Jewish Literary Festival discusses The World and all

There was a pervasive air of excitement as more than 600 literary enthusiasts attended the Jewish Literary Festival at the Gardens Community Centre in Cape Town on Human Rights Day on Tuesday, 21 March. This sold-out event, the fourth of its kind, was the first to be held in person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stellar line-up of authors included keynote speaker, renowned British historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, who discussed his latest book, The World. Other international authors in attendance were Denis Hirson, historical fiction writer Louisa Treger, and apartheid activist John Schlapobersky.

Together with local literary luminaries, amongst others, Gail Schimmel, Kate Sidley, Jonathan Ancer, Steven Boykie Sidley, Nechama Brodie, Joanne Jowell, Patricia Schonstein, and Antony Altbeker, they participated in panels covering a wide spectrum of genres ranging from business, politics, and history to narrative, identity, heroes, and villains.