Sweden_South africa literary Exchange 2019
Elisabeth Asbrink SA Tour

Swedish journalist and writer Elisabeth Asbrink will be touring South Africa from the 3rd to the 10th of September 2019. She will be featured at two of South Africa's notable Literary fairs, The Open Book Festival and The South African Book Fair.

Her visit to south Africa forms part of the ongoing literary exchange project, #SE_SA which sees literary practitioners from South Africa and Sweden tour each other's countries. Facilitated by Hear My Voice, the project is made possible by the Embassy of Sweden in Pretoria through funds from The Swedish Institute and The Swedish Arts Council. Programming and strategic partners include The Open book Festival, The South African Book Fair and Jonathan Ball Publishers.

Tour Schedule

Cape Town: Open Book Festival

Wednesday 4th September 2019
20:00 - 21:00
Debunking National Identity
Venue: Fugard Studio
Details: Elisabeth Asbrink, Djamila Ibrahim and Fred Khumalo speak to Efemia Chela about the consequences of arbitrary divisions
Entry: R45
http://www.openbookfestival.co.za/

Thursday 5th September 2019
16:00 - 17:00
Muddied Truths
Venue: Book Lounge
Details: Elisabeth Asbrink, Patrick Flanery and Hedley Twidle speak to Efemia Chela about blurring boundaries in their books
Entry: R45
http://www.openbookfestival.co.za/

Friday 6th September
18:00 - 19:00
Shadow Presence
Venue: Book Lounge
Details: Elisabeth Asbrink, Jonny Steinberg and Ivan Vladislavic speak to Mervyn Sloman about their presence and absences in their books.
Entry: R45
http://www.openbookfestival.co.za/

Johannesburg: The South AFrican Book Fair

Sunday 8th September
14:30 - 15:30
When Now Begins
Venue: Session Space 3 - Constitution Hill
Details: Highly acclaimed Swedish writer and journalist Elisabeth Asbrink visits South Africa courtesy of the Swedish embassy. Her historical tome 1947: When Now Begins examines the complicated and interesting ways the events of that year affected the world as we know it today.
Entry: R40
http://www.southafricanbookfair.co.za/

Pretoria

Monday 9th September 2019
18:30 - 21:00
#SE_SA Reception at the Swedish Residence
Venue: Swedish Residence
Entry: By Invite Only

Biography

Elisabeth Asbrink

Elisabeth Asbrink is a writer and journalist, based in Stockholm and Copenhagen. Her latest non-fiction book, Orden som formade Sverige, deals with the Swedish culture, self image and myths. It was praised by Swedish critics when published in August 2018 and is currently under translation to English. The non-fiction book, 1947, was published simultaneously in Sweden, Denmark and Norway in 2016 and recieved a prize from the Royal Swedish Academy. Since, it has been translated into 19 languages and widley praised in the U S, France, Italy and Australia, among other countries. She was nominated for the August Prize for her first three books and won the August Prize for best non-fiction book 2011 for And in Wienerwald the trees are still standing. She made her debut as a playwright 2012 with Tracks on Folkteatern in Gothenburg, and has since written several plays.