Hundreds of Southern Africans - including at 3 centres in South Africa - will participate this weekend in a global readathon to raise consciousness about the plight of Zimbabweans struggling for social justice, democracy, freedom of expression and economic survival.

This is the third Worldwide Reading organized by the Berlin Literature Festival under the theme: “The Anniversary of a Political Lie”. The first Worldwide Reading in 2005 appealed for peace in Iraq. The second in 2006 was in memoriam of the award-winning Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, who was assassinated for her courageous reporting on human rights abuses in Chechnya.

The core texts to be read in over 40 countries worldwide are poems by acclaimed Zimbabwean writers Chenjerai Hove, Chirikuré Chirikuré and Dumbudzo Marachera, as well as Elinor Sisulu's foreword written for the book "Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe: A Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980-1988" (Johannesburg 2007).

In South Africa veteran poets and activists Dennis Brutus and Don Mattera and acclaimed poet/storyteller Gcina Mhlophe will be among those participating in readings in Durban, Johannesburg, Durban and Grahamstown. The readings are presented by The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, the Freedom of Expression Institute and the Platform for Public Deliberation.

Johannesburg:

Friday, 7 September, 6pm  • University of the Witwatersrand Theatre
Contact: Zandile or Khethani • 011 836 9624 • 078 651 7111 • This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Durban:

Sunday, 9 September, 2-5pm Kwasuka Theatre, Stamford Hill Road, Greyville. Contact: 031 260 3195

Grahamstown:

Sunday 9 September, 7:30pm, Barratt Lecture Theatre, Rhodes University