Beyond Words: Race, Gender & Power

Poet and performing arts academic Ongezwa Mbele will moderate a discussion about how the power of women’s writing engages with themes such as social justice, the inevitability of change, community-building and the relationships of race, gender and power. Florence Brokowski-Shekete is a school principal in Mannheim and a German bestselling author. She founded the agency FBS intercultural communication, where she has worked as a freelance consultant, coach and trainer since 1997. She has worked as a teacher, principal and school consultant. In “Mist, die versteht mich ja!” [Damn, she understands me!] she has written down her story. Ukrainian award-winning writer Victoria Amelina is a laureate of the Ukrainian National Literary Award Koronatsiya Slova. Her credits include being shortlisted for the LitAkcent Book of the Year, Lviv City of UNESCO Literary Award, and European Union Prize for Literature. Nompumelelo Zondi is an associate professor and head of the Department of African Languages at the University of Pretoria. To challenge the hegemony of Eurocentric theories in addressing African problems, she is currently exploring techniques of shifting away from such approaches by researching approaches to address African issues using Afro-centric paradigms. Her book Bahlabelelelani Why Do They Sing? is a fresh, intimate and critical portrait of women’s songs in contemporary rural KwaZulu-Natal. An investment analyst by profession, and a writer by passion, Sue Nyathi is the editor of When Secrets Become Stories, Women Speak Out” an anthology of nonfiction narratives of female encounters with gender based violence through the lifecycle of womanhood. Nyathi is also the author of 3 bestselling fiction novels: The Polygamist, The GoldDiggers and A Family Affair.