TimesLIVE Podcasts Amabookabooka: The Quarantine Chronicles

Amabookabooka: The Quarantine Chronicles

Amabookabooka travels into the heart of the lockdown to bring you interviews with SA's finest authors.

Quick and quirky interviews with authors via zoom -21 authors in 21 days.

A novel podcast about books and the people who write them.
Daily English Explicit South Africa Books · Arts
26 Episodes
12 – 26

EP14: Scratching the underbelly

Don’t let Caryn Dolley fool you - the woman with the goofiest grin and the wackiest sense of humour in South African journalism has struck fear into the heart of some of the toughest gangsters who roam the underworld - and she has the death threats to prove it. Caryn…
9 Apr 2020 9AM 13 min

EP13: The 7-day deadline

In just seven days Frank-N-Furter can make you a man. Well, that’s nothing because in just seven days Melinda Ferguson can make you a MANuscript. Melinda is a best-selling author, a prized publisher and an unstoppable force. A few days ago she published Lockdown, the Corona Chronicles. Written by 17…
8 Apr 2020 9AM 20 min

Ep12: Shaik's Spear (of the nation)

Moe Shaik’s memoir, The ANC Spy Bible, is an enthralling first-hand account of the relationship between Moe and The Nightingale - his unlikely mole in the belly of the apartheid beast. The ANC Spy Bible is thoughtful, detailed and nuanced and provides a bird’s eye view of the mysterious world…
7 Apr 2020 11AM 21 min

EP11: A poignant memoir

Brent Meersman’s compelling memoir, A Childhood Made Up, sees the author hurtle down memory lane to his childhood in Cape Town, where he grew up in a family where storms were constantly ranging. His father had an alcohol-addiction and battled with depression. His mother suffered from schizophrenia. His mother, Shirley…
6 Apr 2020 10AM 23 min

EP10: Yes, she Khan!

Raashida Khan had worked in a bank and for NGOs and as she was approaching 50 she took a giant leap of faith. She threw in the 9-to-5 towel and picked up a pen and became a full-time writer. She has two novels, a poetry anthology and a collection of…
6 Apr 2020 1AM 21 min

EP9: Deliciously delightful horror

Bontle Senne loves feisty girls who kick butt and break gender stereotypes. She also loves the rich tradition of African mythology. And she loves writing. These triple loves led the celebrated author and literacy advocate to pen the four-part adventure fantasy series, the Shadow Chasers. The Shadow Chasers are warriors…
4 Apr 2020 12PM 17 min

EP8: All Burnt Out And Nowhere To Go?

Ten years ago Judy Klipin was an unhappy, disillusioned, chronically stressed, seriously single, semi-employed consultant. Today she's a calm, settled, happy master life coach - and the author of two important books, Recover from your Childhood: Life Lessons for the Adult Child and Recover from Burnout. Judy has been waging…
3 Apr 2020 9AM 15 min

EP7: I Write, Said Fred

Fred Khumalo, according to one of his publishers, has been described as a ‘reluctant Zulu’, ‘clever black’ and an ‘equal opportunity offender’, but for Amabookabooka he is one of South Africa’s leading story tellers - who blends history and fiction into thrilling novels. He’s written 11 books. His first, Bitches…
2 Apr 2020 7AM 18 min

EP6: It grabs you by the heart

Hedi Lampert is an award-winning writer, editor and the lead vocalist and keyboard player for Echo and the Merry Men. She has also grown up with an aunt who suffers from the genetic disorder Fragile X syndrome. Hedi spent the last 15 years researching the condition, which has resulted in…
1 Apr 2020 9AM 15 min

EP5: Memoir Queen is King

Author’s lockdown: T-17: Today’s guest on Amaboobabooka: The Quarantine Chronicles podcast is the queen of Late Night Radio and gritty memoirs. Sara-Jayne Makwala-King is the author of Killing Karoline, which documents her journey from Karoline to Sara-Jayne back to Karoline and then finally - and triumphantly - to Sara-Jayne once…
31 Mar 2020 8AM 24 min

EP4: I spy A Spy in Time

Author’s Lockdown: T minus 18: Today’s guest on the Amabookabooka: Quarantine Chronicles is one of the best novelists to come out of South Africa. And if you don’t believe us ask Gary Shteyngart - that’s what the Super Sad True Love Story author said of Imraan Coovadia, adding that his…
30 Mar 2020 6AM 18 min

EP3: Deon Meyer's novel Fever

If crime writing had a king it would probably be Lee Child. If it had a mayor, though, it would definitely be the award-winning, best-selling Deon Meyer, who is today’s guest on Amabookabooka: The Quarantine Chronicles. Meyer has written 13 novels which have been translated into 27 languages and published…
29 Mar 2020 6AM 15 min

EP2: Meet the Volker

In the second episode of Amabookabooka: The Quarantine Chronicles we interview ‘Sup surfing diva, beauty therapist and the world’s only environmental romance author, Melissa Volker, who weaves romance, suspense and eco-fiction into nail-biting plots and unputdownable novels. Spoiler alert: 10 hours into the lockdown she hadn't yet run out of…
28 Mar 2020 4AM 12 min

EP1: Don't get on the bus, Gus! #staythefhome

This episode features author, journalist, satirist, and social media superstar Gus Silber whose latest book, Electric Graffiti, is a collection of his meaningful musings, wise witticisms, dashing descriptions, poignant pondering and gentle observations about life, which at the moment, he says, can be summed up in one phrase: My Fok,…
27 Mar 2020 6AM 15 min
12 – 26