Writing festival in Drakenstein
2005-04-07
“MRS ABRAHAMS...Mrs Abrahams...jou kind loop alweer kaalhol in die pad!” That is the freedom I felt growing up in the broad Klein Drakenstein road when it was still a gravel road.
“KD road aunties and uncles had a quick eye for transgressing children and promptly rebuked or reported or both - to your parents.
“We played safely and experienced dirty, naked fun and freedom in KD road. We regularly jumped over the barbed-wire fence to steal fruit from Dr. Newman’s large fruit garden. Instructions to invade would be handed down by the ’big ones’ and we ’little ones’, eager to show our mettle, would deliver the goods only to be betrayed with a loud “Dokter hulle steel jou vrugte!”
“Today Paarl East hospital is named after Dr Thomas Newman whose garden tempted and stressed us so much.
“While KD road provided me with a safe space to experience the joy and freedom of childhood, it took a no-nonsense approach when my time came to learn about freedom and oppression. In front of my very eyes it transformed into a battleground for our struggle for justice.
“Naked passion was displayed as it was barricaded and set alight. It borrowed its broad black back to freedom-loving protesters, riotous agitators, activists. It gently caught Adri Faas as he lay dying, it pardoned us the petrol bombs it had to endure, it choked on the teargas.
“Like an African mother it carried me gently on her back, lovingly coaching me about life and people - the pains and joys. Preparing me all the time. It was an ally in my social and political education ... its people and its spaces.
“Mrs Green, Humphrey , Tieta and Uncle Carl, Drieka and the girls, mummy and daddy, the multitude in the east, the few in the west, Banie and the window-frame - I remember - do you?”
Deputy Mayor
This was written by Anthea Sheldon, Deputy Executive Mayor of Drakenstein, as part of the Drakenstein Creative Writing Festival that was announced for the month of April.
All people, young and old, living in Drakenstein are invited by the Municipality to write a poem or a page (300 words) about the street in which you live. This also include farms.
Says Councillor Sheldon: “Tell us about the people who live there; what is your street famous for?; who lived there in the past?; What happens in your street when the sun goes down?
The closing date is 30 April. More information is available at your local library or phone and entries can also be handed in there. You can also email your contribution to mystreet@draken stein.gov.za.
For more information, contact your local library or your school.
The name of your school, your name, age and other contact details must appear at the back of your entry.
The name of your street must appear at the top of your entry. Entries without street names will not be accepted.
You may write in English, Afrikaans or Xhosa. The winning entries will be announced on 10 May.
The entries will be judged in six different groups: poetry and creative writing for primary school, secondary school and adult.
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