2023 Cape Flats Book Festival set for 4-5 November 2023

The third Cape Flats Book Festival is set to take place on 4-5 November 2023 at West End Primary School in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain. The festival is organised by literacy NGO Read to Rise and this year’s book festival is sponsored by the Western Cape Government, Department of Cultural Affairs and Sports and West End Primary School. Read to Rise Chairman Nicholas Williams and West End Primary School Principal Mr Clive Arries will attend the opening ceremony on Saturday 4 November 2023 at 10am.

“We’re excited to be hosting the third Cape Flats Book Festival in November and have some amazing authors and poets lined up. There’s lots for both adults and children and the events are free to attend.” says Taryn Lock, Executive Director.

This year the programme includes poets Siphokazi Jonas, Diana Ferris, Khadija Heeger, Cape Cultural Collective poets, Poets Vannie Kaap, Mengelmoesdigters, 13 year old poet Leila Phoenix Alexander, to name a few. Authors include Patric Tariq Mellet, Nadia Kamies, Tessa Dooms & Lynsey Chutel (Coloured), Nikki Munitz (Fraud), Yusuf Daniels, Joy Watson, Sarah Isaacs (Glass Tower), Mia Arderne, Baydu Adams, Nadine Dirks (Hot Water), Sindiwe Magona, Megan Choritz, Getrude Fester, Dennis Cruywagen, Willy Mathys and many more.

Children’s book authors include Karen Theunissen, Nonikiwe Mashologu, Naomi Meyer, Anthony Silverston, Christina Kleynhans, Paulvin Webster, Daniel Clarke & Dan Snaddon (KARIBA) and many more.

There will be over 40 sessions during the 2 days with over 60 speakers. There will be a poetry and identity workshop (by Life Righting Collective) and an information session for aspiring writers. Kids can come see the Oaky Puppet Show and an appearance by Oaky the mascot. There will be exhibitors with books and food on sale - fun for both adults and children.

The book festival will take place Saturday November 2023 10:00-16:00 and Sunday 5 November 2023 10:00-14:30 at West End Primary School, Merrydale Avenue, Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain. Entrance is free.

We are grateful to West End Primary School for hosting the event once again and we thank the Office of the Western Cape Premier and Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sports for sponsoring the events. We also thank The Plainsman for their media coverage of the Cape Flats Book Festival.

“The Cape Flats Book Festival is rewriting the narrative of the Cape Flats by bringing stories, ideas and dreams to life. We are recasting literary festivals as events relevant and accessible to everyone. We are building bridges between communities. Our mission is to explicitly bring SA’s authors and publishers to the Cape Flats and to showcase the Cape Flats’ authors. These two worlds, so often structurally divided, are brought together at the festival.” says Read to Rise Co-Founder Athol Williams.

The Cape Flats Book Festival brings children and adults together around books - the best way to inspire to read is for them to see adults reading. It also facilitates economic opportunities for book sellers, publishers, NGOs, food sellers and authors.

READ to RISE, founded in 2013, is a non-profit organisation that promotes youth literacy in under-resourced communities in South Africa. We hope to inspire children to read so that they can ‘rise’ above their circumstances. To date, the organisation has conducted over 6,800 class programmes and given out over 300,000 new story books to children around South Africa.

For more information or if you would like to assist READ to RISE in promoting youth literacy, please visit www.capeflatsbookfestival.com or email info@readtorise.co.za

NPO READ to RISE celebrates 10 years of inspiring children to read

On 18 September 2023 READ to RISE will celebrate its 10th birthday by giving 10,000 new story books – 200 new story books to 50 primary schools in Mitchells Plain and surrounds.

According to the latest PIRLS survey, 81% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa are functionally illiterate.

READ to RISE, founded in 2013, is a non-profit organisation that promotes youth literacy in under-resourced communities in South Africa. “We hope to inspire children to read so that they can ‘rise’ above their circumstances.” says Co-Founder Athol Williams. To date, the organisation has conducted over 6,800 class programmes, placed 372 mini-libraries in classrooms and given out a total of over 300,000 new story books to children around South Africa – over 127,000 children have benefited.

READ to RISE has worked with Grade 2 and 3 learners at all 47 primary schools in Mitchells Plain over the last 10 years and does the OAKY Puppet Show at public libraries during school holidays to get children excited about reading. This year, thanks to the partnership with Origin Learning Fund, READ to RISE launched its pilot READ to RISE app for 1,000 children to help with reading and comprehension and digital skills.

