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Mandla Langa is an accomplished author whose book The Lost Colours of the Chameleon won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Best Book Award for Africa., and his latest novel is The Texture of Shadows. Mandla speaks to us about growing up reading in a world where books were not a priority: I grew up in Mayville, Durban, as the fifth child in a family of nine, including my parents....

What do you do when you’ve stared at the same problem for years but still cannot figure out how to solve it? You frame it differently and see it through someone else’s eyes. So the next time we hold a big education summit in South Africa, we don’t invite educationists, but civil engineers. They might picture the education system as a high-rise building, but would not...

Maureen du Toit, from Haenertsburg, is the founder of the website funeconomix.co.za which features her stories, workbooks and talks and where you can ask Whyman a money-related question. Maureen du Toit loves the colour purple. She wears it often. It is the colour of prosperity, she explains, which is probably why the characters in her books are “perky, pointy, purple people”. Du Toit has spent the...

Peter Gray, research professor of psychology at Boston College (Massachusetts, USA) has conducted and published research in neuroendocrinology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. He also authors a regular blog called Freedom to Learn, for Psychology Today magazine. He speaks to us about the role of reading in developing empathy: Empathy is believed, by many psychologists, to be the biological foundation for morality. To empathise is...

This month, Nal’ibali began the roll-out of its ‘Story Power: Bring It Home’ campaign. As part of the campaign, 500 multilingual billboards have been erected nationwide, imparting one important message: Stories have the power to change children’s lives, and PARENTS have the power to bring home those stories to their children. To celebrate the launch of the drive, and to engage communities in the messaging,...

Taryn Lock is the director of Read to Rise, and tells us about her journey to help create a literate South Africa. Years ago, she took a sabbatical to accompany her husband who was studying at Harvard, she didn’t realise that she’d come home with a different career path too. “While I was there, I thought I would keep myself busy by teaching English to...

The PUKU Children’s Literature Foundation had their official launch for their isiXhosa Story Competition on Wednesday 1 October 2014 in Grahamstown. Teachers, parents, students and community leaders attended the event at Nombulelo Secondary School in the Joza Township. This amazing story competition isn't simply about the powerful effects of creativity and writing. It strives to celebrate and promote the isiXhosa language - allowing a platform for children to express...

OCTOBER 2014: Nal'ibali has launched a new billboard campaign to generate awareness and discussion around the power of stories to spark all children’s potential. Building on the simple logic that a well-established culture of reading can be a real game-changer for education in South Africa, the campaign seeks to inspire and motivate parents and caregivers to give their children a head-start in life, by...

Hlubi Mboya took the South African silver screen by storm with her heartbreaking performance as Nandipa in Isidingo. After ten years of successfully fleshing out this character with talent and sensitivity, Hlubi has moved on to the freelance world to “grow my craft and reignite my faith in the industry”. Above and beyond her sprinting ambitions, she has always had a hand in social...

The acapella group that has stolen South Africa’s heart – The Soil – worked hand-in-hand with us this Literacy Month to help spread awareness about the power of stories to shape children’s future. Hailing from Soweto, Buhlebendalo Mda, and brothers Luphindo and Ntsika Fana Ngxanga, shot to stardom as the winners of the 'Standard Bank Standing Ovation Award at the 2010 ‘National Arts Festival in Grahamstown....

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Reading in the times of ignorance: Mandla Langa

Language can reshape our economy: David Harrison

Financial Literacy: Maureen du Toit

How stories develop empathy: Peter Gray

Nal’ibali ‘Story Power’ flash mobs: Bringing home the power of stories

Reading to rise: Taryn Lock

Puku launches isiXhosa story competition

Nal’ibali launches ‘Story Power. Bring it home.’ billboard campaign

Hlubi Mboya, Nal’ibali and a Mermaid’s Purse

The Soil, Nal’ibali and Musical Storytelling