KZN Literary Tourism is a literary tourism research project initiated in 2002 by Professor Lindy Stiebel, a lecturer in the English Studies department at the University of KwaZulu-Natal . The project has created an online archive of over 100 writers linked to the KwaZulu-Natal province, collected reviews of local literature, conducted interviews of local authors, promoted local literary events such as Time of the Writer and investigated “the links between literature and tourism in scholarly colloquia and publications”. The project has also been responsible for creating eight writer trails which attempt to connect writers, their works and place within the province.
18-666: KZN Literary Tourism was born out of a “larger National Research Foundation project focused on Identity and Tourism, based at the University of Durban-Westville”. Despite the wealth of literary talent produced by KwaZulu-Natal very little had been done to promote literary tourism within the province. After being given a five-year grant by the National Research Foundation (NRF), the project began to remedy this situation by constructing an “online archive of writers associated in one way or another with KwaZulu-Natal …; to investigate
36-472: A compilation of their research over several years. Official website National Research Foundation of South Africa South Africa ’s National Research Foundation (NRF) is the intermediary agency between the policies and strategies of the Government of South Africa and South Africa's research institutions . It was established on 1 April 1999 as an autonomous statutory body in accordance with
54-555: Is a project which has received funding through the NRF. In 2004 the NRF founded seven Centres of Excellence (COE), which aim to facilitate inter-disciplinary research with the aim of enhancing research and capacity building. Additional COEs have been added since: Official website This article about an organisation in South Africa is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Voorslag Voorslag ( Whiplash )
72-567: Is the project's most popular trail. The Literary Tourism in KZN project takes us through the whole dark forest (or should that be mangrove swamp?), with its shards of light. For it is not morbid at all, though it will stir up the sediment in your soul as to what you thought you had seen or heard of this country so far. The research conducted by KZN Literary Tourism has been well received by the media. Described as providing “fascinating sites, information and experience to people interested in local literature”,
90-559: The National English Literary Museum (NELM) in Grahamstown . The post-NRF part of the project has focused on the development of the project’s website. This includes improving the online archive which would also feature the writers on a Google Earth map that displays the places they are associated with. Additionally, the site included reviews of local literature, podcasts, promotion of local literary events such as Time of
108-527: The National Research Foundation Act . Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the National Research Foundation of South Africa with effect from 1 April 2021. The NRF Board is chaired by Prof Mosa Moshabela . The NRF has three main functions: One of the NRF’s key objectives is to ensure appropriately qualified people and high-level infrastructure to produce
126-465: The South Coast Writer's Trail, the project has been acknowledged as expanding the history of the region to more than just a “holiday destination, somewhere to lie on the beach [or] try to find elusive sardines and take a well-earned break”. Instead, the trail explores the regions “intriguing literary history” such as the place indentured Indian labourers worked on sugar-cane plantations and the place
144-506: The Writer, and drawing revenue from advertising for publishers and booksellers. The project also publishes literary trails; “routes which bring together writers and the places about which they write - a literary map of the region”. These trails attempt to create awareness of local writers with the potential of creating appreciation of the writers and aiding the sales of their publications. The trails are run by community guides who are trained by
162-595: The knowledge that makes South Africa a global competitor . Its "focus areas" are: Unlike other Science Councils whose role is research performance, the NRF primarily fulfils an agency role, with a smaller portion of its activity allocated to actual research. Funding from the NRF is largely directed towards academic research , developing high-level human resources, and supporting the National Research Facilities, although beneficiaries include students, and private individuals or companies. KZN Literary Tourism
180-410: The links between literature and tourism in scholarly colloquia and publications; and to support a number of students involved in the project through bursaries”. In addition to this, the project created a “series of documentary films made by David Basckin and Zoë Molver about writers including Lewis Nkosi , Marguerite Poland and poets Douglas Livingstone and Roy Campbell . These films were archived by
198-549: The lives of various South African writers.” Individual trails run by the project have been recognised for their quality. Of the Rider Haggard trail, Gateway to Kwazulu-Natal writes that it is a “fantastic approach to exploring the province and its history”. Yasantha Naidoo recommended the Grey Street Literary Trail “for those wanting to experience the rich, cultural heritage of Durban’s oriental district”. Through
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#1732890733052216-501: The magazine, Voorslag , was created. According to Stiebel, the enthusiastic response from people who have gone on the trails “has been positive and enlightening”. In 2009 Stiebel revealed the project's website received more than 5000 hits per month. The project has featured at the Midlands Meander Literary Festival in 2010, the 2011 Franschhoek Literary Festival, and the 2015 Ramsgate Literary Festival. In 2014
234-555: The project has been commended for its impact in KwaZulu-Natal. It has been recognised for boosting local tourism. It has played a role in making the province's tourism identity more complex and sophisticated by offering more than the “gorgeous geography” and “temperate climate” the province is traditionally celebrated for. The project has provided an outlet for those interested in “struggle tourism” which deals with tourism encompassing South Africa's anti- Apartheid history. Additionally,
252-472: The project has been lauded for promoting reading by making literature “accessible and exciting”. Several components of the project have been appreciated. The trail brochures designed by Disturbance, a Durban -based design studio, have been commended, the website deemed “excellent”, the creation of podcasts have been commended, while the Google maps have been described as “nifty” and “useful”. The academic papers on
270-454: The project's Grey Street Trail was endorsed as a parallel project to the 25th International Union of Architects World Congress which was held in Durban. Despite the niche market the project caters to, it has received significant attention from international and national students and tourists interested in the field. In 2017 Niall McNulty and Lindy Stiebel published A Literary Guide to KwaZulu-Natal ,
288-460: The project's website have been praised as “invaluable” to those involved in tourism and/or interested in the KwaZulu-Natal province. June Drummond in Conversation with Zoe Molver , a film produced by the project, was described as a “well-researched film” of a “high standard” that continued the “valuable work done by David Basckin and Zoe Molver in producing films which provide valuable insights into
306-687: The project. The trails include a concise bibliography of selected writers, an extract from their works and the places they are linked to. In order for a writer to be included they need to have either been born within the KwaZulu-Natal province or have written “extensively or intensely and typically about the region or places within it”. Since 2005, the project has compiled and printed eight literary trails; Rider Haggard (2005), Alan Paton (2006), Grey Street Writer’s (2007), Cato Manor Writer’s (2008), INK Writer’s Trail (2009), Midlands Writer’s Trail (2010), South Coast’s Writer’s Trail (2011) and North Coast Writer’s Trail (2012). The INK Writer’s Trail
324-625: Was a literary journal published in Durban , South Africa in 1926 and 1927. It was the first modern small magazine in South Africa and was subtitled "A Magazine of South African Life and Art". The magazine was founded by Roy Campbell and William Plomer ; Laurens van der Post was invited to become its Afrikaans correspondent. Campbell served as the publication's editor for three issues before resigning due to interference from his proprietor, Lewis Reynolds ; Reynolds discouraged Voorslag' s criticism of
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