Last year, READ to RISE received the award for Substantial Contribution to the Development and Advancement of Reading and Literacy by the Western Cape Cultural Affairs and Sports. “We’re happy to be able to help the children especially in communities like Mitchells Plain where the learners and schools face so many challenges.” says Programme Manager, Roscoe Williams.

Over the last 10 years, READ to RISE has partnered with various sponsors to visit schools in the Western Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, North-West Province and KZN.

‘Today we celebrate 10 years of inspiring children to read! We thank all our sponsors, partners, staff, volunteers and supporters and look forward to many more years of getting children excited about reading.” says Taryn Lock, READ to RISE Co-Founder and Executive Director.

READ to RISE will also be hosting the third Cape Flats Book Festival on 4-5 November 2023 at West End Primary School in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain. There is an amazing line up of authors this year including Patric Tariq Mellet, Sarah Isaacs, Mia Arderne, Chantal Stewart, CA Davids, Karen Theunissen, Baydu Adams, Yusuf Daniels, to name a few. There will be workshops, storytelling, a puppet show, booksellers, food stalls and prizes up for grabs. This annual book festival is great for both adults and children and is free to the public.

READ to RISE relies on sponsorships from individuals, corporates and trusts to conduct its class programmes. For only R50 per learner, he/she will benefit from the READ to RISE Class Programme and also receive a new story book to take home. Donate here.

For more information or if you would like to assist READ to RISE in promoting youth literacy, please visit www.readtorise.co.za or email info@readtorise.co.za

NGOs partner to get children in Cape Flats reading with online programme

Literacy non-profit organisation, READ to RISE, has partnered with Origin Learning Fund to provide 1,000 children at 5 primary schools in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, with access to the READ to RISE Online Programme.

In South Africa, sadly 78% of grade 4 learners are functionally illiterate. Through the Read to Rise Online Programme, children will improve their digital literacy skills, reading, pronunciation and comprehension skills. This pilot project has been launched at West End Primary School, Littlewood Primary School, Yellowwood Primary School, AZ Berman Primary School and Jamaica Way Primary School where 1,000 children will benefit.

The READ to RISE Online Programme gives children access to the books in the OAKY series (written by award-winning South African poet Athol Williams) and has multiple choice comprehension questions for each book. There is audio for the books which can help children with pronunciation. The READ to RISE Online Programme can be accessed via desktop, tablet or mobile phone. Once the app is downloaded onto mobile phones or tablets, no internet is needed to use the READ to RISE Online Programme.

READ to RISE is a non-profit organisation that promotes youth literacy in under-resourced communities in South Africa. The organisation hopes to inspire children to read through its classroom programmes and also giving each learner access to books. READ to RISE currently offers programmes for Grade 2 and 3 classes and works with all 47 primary schools in Mitchells Plain. To date, the organisation has visited over 6,300 classes to conduct their programme and given out over 286,000 new books.

“In today’s world digital literacy is vital, so we are delighted to partner with Origin Learning Fund to be able to give 1,000 children in Mitchells Plain access to the READ to RISE Online Programme.” says READ to RISE Executive Director, Taryn Lock.

The Origin Learning Fund is a US and Colombian non-profit organisation that focuses on promoting innovative solutions to education challenges and leveraging technology to enhance education outcomes. Their mission is to support educational and leadership development programs for teachers and youth in vulnerable communities. They do that through their own-developed technology, O-lab app. A fully customizable and inclusive web/mobile platform that works also offline and on low-cost devices, adapting to any content, community and language worldwide, indigenous tongues included.

"It is amazing to see how in a short time O-lab has become scalable and effective from Colombia to South Africa, as well as in other countries around the world. READ to RISE is doing an incredible job identifying reading as a key building block for shaping a generation of inspiring new leaders, and we are happy that we can contribute to this by making their programmes digitally inclusive. Read To Rise is the ideal partner for using O-lab and we aspire to multiply these kinds of alliances in Africa as well as the rest of the world", says Tania Rosas, Founder and CEO of Origin Learning Fund.

Origin Learning Fund has partnered with Read to Rise in 2023 with this pilot project and provided 1,000 licences for children in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, South Africa to access the READ to RISE Online Programme.

READ to RISE relies on funding from individuals, trusts and corporates and hopes to continue inspiring children to read. If you are able to assist with sponsorship, please visit www.readtorise.org or email info@readtorise.co.za