WOMAN ZONE STORIES

One thing all we all have in common is that we are all born. But, there are different Ways of Being Born (Jacana) . It's these that, in her book of the same name, subtitled Tracing the Footprints of Birth in Africa, Dr Mmatshilo Motsei investigates. Comparing indigenous knowledge with biomedical practice. Researched in South Africa, it is a universal issue.

To know yourself, it's said, you have to know where you've come from. For Ethiopian-born Dornica Merhazion that meant writing, and sharing, her activist parents story in a book called Born at the End of the World. We caught up with her at a busy Open Book Festival to hear the beginnings and the background.

For Krystle Zara Appiah, author, editor, screenwriter, the light shone on a writing path from an early age. She works for The Novelry now, but her journey of discovery in the world of words has seen her cross continents and cultures - with books that tell the story. We spoke to her on her recent visit to Cape Town's Open Book Festival.

Born in Lagos, schooled in the US and based in Sweden, Lola Akinmade is something of a phenomenon - a Vital Voice, award winning photographer, travel writer, teacher, speaker, author of, most recently, Bitter Honey - we were pleased to speak to her just prior to the Open Book Festival in Cape Town to find out where it all began.

Foodie or not, as a 'saffer' there's no way you wont find something to suit your taste in this book - from braais to pies, chips to chakalaka. From home-grown Durban girl Chef Nokx Majozi who serves it all with an overlay of nostalgia, spiced with personal passion. Delicious.