Karoo Keepsakes II a Winner in Richmond

Darryl David, co-organiser of the 2013 Richmond Bookbedonnerd Festival, announced:

“Karoo Keepsakes II and Zen Dust share the honours for my Book of the Year.”

And with that we joined the author of Zen Dust, Antony Osler, on the family farm near Colesberg for celebratory whiskey and some old time guitar and double-bass jammin’ til the early hours.

Antony and his lovely wife Margie hosted us at Poplar Grove (nicknamed Popcorn Groove because whiskey and guitar music go well with a supper of hot popcorn) after a great day down in Richmond, where our books were presented.

A couple of days after presenting Karoo Keepsakes II very successfully at a party in Bedford just before their Garden Festival, we headed west from Cradock across the rain-soaked Karoo plains to Richmond.

By the time we arrived, the festival had been going for two days. Authors had 30 minutes each to present their books, and the programme was jam-packed.

There were also concert recitals, exhibitions and a wire-car race down the main street.

Book lovers stalked the shops and snapped up works from their favourite authors, among them past editions written by the legendary wordsmith Dana Snyman.

Co-organiser and owner of Die Richmond Supper Klub, Canadian Peter Baker, was given his copy of Keepsakes and immediately declared it ‘designated for a prime spot in my house: the loo’. Which sounds a tad off until you think about it: where do you spend most of your time in ‘ponderment’?

Apart from one irate lady who thought we shouldn’t call the Tankwa a ‘desert’ (because, to her, deserts are lifeless places) the rest of the bookish public seemed to like our presentation and we sold off a number of copies to individuals and local shops.

And yesterday we headed off back from Popcorn Groove to Cradock, in a ten-year-old Isuzu growler-bakkie that has carried us through seven travel books and 150 000km with the grace and stamina of a champion horse. Obrigado, Isuzu!