The marriage that helped shape a nation

By
Karen Watkins
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Litha Sokutu of Observatory has his book signed by author Johnny Steinberg.

Two-time winner of South Africa’s premier non-fiction prize, the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award, Jonny Steinberg launched his latest book, Winnie & Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage, at a packed Book Lounge on Monday May 22. He was in conversation with radio talk show host Africa Melane.

According to publisher Jonathan Ball, Winnie and Nelson is a modern epic in which trauma does not affect just the couple at its centre, but an entire nation. It is also a Shakespearean drama in which bonds of love and commitment mingle with timeless questions of revolution, such as whether to seek retribution or a negotiated peace.

Until 2020, Steinberg was professor of African Studies at Oxford University. He currently teaches part-time at the Council on African Studies at Yale University’s MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies and is visiting professor at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research in Johannesburg.

Patti Fahrenfort of Woodstock.
Puleng Lange-Stewart and Jannous Aukema, both from Observatory.
Melody Pick and Desmond Painter from Woodstock.
Mother and daughter, Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp and Magdalena Alfaro-McLaughlin, both from Oranjezicht.
Jessica Mashifane of Woodstock.
Francine Higham of Gardens with Mikhail Manuel from Claremont.
John Able of Tamboerskloof with Lesley Fischer of Gardens.
From left, Ella Morrison and Kate Birch from Rosebank with Mikail Metz from Gardens.
Talk show host Africa Melane, of City Bowl, middle, with Bishop Geoff Davies and Kate Davies, both from Kalk Bay.
Morné Visagie and André Sales, both from Bo-Kaap.

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