I am
delighted to serve as President of the English Academy of Southern Africa.
Thank to the members of Council for this third opportunity to be at the helm of
an august organization and, especially now, as we celebrate its diamond jubilee.
I am humbled.
Taking on
the presidency for the third term may not go well during the current decolonial
turn, as parallels may be drawn with leaders who overstayed their welcome!
I want to
personally thank each member of the Executive and the Council for keeping the Academy
afloat during a most difficult and uncertain time. We all look forward to our
20th International Conference in a few weeks that will be hosted by
the University of the Western Cape.
We each
have to continue with our vision and mission. We have a rich 60 year history to
lean on and continue. Some of the luminaries that received honours from the
academy include Sindiwe Magona, Athol Fugard, Njabulo Ndebele, Wally Serote, Lewis
Nkosi, Ronnie Govender and Guy Butler. Our prize winners include brilliant
writers like Zakes Mda, Antjie Krog and John Kani. We look forward to the
diamond jubilee publication that is jampacked with reminiscences and spicy
snippets, edited by Rosemary Gray and me.
We look forward to working with academics in
the discipline of English, school teachers and learners and NGOs in the field
of literacy and language as we fulfill our mandate towards a multilingual
democratic society in which, while we advance our vision for English, the
country’s diverse linguistic ecology is respected. We are challenged to extend
our Southern African footprint significantly with our flagship journal, English
Academy Review, contribute towards enhancing the success of our outreach activities
and take the academy to new heights in the year ahead.
