Heritage, diversity, and literacy to take centre stage at the second iLembe Book Festival

The second iLembe Book Festival is taking place at the Luthuli Museum in Groutville, KwaDukuza, from Thursday 23 to Saturday 25 October 2025. The festival is bringing together more than twenty celebrated authors from South Africa and other African countries, along with readers, book lovers, and members of the local community.

The festival will focus on themes of heritage, diversity, literacy, and the ongoing debate around “Africa Unite.” It will feature discussions, readings, workshops, and a poetry slam, all aimed at promoting reading culture and celebrating African storytelling.

Among the prominent authors attending are Karen Jennings, Shubnum Khan, Zibu Sithole, Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane, Sierra Leonean author Ishmael Beah, and KwaDukuza-born writer Andile Cele. The event promises to showcase a mix of established and emerging voices in literature.

Ishmael Beah, known globally for his bestselling memoir A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, will be among the key speakers. The book, published in over 40 languages, tells his story as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. His upcoming memoir, expected in 2025, follows his life after A Long Way Gone, including his experiences in South Africa and New York.

South African author Karen Jennings, who was longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize for her novel An Island, will also participate. Her recent work Crooked Seeds (2024) was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. In October, she is releasing Swartbooi and Titus, a hybrid poetry and prose narrative.

Durban-based writer Shubnum Khan has gained international recognition for her novel The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil. The gothic literary story set in Durban became a USA Today bestseller and a New York Times Editor’s Choice. It has received several nominations, including for the Dublin Literary Award and the UJ Main Prize, and won the 2025 Humanities and Social Sciences Award for Best Novel.

Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane SC, a Senior Counsel and author of Odyssey of Liberation: A Memoir of a Rebel Advocate, will bring his perspective to the discussions. The memoir reflects on his legal career and the broader issues of justice and transformation in South Africa.

Zibu Sithole, author and journalist from Johannesburg, will represent contemporary South African fiction with her Zola trilogy — The Thing with Zola, IDo… Don’t I, and Love, Zola — which explore themes of identity, love, and belonging.

KwaDukuza-born author Andile Cele will also feature among the new generation of writers. Her debut novel Braids & Migraines, published in April 2025, has earned recognition following her success as runner-up for the Island Prize for African Writers in 2023.

The iLembe Book Festival was established in 2023 by a collective of writers and aims to promote literacy and a culture of reading in rural and township communities in the iLembe District Municipality.

The 2025 theme, “Reading is a Right, Not a Privilege,” sets the tone for the three-day event. The programme will begin on Thursday, 23 October, with a school outreach and book donation drive led by The Web Foundation through its Siyafunda Donate-a-Book Programme in partnership with Nal’ibali. Thembeni Primary and Lloyd Primary Schools in KwaDukuza will be the main beneficiaries.

On Friday, selected poets took part in a poetry workshop hosted in collaboration with the University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Creative Arts. The workshop aims to equip emerging poets with writing and performance skills and to create opportunities for them to share their work.

The final day, Saturday 25 October, will feature a full programme of panel discussions and end with a poetry slam, where a local poet will be crowned the iLembe Book Festival 2025 Champion.

Luthuli Museum Director Brian Xaba expressed excitement about the upcoming event. He said the first edition of the festival was well received by both the local and literary communities and that this year’s event is expected to attract an even larger audience.

The festival is supported by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture’s Mzansi Golden Economy Programme, the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, Exclusive Books, Siza Water, and several publishing partners.

Other authors confirmed to attend include Lethu Nkwanyana, Bhekinkosi Maqhuzu Ngwenya, Fred Khumalo, Sihle Qwabe, Nivashni Nair Sukdhev, Muntomuhle Mcambi, Sven Axelrad, S’fundo Sosibo, Sifiso Mzobe, Sihle Mthembu, Lebo Mazibuko, Takalani M, Busisekile Khumalo, Bobo Lukhele, Moshitadi Lehlomela, and Mphuthumi Ntabeni.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to purchase books and food throughout the festival.

The festival is organised by three prominent South African authors — Ayanda Xaba, Dudu Busani-Dube, and Nozizwe Cynthia Jele.

Ayanda Xaba, an award-winning self-published author from Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, is known for her writing on African women and empowerment. She is also passionate about family, travel, and storytelling that amplifies the voices of African women.

Dudu Busani-Dube, journalist and author of The Hlomu Series, is known for her novels Hlomu the Wife, Zandile The Resolute, Naledi His Love, Iqunga, Mess, and The End. Her popular series was adapted into the Showmax television series Hlomu: The Wife. She also wrote the novelisation of the film Zulu Wedding and recently published The Blue House (2024).

Nozizwe Cynthia Jele, author of Happiness is a Four-Letter Word and The Ones with Purpose, is a screenwriter and novelist whose work has won numerous awards. Her first novel won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book in 2011 and was adapted into a film released in 2016.

“The iLembe Book Festival 2025 will bring together writers, readers, and thinkers to celebrate African literature and promote literacy across KwaDukuza and beyond. It is set to be one of the key cultural and literary gatherings on the South African calendar,” said organisers.