The author: Photo: Samantha Carolus
By Samantha Carolus
This year under Spiritfest’s Winter School theme of ‘The Spiritual journey’, a book by Jeanette Eve will be launched. Reminders of Connectedness contains poems which Eve has written over a number of years. The poetry follows themes of: Reflective, Landscape, Close-up and Meditative.
Eve has always had a great love for English literature and poetry. Born in Pretoria, schooled at St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls, and graduating from Rhodes University with a bachelor’s degree in English and History, she then moved on to obtain her teaching diploma from Pretoria University. Eve then taught English and History at Pretoria Girls’ High School. After moving to Harare, Eve joined the English department at Arundel, an independent school for girls, where she taught O and A levels. Upon returning to Grahamstown she obtained her honours and MA in English Literature.
It was while she worked as a curator of press clippings at the National English literary Museum (NELM), that Eve developed her passion for South African writers and recognised her own love for writing poetry. In 2003, she published her book titled A Literary Guide to the Eastern Cape, which celebrates poetry and prose from some 80 authors who have written about the places, people and natural beauty of the Eastern Cape.
In 2011 Eve was the author of a new introduction and contributed new material to the Cory Library reprint of Charles Gould’s 1924 Grahamstown Cathedral: a Guide and Short History.
Eve was involved in the Cathedral’s contribution to the National Arts Festival from the beginning when it was called ‘At the Still Point’, known today as Spiritfest. At that time a group used to meet monthly in her house to discuss Faith and Literature. One of Eve’s favourite poems titled ‘In the chancel at Festival Time’ tells of the experience of meditating in the Cathedral with all the visual stimuli present, during the time of Festival. She makes use of evocative imagery and speaks of the hymns one would hear through the Cathedral windows.
Be sure to catch the book launch of Reminders of Connectedness on 4 July at 11am in the Cathedral Coffee Shop, inside the Cathedral.
For more about Spiritfest see http://www.grahamstowncathedral.org/spiritfest
Facebook: facebook.com/spiritfest.grahamstown
Instagram: @spiritfest_naf
Twitter: @SpiritfestGtown
