A SUCCESSFUL YEAR

Extracts from the report delivered by the President, Dr Barbara Basel, at the Annual General Meeting, 6 September 2008

I will start with the many exciting events that have occurred during the past year. The largest and most exciting event of the year was the International Conference on the Humanities in Southern Africa, presented jointly by the English Academy of Southern Africa and other like minded organizations. The conference was hosted by the Unisa School of Arts, Education, Languages and Communication and held at the University of Pretoria Conference Centre from 22-25 June 2008. The theme of the conference was Language, the Creative Arts and the Media. The Conference Conveners were Prof. Rosemary Gray (University of Pretoria) and Prof. Zodwa Motsa (Unisa). Rosemary and Zodwa, together with their team of workers must be congratulated on an outstanding Conference.

A number of Academy Lectures and functions were held during this year.

The English Academy Gold Medal was awarded to Professor Rosemary Gray at the opening ceremony of the English Academy Conference on 22 June 2008. There can be few people in the history of the Academy who have worked harder and more effectively for the health and success of the organization. Rosemary became President at a time of considerable pressure on the Academy, both internal and external, and she has applied her energies to great effect in revitalizing the organization both during her presidency and after. The last two Academy conferences (2005 and 2008) which Rosemary convened/co-convened, were an outstanding success from an intellectual and organizational point of view. As far as the English Academy Review is concerned, Rosemary has succeeded in retaining a South African publishing base for the journal, while also securing international distribution and status for the publication. Rosemary has also held numerous other portfolios and has helped to raise funds for the Academy. Rosemary is a well-regarded South African academic, widely-published, and active in many areas outside the Academy. She is currently the English representative on the PanSALB Gauteng Committee. Prof. Rosemary Gray is indeed a worthy recipient of the English Academy Gold Medal. Rosemary was also presented with another award at the Conference, that of Honorary Life Vice-President.

The Academy showed its appreciation of the services of former Council Member, Mr Clive Bruckmann, at the 2008 Commemorative Lecture on 9 September at the Wits University main campus in Braamfontein. Mr Bruckmann was presented with a certificate of Honorary Membership, together with an engraved candelabra, in commemoration of his service to the Academy.

The English Academy Percy Baneshik Memorial Lecture, presented by Prof. Leon de Kock of Wits, was held on 26 February 2008 in Johannesburg. Professors Andrew Foley and Elwyn Jenkins presented the 2007 Thomas Pringle Award for Reviews to Chris Thurman at this function.

The Gwen Knowles-Williams bursary was awarded toMs Rhodah Magagula on Tuesday, 11 March at a function arranged by Dr Nande Neeta at the University of Venda. Some members of Exco travelled to the University of Venda for this function.

The Thomas Pringle Award for Poetry in Journals was presented to Chris Mann at a joint function of the Shakespeare Society and the English Academy in Grahamstown in April, organized by Mrs Hilde Slinger

In May, Vice-President Thayalan Reddy hosted an Academy Autumn School in Durban with the theme “The Magic of the Word – For the Young, by the Young”. Prof. Elwyn Jenkins was a guest speaker at this very successful event, which was attended by writers, both young and old, teachers, academics and NGO workers. The Norah Taylor Trophy was presented to students from Durban Girls’ College for their achievements in the English Olympiad. They will keep this trophy for six months, after which it will be presented to Roedean School, which was the overall winner of the SACEE creative writing competition.

The 2007 Olive Schreiner Prize was awarded to Rustum Kozain for his poetry anthology This Carting Life published by Kwela Books (2005) at the Commonwealth Literary Awards function held during the Franschhoek Literary Festival on 18 May 2008. I was able to present the award at this prestigious function, which was attended by the Minister of Arts and Culture, representatives of the Commonwealth Foundation and the British High Commissioner. Mrs Evelyn Cresswell represented the 2007 Olive Schreiner Poetry Prize adjudication panel.

The English Academy of Southern Africa and Toastmasters International presented the Speaking Skills Workshop, on Saturday, 17 May 2008 at Wits University, Johannesburg. This successful event was facilitated by Adolph Kaestner of Toastmasters International.

The 2008 English Academy Commemorative Lecture in commemoration of one our past members and benefactors, Mr Joe Garmeson, Royal Air Force pilot turned banker, was deleivered on Tuesday, 9 September 2008 at Wits University. The lecture was presented by Mr Tim Knights of the Johannesburg Chapter of Toastmasters International, an organization of which Joe was an active member.  Tim Knights is a chemical engineer and a consultant specializing in environmental technology.

The 2008 Western Cape Seasonal School was held on Saturday, 27 September 2008. Prof. Rajendra Chetty of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s Faculty of Education was the convenor. The school was a joint venture between the English Academy, CPUT and the Western Cape Department of Education. Speakers discussed ways of helping teachers to elicit meaningful responses to English literature from their learners. During the course of this event, the Sol Plaatje Prize for Translation was presented to Michiel Heyns for his translation of Marlene van Niekerk's Agaat from Afrikaans into English. This is the first time this new Academy award has been presented. It is sponsored by Media Tenor South Africa.

English Academy Review On behalf of the Academy, I should like to thank Prof. Rosemary Gray, the Managing Editor of EAR her and her team of editors and assistant-editors for ensuring that EAR continues to maintain its national and international creditability. Prof. Dirk Klopper’s term as editor-in-chief of EAR finished on 30 June 2008. On behalf of the Council and members of the English Academy of Southern Africa, I should like to thank Dirk for his seven years of service as editor-in-chief of our prestigious journal. Professor Merle Williams and Dr Michael Williams have taken over the role of editors-in-chief as from the 1st July 2008. I should like to welcome them on behalf of the Academy and look forward to their continuing to maintain the high standards set by their predecessor.

Membership has increased considerably this year. It is with regret that we have to record the death of one of our Honorary Members, Patrick Mynhardt.

PanSALB Membership The English Academy is well represented on the PanSALB because it has members who sit on the Pan South African Language Board, the English National Language Body and the Provincial Language Committees. Prof. Zodwa Motsa, a former council member of the Academy, was recently appointed vice-chairman of PanSALB.

Grammarphone Exco decided to retain the name Grammarphone because none of the proposed names was a suitable replacement.

Executive Committee It is with great regret that Exco accepted Prof. Rosemary Gray’s resignation from Exco after many years of dedicated service. Rosemary will continue serving on council. On behalf of the English Academy I wish to express our profound thanks to Professor Gray for the multitude of services she had rendered to the Academy over the years.

I shall close my report with the words of our 2008 Gold Medalist, Prof. Rosemary Gray: ‘We must continue to identify barriers and obstacles as well as opportunities and capacities that could, respectively, stand in the way or assist the achievement of the Academy’s vision.’ We have come a long way during the past year but we must not rest on our laurels, but rather strive to become more active in promoting the interests of both the Academy and English during the coming year.

Barbara Basel