Arundhati Roy Read-In

"If we were to lose the ability to be emotional, if we were to lose the ability to be angry, to be outraged, we would be robots. And I refuse that." - Arundhati Roy

Many South African readers and activists are angry, disappointed, and broken-hearted at not having received tickets to An Evening with Arundhati Roy in Johannesburg, despite having sent email responses long before the RSVP deadline of 13 August. (See here and here for my personal take on the situation.)   

We will be holding a peaceful read-in outside the venue to show our appreciation for Arundhati Roy, as well as to promote a love of reading in South Africa. 

Please bring: Your favourite Arundhati Roy book, a blanket or cushion for sitting on, and a torch for reading in the dark (if necessary). 

Please note: Venue is subject to change, should Penguin Random House change the venue for the official event. Read-In is subject to cancellation, should the new venue accommodate everyone who RSVPed to the original event.  

RSVP: Via EventBrite. We will accept RSVPs until the day of the event. However, please RSVP as early as possible, RSVP: Via EventBrite. We will accept RSVPs until the day of the event. However, please RSVP as early as possible, so we know how many people to expect. 

Please invite: All your readerly and activist friends, and feel free to share the event on social media. 

* Event image of Arundhati Roy by Vikramjit Kakati, licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence.

Postscript  

The response to my Facebook posts has been humbling, and I have been delighted to find many new readerly friends. I would like to take the energy from this moment and use it to support fellow South Africans' love of reading and literature. 

Many people have indicated that they would've been prepared to pay to hear Arundhati Roy speak. That said, I am alll for free and inclusive literary events. (All the more so if they are properly managed.) 

With these points in mind, I have chosen to make a donation to the Abantu Book Festival (details below). Please do consider joining me, or donating to another literary charity of your choice.