Harris delivers 2011 Alan Paton Lecture
PHOTOGRAPH: MATTHEW WILLMAN
Archive and Public Culture honorary research associate Verne Harris will be giving the 18th Alan Paton Lecture at the Pietermaritzburg campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal at the beginning of May. With a paper entitled Madiba, Memory and the Work of Justice, will be reflecting on aspects of his work as the Head of the Memory Programme at the Nelson Mandela Foundation's Centre for Memory.
The Alan Paton Lecture is held annually at UKZN's Pietermaritzburg campus, co-presented by the Alan Paton Centre and the Liberal Democratic Association. The purpose of the lecture is to commemorate Alan Paton's life, and to discuss topics in which he was most involved during his lifetime, which include liberalism, the struggle against apartheid, prison reform for juvenile offenders, literary, educational and environmental issues.
Others to have delivered the lecture include Helen Suzman, Donald Woods, Archibishop Desmond Tutu, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and Trevor Ncube.
Harris has been Mandela's archivist since 2004. He participated in a range of structures, which transformed South Africa's apartheid archival landscape, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and is a former Deputy Director of the National Archives.
Widely published, he is probably best known for leading the editorial team on the best-seller, Nelson Mandela: Conversations with Myself. He is the recipient of archival publication awards from Australia, Canada and South Africa, and both his novels were shortlisted for South Africa's M-Net Book Prize. He has served on the boards of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, the Freedom of Expression Institute and the South African History Archive.
A ten-minute DVD with clips from the Mandela Archive will be screened before the lecture.
The lecture is scheduled for 12.45pm on Thursday, 5 May in the Colin Webb Hall, Old Main Building, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus. RSVP (acceptances only) to the Alan Paton Centre by Monday, 2 May 2011: koopmanj@ukzn.ac.zaor liebbe@ukzn.ac.za, or call (033) 260-5926.