2006
Visit of Canadian Governor-General – December 2006
The Governor-General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, visited South Africa in December with official engagements in Cape Town between 6 and 8 December.
Conversation with Colleen Wagner – 28 November 2006
The Centre for the Book, in collaboration with the UCT Centre for Extra-Mural Studies and the South African Association of Canadian Studies, presented a discussion entitled: Staging crisis, Staging change: Canadian and South African parallels and differences:Canadian playwright Colleen Wagner in conversation with Maurice Podbrey. The conversation was moderated by Mike Van Graan.
Maurice Podbrey is an actor, director and theatre producer who was born in South Africa and has spent several years working in theatre in the United Kingdom and Canada.
Mike Van Graan is a prize-winning South African playwright and commentator on the arts.
Colleen Wagner is a Canadian playwright, performer and scriptwriter who lives in Toronto. Her work has been staged and screened over many years and she is the recipient of several awards. She is currently Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts at York University, Toronto.
Script writing workshop – 16 November 2006
The Centre for the Book, in collaboration with the UCT Centre for Extra-Mural Studies and the South African Association of Canadian Studies, invited 20 new playwrights and scriptwriters to a day-long workshop with Colleen Wagner.
Colleen Wagner is a well known Canadian playwright, performer and scriptwriter who lives in Toronto. Her work has been staged and screened over many years and she is the recipient of many awards. She won the Governor-General’s Ward for her play The Monument. She is currently Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts at York University, Toronto.
The Centre for the Book acknowledged the valuable assistance of the Western Cape Committee of the South African Scriptwriters’ Association (SASWA).
Annual General Meeting – 21 November 2006
The association held its first annual general meeting on Tuesday 21 November 2006 at 6pm. It was followed by a screening of the video The in-between world of MJ Vassanji.
Canadian novelist MJ Vassanji spoke to great acclaim at one of the first SAACS events. This documentary follows his creative journey from Dar es Salaam to Gujarat and finally to Toronto.
Public Lecture – 16 March 2006
Professors Heribert Adam and Kogila Moodley gave a lecture on the following topic: Diversity and identity in Canada and South Africa.
Like South Africa, Canada is a colonial settler society, albeit without the legacy of formal apartheid. This lecture contrasted Canada’s multiculturalism and native policy with South Africa’s efforts to overcome racism. The experience of living in both societies and teaching multi-ethnic students was compared.
Heribert Adam, a political theorist, teaches at Simon Fraser University; Kogila Moodley, an educationalist, teaches at the University of British Columbia. Their most recent book is Seeking Mandela: Peacemaking between Israelis and Palestinians.