Meet our SAIR 2016 writers/ readers event guest speakers 

This year's SAIR event is a social affair with a great line up of guest authors and speakers sharing their publishing journey in South Africa with our attendees. 
We encourage our guests to use this as an opportunity to learn and build their networking reach in a celebratory environment for writer's, blogger's, readers, and publishers alike. 

A social writer's event with a cause.

Star Guest                      

Samm Marshall     
Samm Marshall is a well known media personality, who for 14 years has graced the radio and television media platforms. With a long stint at Etv as a morning show host of Morning Edition, he also held positions as a sports journalist, presenter and sport content producer, as well as the host of a youth entertainment show known as Heita! and the popular Let’s Fix It. 
Samm has worked at SABC News International (international news channel) on
The Weekender as news anchor and host on the channel’s biggest weekend breakfast show. 
He was also the sports presenter and content producer for ‘The weekend sport report’. He currently hosts ‘Morning Live’ on the weekend and is a regular on the week day show hosted by Leanne Manas.

Host

Carlyle Labuschange 
Award winning YA author Carlyle Labuschagne  founded SAIR writer's community and events in 2015 after her first international book signing  event in the USA of June 2014. So inspired by the book community of Utopia con she decided that SA authors, writers and publishers deserve the same support and attention that is seen by writers all over the world. 
Labuschagne hopes SAIR will  be a tool to empower, uplift  and evolve the book culture in South Africa. SAIR hopes to bring forth a legacy of reading and writing for future generations. Since then she has also established a help build a library project in SA, 2016 being it's 4th year in the running.  
The Pavement Bookworm Foundation 
Dubbed ‘The Pavement Bookworm’, Philani’s story has gained international attention – which he hopes to channel into real support for his literacy project and Book Reader’s Club for underprivileged children in Johannesburg.

Charity 
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SAIR 2016 Guest Authors 

Fred Strydom 



Author of the highly acclaimed The Raft published by Umuzi, took some risks by taking on a barely emerging genre in South Africa and killing it! 
Fred is a true inspiration to thousands of SA writers who want to write fiction in a politically driven readers ship in SA.


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Joanne Macgregor


​First published by Protea in 2011 Joanne  has taken to hybrid publishing with her latest Young adult self published novel Scarred. 
When not writing books, Joanne Macgregor is a Counselling Psychologist in private practice and deals mainly with victims of crime and trauma.

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Adrienne Woods

International Best Selling fantasy author Adrienne Woods has taken the SA publishing world by storm. Not only has she broken the impossible genre barrier in what is perceived not a popular read in SA, she's gone one step further and self published all her books under her founded publishing house Fire Quill Publishers.  Ans she's still climbing the rankings! 

Sonia Killik

Sonia was born in Toronto but now calls Johannesburg her home. She spent her childhood riding horses and driving her parents crazy by questioning everything from religion to parental rights.







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More speakers 

Ellaine Pillay 

After graduating as a Teacher, she moved to Johannesburg where she taught English for eight years. Her first attempt at writing resulted in a  nomination as a finalist by the Sunday Times for the Bessie Head Fellowship and that is where the madness began. In 2008, she signed up with the Laura Boon Literary Agency and wrote her first children’s book.  Elaine has also co-authored two textbooks in the educational field  for Pearson Education which is part of Maskew Miller Longman Publishers.She currently writes for a magazine in Johannesburg.

Kamo Modisane 

Kamo  matriculated last year from St Barnabas College and has since enrolled into Boston media house hoping to hit the journalism track within her 3rd year. Most recently she has written her first contemporary novel with the hopes of publication in South Africa . 
We will hear about Kamo on event night about the challenges that the SA youth face in the writing industry and why reading as a youth was so important to her journey as a writer. 

David Henderson

In mid-2012 David founded what is now the country’s largest Digital Publishing Blog www.myebook.co.za
My eBook was formed out of the need to give African authors answers to some of the most important questions faced when self-publishing through a digital environment.
Aiming to empower authors, giving them full control of their self-publishing potential rather than relying on others to publish and market the author’s work with the same level of passion as the author could.

Philani Dladla


Dubbed ‘The Pavement Bookworm’, Philani’s story has gained international attention – which he hopes to channel into real support for his literacy project and Book Reader’s Club for underprivileged children in Johannesburg.
Philani Dladla is one of the most inspirational young South Africans you’re likely to meet. An avid reader with an insatiable desire for knowledge, Philani has used his love for books to overcome drug addiction and change his lot in life – while trying to do the same for others.
​http://www.pavementbookworm.co.za/about/