The award-winning poet and writer Prof Ken Barris has released his fifth novel- Life Underwater.

The fiction novel tells the story of the three Machabeus brothers - Jude, Simon and Eli, tracing their childhood year’s right up to adulthood.

Set in Port Elizabeth in the sixties, the novel focuses on the family dynamics rather than on the broad political framework, says Prof Barris.

The Language Coordinator for the Faculty of Engineering, Prof Barris, started the novel back in 2007 during a three week writer’s residency in Switzerland.

“I wrote a third of the novel during that time. It took three years to the write the rest,” he says.

With several collections of poetry and short stories also published, Prof Barris says his interest in people and curiosity of what makes them tick inspires his writing.

And there is no stopping Prof Barris, who is currently co-authoring a novel with award winning writer Mike Cope, which will be released at the end of this year.

To date this CPUT academic’s writing has earned him top accolades, including the M-Net Book Prize, the Ingrid Jonker Prize, the Thomas Pringle and the Vita Award. He has also been nominated and shortlisted for a number of other top literary prizes.

To purchase a copy of the novel go to your local bookstore.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Web of Silence, a novel authored by CPUT lecturer Gail Bohle, aptly captures the experiences of first year university students.

This 183-page novel is the first to be published by Bohle, who is a Communication Skills Lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Set in the turbulent 1980’s, the novel traces the life of Emily, a hearing-impaired female, who leaves the safety of her home to attend Rhodes University in Grahamstown.

While at university she learns to cope with new friendships, conflict, betrayal and romance. Politics also threads its way through this novel.

Bohle, who has been writing since her teenage years said she was inspired to write this romance novel after completing a romantic writing course earlier this year.

An alumnus of Rhodes University, Bohle said when developing the story idea she drew on the experiences of first year university students.

“When you leave school and go off to university, love is often a big part of your life,” she said.

She also based Emily on the hearing-impaired learners whom she taught while working at the Dominican Grimley School, which promotes the aural/oral method of teaching.

Bohle said the book is a tribute to hearing-impaired learners as well as to the aural/oral method of teaching.

“The Web of Silence” is my first novel and as such I feel humble and surprised at the positive response I’m experiencing from family, friends and colleagues. I am also very excited about it,” she said.

Bohle said she would like this love story to reach hearing-impaired teenagers as well as parents of young hearing- impaired children.

She is now looking at publishing her second novel, which she authored 10 years ago.

“This has been a fantastic experience. It has spurred me on to go back to my first novel and rework it,” she said.

Bohle encouraged other writers to not give up and to utilise the various new methods of publishing books.

The Web of Silence can be purchased from www.crink.co.za as a download or as a paperback, which Crink will deliver to your physical address. It is also available at The Bay bookshops in Hout Bay and Somerset West.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.