Books that changed my life

BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE

Nancy Richards, journalist, media trainer; Emeritus Professor Anwar Mall, University of Cape Town; Dr Helen Moffett, author, editor

Monday 15–Wednesday 17 January  5.00 pm  COURSE FEES R330; Staff and students R165

In this three-lecture course Nancy Richards, Anwar Mall and Helen Moffett will discuss the books that had a significant impact on their lives, sharing with the audience the ways in which books influenced them at various points in their lives, in some instances decades ago, and in others, more recently.

For Nancy Richards, A Book of Japanese Folk Tales spawned a decades-long obsession with embroidery, while

Animal Liberation by Peter Singer changed her mind and eating habits irrevocably.

Mother to Mother by Sindiwe Magona flung open a window onto the reality of women’s lives in South Africa, whilst Shades by Marguerite Poland led to A Sin of Omission by the same author – expanding her very narrow world view on South Africa, and teaching her the meaning of the word ‘empathy’.

As an avid reader, Anwar Mall’s approach to this talk on three life-changing books will be from a biographical perspective. These books are When breath becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi; Portrait of an Artist as Young Man by the Irish author, James Joyce; and Madame Curie by her daughter Eve Curie. Each one of these books, read at very different times in his life, helped him to understand and address the varying issues he faced at those specific periods. He aims to pay adequate tribute to books and the habit of reading.

What do Jane Austen, Christina Rossetti, Ingrid Jonker and Elinor Sisulu have in common? Their writing changed Helen Moffett’s life. However, it’s not just that their words and books transformed her inner world: all contributed in different ways to her career, opening doors into actual, not just metaphorical landscapes, adventures, and creative productions of her own. This lecture is a slice of personal memoir, framed and prompted by the works of these four extraordinary women writers.

TO BOOK:

https://www.webtickets.co.za/performance.aspx?itemid=1534476069

Anwar Suleman Mall is a retired Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town. He is a Medical Biochemist by training and was the Professor of Surgical Research in the Division of General Surgery, managing a research laboratory for the training of postgraduate students. Mall also taught Medical Biochemistry to medical students as part of an Academic Support Programme and was a warden of one or other UCT residence for almost three decades. In 2015-6, Mall was Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs and transformation at UCT.

Helen Moffett is an experienced editor, author, academic and poet. She has lectured as far afield as Trinidad and Alaska. She has authored, co-authored, or collated over 20 books, ranging from university textbooks to poetry to literary fiction. She has worked in publishing for almost 30 years. In 2016, she was named one of the top ten literary editors and curators from the African continent.
She has been training African writers and academics in writing, editing and self-editing skills since 2000, and for four years, she headed the Short Story Day Africa Editing Mentoring programme.

NANCY RICHARDS is an independent Cape Town based journalist, with experience on radio and in print. Her radio work covered books, women’s and environmental ‘issues’. In print she’s written on many topics. She has a podcast called People’s Stories & Books and is founder of an NPO: Woman Zone which includes The Women’s Library in Cape Town and podcast Woman Zone Stories. She’s author/co-author of Beautiful Homes: as featured in Fairlady magazine; Woman Today - 50 years of South African women on radio; Being a Woman in Cape Town: Telling your story and more recently The Skipper’s Daughter, her mother’s memoir as well as Women of Soil – changing lives marking 10 years of Woman Zone and 20 of Soil for Life. She also offers media training.