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Zakes Mda to Deliver a Public Lecture at DUT

Zakes Mda to Deliver a Public Lecture at DUT

The Durban University of Technology (DUT) Writing Centre will host the renowned and multi-award winning author Professor Zakes Mda, who will deliver a public lecture entitled, “Unsilencing an Occluded Cultural and Historical Heritage” on Wednesday, 29 August 2018 at DUT’s Fred Crookes Sports Centre, Steve Biko Campus in Durban.

This public lecture is part of DUT Writing Centre’s efforts to inculcate the culture of reading and writing outside disciplines. The free public lecture is open to all DUT students, staff and anyone who is passionate about literature.

According to the DUT Writing Centre Manager, Dr Gift Mheta, inviting Professor Mda to deliver a public lecture at DUT was a strategic decision, one which was informed by the DUT Strategic Plan 2.0, Strategic Focus Area one; “building sustainable student communities of living and learning,” with the objective of developing and strengthening ethical citizenship and leadership among students as well as their sense of critical social, economic, environmental and political agency – including that of being a global citizen.

“The DUT Writing Centre specifically chose Zakes Mda to deliver the public lecture as he is a seasoned writer who has accomplished a lot. Zakes Mda has won a number of awards in South Africa, the USA and Italy, including the Amstel Playwright of the Year Award, the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Africa, the M-Net Prize, the Sunday Times Literary Prize, the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award and the American Library Association Notable Book. His novel Cion, set in southeast Ohio, was nominated for the NAACP Image Award,” said Dr Mheta.

“His memoir titled Sometimes there is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider was published by Penguin Books in 2011 and Farrar Straus and Giroux in 2012 and was the New York Times Notable Book for 2012. He was an Artist in Residence at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies, Western Cape, South Africa, from July 15 to December 10, 2013. He is a Patron of the Market Theatre, Johannesburg. In April 2014, the South African Government conferred the Order of Ikhamanga, in Bronze, on Zakes Mda, for his excellent contribution in the field of literature that has put South African stories on the world stage,” he added.

Dr Mheta also highlighted that the public lecture is a student and staff development initiative intended for budding and seasoned writers and all those with a soft spot for creative arts. It is part of the 2018 Creative Writing Competition, which is a student development initiative for all DUT students with a passion for creative writing.

“The competition is divided into three genres, namely short stories, poetry and essays (opinion pieces). The broad theme for the competition is African Heritage and the sub-themes include, Africa, society, culture, language, love, peace, unity, democracy, education, human rights and social justice,” said Dr Mheta.

Pictured: Renowned author, Zakes Mda will deliver a public lecture at DUT.

Photo sourced from: Sunday Times Books Live

Nduduzo Ndlovu

 

 

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