Inspirational Book of the Month
Zulu Crush By Roel Twijnstra
“For me SA is a place where magic happens. There are so many stories that have to be told. So many challenges for a young generation. There is so much talent - especially in KZN,” ~ Roel Twijnstra

Vivid, personal and poignant, Zulu Crush tells the story of a beautiful and complicated love between an established Netherlands playwright and a much younger Zulu actress.
Twijnstra’s story is hugely influenced by his own personal encounters of understanding both cities so well. Much of the story is based on his own experiences of living and working in both Durban and Rotterdam for 14 years: “Reality is not a story. A story is a construction and therefore not reality, so I think I would call it autobiographical fiction," he considers.
“I had a five year relationship with a young woman from Durban that stopped suddenly, with me not really understanding the reasons. First I tried to find answers for myself and kept a journal of my thoughts. Later, based on that diary, I worked for more than a year with Rosa Schogt, a Dutch editor, to transform my experience in literature.
“It is a story about impossible love. Cultural differences are a small part of the problem. The cultural differences also contribute to the challenges and the beauty of it,” he explains.

Twijnstra was involved in this year’s PANSA Musho Festival of One and Two Hander Theatre at the Catalina in January. For the first time there were critical awards, presented by a panel of judges, to the best original work and the best performer. Twijnstra was a judge and was joined by theatre practioner Gisele Turner and PANSA’s Grant Jacobs. All three saw all the productions and selected the best script and the best performer based on predetermined criteria­. The year previously, he was also on the jury of the Isigcawu Theatre Festival at Ekhaya  Multi Arts Centre together with Musa Hlatswayo and Sma Mbatha.

Twijnstra is the founder of Twist Projects the aim of which is to use art as an innovative means for social change and poverty reduction. Twist is a network organisation that consists of a dozen local partners (festivals, broadcasters, theatre schools, well-known writers and renowned theatre groups) that focus on capacity development of six community theatre groups, and endeavour to add to the creation of a sustainable infrastructure for theatre in KZN.

Twist has utilized the talent and resources of many KZN theatrical heavy-weights: Debbie Lutge, Kobus Moolman, Jerry Pooe, Themi Venturas, Bheki Mkhwane, Edmund Mlongo, Neil Coppen and others. The programme is run by Emma Durden with Xolani Dlongolo as groups’ co-ordinator. Twist is jointly funded by the Department of Arts and Culture, and the royal Dutch Embassy.
It is hoped that the Twist model will be extended into other provinces in South Africa and possibly also Uganda and Nepal.