Robyn Sassen
A freelance arts writer since 1998, I fell in love with the theatre as a toddler, proved rubbish as a ballerina: my starring role was as Mrs Pussy in Noddy as a seven-year-old, and earned my stripes as an academic in Fine Arts and Art History, in subsequent years. I write for a range of online and print publications, including the Sunday Times, the Mail & Guardian and artslink.co.za and was formerly the arts editor of the SA Jewish Report, a weekly newspaper with which I was associated for 16 years. I am currently a Research Associate at Wits University. This blog promises you new stories every week, be they reviews, profiles, news stories or features.
LET’S FACE IT: we all need a beautiful page turner, that sets us on fire and gives us something potent to come home to. This is Craig Higginson’s 2023 novel, The Ghost of Sam Webster. And yes, it’s a thriller, but there’s depth to it which is about […]
SALACIA AND OUR friends explore the notion of everything, from Plato to Nazism, with reference to a lot of historical and scientific experiments and a nod to conspiracy theorists tossed into the mix, in episode 15 of Martyn le Roux’s serialised podcast, Die Soutwaterheks which you can find […]
WHAT DOES IT mean to be a hero? Ask British novelist Lee Child and he will present the classic loner, a man with no ties who fixes the world and goes back to wherever he came from once the baddies are vanquished. Another English professional, stockbroker, Sir Nicholas […]
WHAT DO YOU need to be able to take your life, warts and all, and explain it from its awkward bullied beginning until today, to a total stranger in a way which makes them laugh and cry and get something out of it? A combination of self-love and […]
ENERGY HAS A foreverness that completely transcends humanity’s knowledge, explains Salacia, the mermaid, in episode 14 of Martyn le Roux’s serialised podcast, Die Soutwaterheks, which you can find here. She gets Frans and his sea buddies to remember the lessons of Sunday School and understand them differently, as […]
“THERE’S A MERMAID in my bar!” utters one of Frans Baker’s buddies in total incredulity and with a bit of hysterical hilary, in the opening sequences of episode 13 of Martyn le Roux’s serialised podcast, Die Soutwaterheks, which you can find here. It’s time for Frans (Francois Coertze) […]
SO, THERE’S A mermaid in your kitchen. With this as a clear fact, how on earth do you get around the pragmatic world as we know it without being summarily confined to a proverbial straitjacket? Belinda (Annette Havenga), Frans’s loyal secretary experiences the sharp end of this scenario […]
IT’S ALL FUN and games until the heavies come knocking on the door. Episode 11 of Martyn le Roux’s serialised podcast Die Soutwaterheks is a mix of the mysteries of being alive in the world and the guys who want to tear everything to bits, for their own […]
EVER HAD THE experience of having a rescue puppy choose you, rather than the other way around? Imagine if an otherworldly being had you in their crosshairs, as a point of interest, for years. A bold melange of the power plays in date rape, and an understanding of […]
SHE SAID, HE said and the vulnerable young woman servant without a voice hasn’t a chance in a context where she can be labelled one thing and hung for it. Push anyone far and ruthlessly enough with the threat of their worst fears at the price of their […]
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