Rare Chance To Spend “An Evening With Alice Walker”
The Steve Biko Foundation is offering Gautengers a rare chance to spend “An Evening with Alice Walker”.
The poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, anthologist, teacher, editor, publisher and activist will be in South Africa for the first time in early September to deliver the 11th annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture at the University of Cape Town at 6 pm on September 9th.
Alice Walker
Good news for Johannesburg and Pretoria-based devotees of this remarkable woman is that Professor Walker will be part of a gathering of exceptional creative talents at ‘An Evening With Alice Walker’ taking place at the State Theatre in Pretoria on September 7th.
Joining the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award winner will be South African luminaries, such as Simphiwe Dana and several other notable homegrown talents. The family of the late Steve Biko will also be in attendance at the State Theatre event which is designed to celebrate the life and legacy of Bantu Stephen Biko in concert with Professor Walker.
“The Steve Biko Memorial Lecture is an opportunity to explore the inextricable link between the individual and society; to explore triumphs over inequality; and to speak to contemporary challenges and opportunities facing people of African descent,” says Y Obenewa Amponsah, Director Fundraising & International Partnerships.
“Given Professor Walker’s eloquent articulation of the link between identity, activism and social change, the Steve Biko Foundation is honored that she will deliver this historic address.”
With just one show planned it is advisable to book now to experience an individual whose writings – including ‘The Color Purple’ – have been translated into more than two dozen languages, sold more than ten million copies, and earned Professor Walker multiple awards and fellowships including a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Established in 2000, the annual Steve Biko Memorial lecture is the flagship programme of the Steve Biko Foundation and is the principal avenue through which the Foundation pursues a core element of its mission: to foster the intangible but essential community building blocks: history, identity, culture and values, as the foundation for leadership and agency at the level of the individual and the community.
Among those who have reflected on the life and legacy of Steve Biko through the Memorial Lecture have been some of Africa’s foremost scholars, artists and religious and political leaders. They include Njabulo Ndebele, Zakes Mda, Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Mamphela Ramphele, Desmond Tutu, and then Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, Trevor Manuel as well as Tito Mboweni.
