You are herewith cordially invited to a public lecture presented by the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the University of the Free State.

Act, Ek’t, Ekke: Klara du Plessis’ Translingual Poetics

Speaker: Dr Klara du Plessis, University of British Columbia (Okanagan)

Date: Friday, 3 October 2025
Time: 12:00-13:00
Venue: FGG201

ABSTRACT

Positioned against the binary of multilingualism and monolingualism, critic Sarah Dowling argues for “the term translingual [...] because it describes the capacity of languages to interact, influence, and transform one another” (Translingual Poetics). Adopting translingualism as a poetic and methodological frame that allows for an exploration of the relationships between languages, Klara du Plessis composes poetry in and between English and Afrikaans. Her award-winning debut collection, Ekke (2018), has been described as both “a participant in and an interrogator of systems of meaning” (DeLong, “Equivalence, Excess, Ekke”). Her collaborative collection, G (2023)—written with Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi—relies on homophones to weave Persian between English and Afrikaans, asserting the significant relationship between languages and resisting arbitrary borders of linguistic nationhood. Most recently, Du Plessis published her first South African, bilingual collection Ek’t Act (2025). As the title suggests, it foregrounds a thematic slippage between agency and being, on the one hand, and performance, on the other. It asks: How does the poetic speaker resonate across languages, landscapes, and bodies? What is the relationship between translingualism, roleplay, and authenticity?

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Klara du Plessis is known for her contributions to long-form and translingual poetics. Ek’t Act (Karavan Press, 2025) is her South African debut collection, but she is also the author of four other books of poetry published in Canada. Ekke (Palimpsest Press, 2018) won the 2019 Pat Lowther Memorial Award, awarded annually for the best collection written by a woman in Canada. Both Ekke and G (Palimpsest Press 2023)—a collaboration with Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi that places English, Afrikaans, and Persian in translingual relation—were launched locally at Poetry In McGregor, Tuin van Digters, Vrystaat Kunstefees, Woordfees, and other venues. A selection of Klara’s poems have been published in Alfred Schaffer’s Dutch translation in DW B’s “Stemmen uit Zuid-Afrika” edition (2024). She holds a PhD from Concordia University, is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia, and lives in Montreal.

RSVP 
Petronella Bango
E: BangoPJ@ufs.ac.za

This lecture will be presented in Afrikaans. Please let Petronella Bango know if interpreter services will be  needed.

You are herewith cordially invited to a public lecture presented by the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the University of the Free State.

A tribute to Breyten Breytenbach

Speaker: Prof Johann Rossouw, UFS

Date: Friday, 25 July 2025
Time: 11:00-12:00
Venue: FGG201

ABSTRACT
In this tribute to Breytenbach Rossouw looks back on his association with Breytenbach over nearly three decades, and on the influence that Breytenbach exerted on his philosophy, processing of the  apartheid dispensation and orientation in the post-apartheid dispensation, as well as his spiritual practices. The lecture will focus especially on Rossouw’s personal memories of and discussions with Breytenbach.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Johann Rossouw is Professor in Philosophy and Head of the Departement of Philosophy and Classics at the University of the Free State. He is also a novelist, translator and essayist, especially known for his work in Rapport and for LitNet. Rossouw was familiar with Breyten Breytenbach since 1995 until the latter’s passing in in 2024, and began, inter alia thanks to his association with Breytenbach, to practise Zen-Buddhism at the age of 28, which led to the fact that he was a practising Zen monk between 2003 and 2011.

RSVP
Petronella Bango
E: BangoPJ@ufs.ac.za

This lecture will be presented in Afrikaans. Please let Petronella Bango know if interpreter services will be  needed.

You are cordially invited to a public lecture presented by the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the University of the Free State.

The FIRST lecture in 2025: Poetry as a form of ego-documentation: The origin of Stil gesprek

Speaker: Prof Jannie Pretorius, Faculty of Education, University of the Free State

Date: Friday, 28 March 2025
Time: 11:00-12:00
Venue: FGG201

ABSTRACT

This lecture explores how poetry functions as a form of ego-documentation, in which the poet’s personal preferences, experiences, and thoughts come to the fore. The origin of Stil gesprek (a volume of ekphrastic poems) will be discussed, with specific reference to the role of the poet’s ego in the process. The three reviews of Stil gesprek and the events that arose from these reviews will be discussed briefly and be opened for general discussion.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Jannie Pretorius was a Biology teacher at three Free State high schools between 1988 and 2006. In 2007, he was appointed as a lecturer in Education at the University of the Free State. He has published twenty-eight academic articles in Afrikaans and English and was promoted to associate professor in 2021. His debut volume of poetry, Stil gesprek, was published by Naledi in 2024.