When acclaimed author Deon Meyer and renowned musician Coenie de Villiers returned to the University of the Free State (UFS) Odeion with Karoo Choice: The best of the Karoo Suites, the audience was offered more than an evening of music and storytelling. They were invited to pause for a while, to remember, and perhaps to recognise something of themselves in the vastness of the Karoo and in the journeys that eventually lead us home.
A journey back to where it began
For Meyer and De Villiers, the performance carried another layer of meaning. Long before they became two of South Africa's most celebrated storytellers, they were Kovsies.
For De Villiers, who studied, lectured, worked in university marketing, and grew up in Bloemfontein, returning to the Odeion felt deeply personal.
"I spent the biggest part of my life here," he reflected. "I was a student here, I lectured here, I worked in marketing at the university, and I'm from Bloemfontein, just like my colleague Deon. So, it's very special."
The return to the Odeion held particular significance for him.
"Music is very close to my heart, and the incredibly beautiful Steinway Imperial Grand that I played tonight – it's not the first time we've met each other."
The production itself mirrors that simplicity. Stripped back to its essentials, Meyer narrates while De Villiers responds on piano. Together they revisit stories that have travelled with South African audiences for years – stories that find beauty in open landscapes, ordinary people, humour, longing, and the endless Karoo sky.
University of the Free State Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Hester C. Klopper, reflected on the significance of their return.
"We never really know what journey begins when someone wrestles with a new idea in a lecture hall, writes after hours, or makes music after everyone else has gone home. Sometimes it takes years before we can see what has grown from those moments."
Her reflection captures something that universities rarely have the privilege of witnessing: the moment when alumni return, carrying with them the stories they began writing many years before.
"It's important for us to return to the memories and to what is here," Meyer said. "It really is wonderful to be here, and I do hope that it means something to the university as well."
The courage to keep creating
The two iconic alumni also offered encouragement to the next generation of writers, musicians, and artists who may wonder whether creative dreams are still worth pursuing.
"When it comes to writing, there are only two things," Meyer said. "Read a lot, and then you need to sit and write a lot. And keep going."
He recalled writing before dawn while working full-time, driven simply by the desire to write.
"If you can dream it, you can do it. You have to hone your craft over the years until you achieve success."
De Villiers smiled as he added that success is often built on failure.
"You've got to show up. You have to do something – you can't wait for opportunities to come. All of us have failures. Some ideas work and some don't, but you won't know if you don't show up. Even if you're thrown out of the proverbial choir several times."
Their friendship offers proof of that perseverance. As students, De Villiers once encouraged Meyer to keep writing because he believed there was something special in his stories. Years later, Meyer became one of South Africa's most internationally recognised authors. De Villiers, who jokes about not making the Free State Youth Choir, went on to compose music now sung by choirs across South Africa.
Coming home, and giving back
For Prof Klopper, the return of Meyer and De Villiers speaks not only to nostalgia, but to the enduring relationship between a university and its alumni.
"A bond does not have to remain unchanged to remain meaningful," she says. "There is still a place for you here. Not only for who you were, but for who you have become."
That sense of belonging was evident throughout the evening.
The stories and music may have taken audiences to the vast landscapes of the Karoo, but they also led back to the place where two young creatives first discovered their own voices.
For a few hours at the Odeion, memories became stories once more. And somewhere between the piano, the spoken word, and the silence of the Karoo sky, Meyer and De Villiers reminded everyone present that coming home is not about returning to who you were.
It is about sharing who you have become – and, in doing so, giving something back.