"Spud: The Reunion" at the Kingsmead Book Fair

Loading player...
Author John van de Ruit says writing the fifth instalment of "Spud" was no easy task — especially when it came to staying true to the voice of the diary-keeping misfit.

"Spud: The Reunion" is one of the standout titles at this year’s Kingsmead Book Fair, and it pulls readers back to the early 2000s — the Mbeki era, and cellphones that only made calls.

But this time, Spud is 28, deep in a “third-life crisis” and dreading his ten-year school reunion.

HOT1027’s Tara Penny caught up with John ahead of the fair…
13 May 2025 English South Africa Entertainment News · Documentary

Other recent episodes

"Bare Bones" at the Kingsmead Book Fair

South Africa is sitting with thousands of unsolved murder and missing persons cases — with many families still searching for answers decades later. Now, South Africa’s best-known true-crime voice is shining a spotlight on those forgotten investigations in a new book called ''Bare Bones: Cold Cases from True Crime South…
21 May 2 min

A Star is Born: Episode 21: Leo Sayer: "My best is still ahead of me"

Today, one of the most distinctive voices of the 1970's turns 78. With hits like “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” to “When I Need You” and ''Thunder In My Heart", Leo Sayer built a career on emotion, energy and pure storytelling. But behind the curly hair and global fame…
21 May 2 min

"Mafia Land" at the Kingsmead Book Fair

A new book examining South Africa’s criminal underworld is raising a deeply uncomfortable question — what if that underworld isn’t separate from the system at all? News24 Investigative journalist Kyle Cowan has spent years tracking organised crime networks embedded across our country — and he's raised the alarm over the…
20 May 2 min

"The Devil Made Me Do It" at the Kingsmead Book Fair

A new South African book is examining why we’re so drawn to stories about the so-called occult. In her book “The Devil made me do it” , author and Wits professor Nicky Falkof explains why she believes these stories often distract us from the real causes of violence in society…
19 May 2 min