Brought to you by the Book Lounge and The Fugard Theatre, the Festival presents more than one hundred events including panel discussions, workshops, masterclasses, readings, performances and more, designed to inspire, stimulate and entertain audiences.

“We look forward to a fantastic five days of interesting and entertaining events,” says Festival director Mervyn Sloman. “We put an enormous amount of thought into curating the programme, but it is the immense generosity of the participating writers from South Africa and around the world and the engagement of audiences that makes the festival special.”

“Events range from serious discussions about the state of the nation (with a particular focus on tertiary institutions), highlighting the generational divide in SA politics and looking at the future of journalism through to more light hearted events designed to entertain (including our ever popular Writersports),” adds Sloman. 

“There are several events happening outside of the CBD in 2016 which have fed out of collaborations with new partners. Be sure to take note of On the Bus (Elsie’s River Library), Women and Urban Space (Moholo Livehouse) and Sigh the Beloved Country (Kwa Sec).”

As in previous years, Open Book 2016 includes Poetica (a dedicated programme of poetry and spoken word events), Comics Fest (including the bigger and better weekend Marketplace) and KidZone.

Join partners Leopard’s Leap Wines this year for #WordsforWine. Bring a pre-loved or new book to exchange for a glass of Leopard’s Leap wine. Books will be donated the Open Book Library Project and other charities. Check the programme for times.

Most events on the programme are R45. Day Passes (which provide access to six events per day) are R150 and Festival Passes (five day passes) are R600. There are also a number of free events but tickets must still be booked for these events to secure a place.

The Open Book Festival is made possible thanks to the support of its sponsors and partners, including Leopard’s Leap, The Fugard Theatre, The District Six Museum, Townhouse Hotel, Penguin Random House, NB Publishers, Jonathan Ball Publishers, Pan Macmillan Publishers, CCIBA, The French Institute of South Africa, The Canada Council For the Arts, the Publishers Association of New Zealand, NORLA, the Embassy of Denmark, the Dutch Foundation for Literature, the Embassy of Finland, the Goethe-Institut, City of Cape Town, US Consulate, UCT Creative Writing Department, Caine Prize, Creative New Zealand, Open Society Foundation and Kingdom of the Netherlands Consulate General in Cape Town.

For more information, visit www.openbookfestival.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.