holding a peaceful read-in outside the venue to show our
appreciation for Arundhati Roy, as well as to promote a love of
reading in South Africa.
Please bring: Your favourite Arundhati Roy book, a blanket or cushion
for sitting on, and a torch for reading in the dark (if necessary).
Please note: Venue is subject to change, should Penguin Random House
change the venue for the official event. Read-In is subject to
cancellation, should the new venue accommodate everyone who RSVPed to
the original event.
RSVP: Via EventBrite. We will accept RSVPs until the day of the event.
However, please RSVP as early as possible, RSVP: Via EventBrite. We
will accept RSVPs until the day of the event. However, please RSVP as
early as possible, so we know how many people to expect.
Please invite: All your readerly and activist friends, and feel free
to share the event on social media.
_* Event image of Arundhati Roy
[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arundhati_Roy,_Man_Booker_Prize_winner.jpg]
by Vikramjit Kakati, licenced under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence
[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en]._
-------------------------
Postscript
The response to my Facebook posts has been humbling, and I have been
delighted to find many new readerly friends. I would like to take the
energy from this moment and use it to support fellow South Africans'
love of reading and literature.
Many people have indicated that they would've been prepared to pay to
hear Arundhati Roy speak. That said, I am alll for free and inclusive
literary events. (All the more so if they are properly managed.)
With these points in mind, I have chosen to make a donation to the
Abantu Book Festival (details below). Please do consider joining me,
or donating to another literary charity of your choice.
festivals
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17/08/2018 Last update