HUMA Book Launch

Author: Ron Irwin, Centre for Film & Media Studies, UCT 

Click here to access the book:

Introduction: Accomplished American artist Stella Wright’s beachside home in Cape Town is perched on the edge of land and sea, safety and vulnerability, the domestic and the wild. When Stella takes an afternoon swim, she is unprepared for the drama that unfolds. She and a nearby surfer are tracked by a giant great white shark that swims close enough so she can look it in the eye, leaving the two of them deeply traumatised.

The surfer – Ben – is a waterman who paints trawlers for a living. There is an almost instant attraction between them, but Stella is married to wealthy American financier Jack Barlow, and she and her husband are preparing to leave the country. Stella and Ben begin a passionate affair. The two of them must face their fear of the water; Stella because beaches and oceans form the basis of her art, Ben because surfing is his passion. Into this situation, Jack returns from overseas to tie up their affairs and bring Stella back to New York. Stella must make a choice between the man who has reawakened her original passion for art, and the man who can give her everything else the world has to offer. My Side of the Ocean is a novel of great empathy and insight, exploring essential questions about what it means to live, and love, when the secure foundations of a life have been ripped away.

About the author:

ron

Dr. Ron Irwin is a professional lecturer and writer. He has taught in the UCT Centre for Creative Writing and the UCT Centre for Film and Media Studies  since 2009, where he is now a Senior Lecturer.

He has worked as a documentary film-maker and film agent and is a brand management consultant to numerous companies, including Strategic Name Development in Minneapolis and Interbrand in New York as well as Catalyst Communications in Cape Town.

Ron holds a Masters degree in Literary Studies (UCT), a Masters in Creative Writing (UCT) and a PhD in Media Studies (UCT). Ron is the author of the 2013 novel, Flat Water Tuesday, which was a Target Book Club Pick in the USA and has been optioned to film. His 2023 novel My Side of the Ocean was shortlisted for Best Novel by the South African National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

About the Discussant:

JH

Emerita Joan Hambidge is the former Head of the Afrikaans Department at UCT in the Hofmeyr Chair. She writes extensively on modern trends in literary theory. Her poetry has been the recipient of the Eugène Marais and ATKV prizes.  Her latest novel, Stasies (2023) was published by Protea Boekhuis.

Convenor: Sandile Ngidi

More about the HUMA Book Lunch Series

Lunch and refreshments will be served at 12:30 SAST (GMT+2).

Copies of the novel will be available for purchase at the event. 

RSVP to attend: send us an email at huma@uct.ac.za

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