The Centre for Creative Arts is a multi-award-winning cultural hub at the University of KwaZulu-Natal that produces the Centre’s acclaimed festivals – Time of the Writer, Artfluence Human Rights Festival, Jomba! Contemporary Experience, Durban International Film Festival, Cabaret And Beyond Festival and Poetry Africa. The Centre has been awarded a grant by the National Arts Council of South Africa to support the Centre’s literature festivals. The successful incumbent will work under the leadership of the Centre’s Director and be supported by the Centre’s Senior Administrator to work on projects related to the Time of the Writer festival and Poetry Africa festival
The incumbent must:
- Possess either a first degree with majors in Literature Studies or be reading towards a higher degree.
- Have a good knowledge of contemporary African literature
- Be able to work under tight deadlines to deliver outputs
- Have a strong organizational, communication & leadership skills
- Have strong interpersonal skills and be able to work within a team
- Be a self-starter and be able to adapt and respond to a fast changing cultural environment.
The internship is office-based. Preference will be given to a graduate who wishes to acquire practical work experience in cultural administration & project management to enhance their CV’s and their potential to secure future employment in the creative and cultural sectors whilst working with the Centre’s team to conceptualize, manage and deliver specific creative outputs for the Centre’s literature festivals.
The Internship is from 1 September 2023 to April 2024 with a minimum of 30 hours per week. The successful applicant will receive a monthly stipend during the internship.
An interested graduate may apply for this posts by submitting a one-page cover letter and a CV of no more than 3 pages to cca@ukzn.ac.za by no later than Monday 11 September 2023. The cover letter must state:
- the qualifications, skills & experience possessed by the candidate with a specific focus on literature studies
- a motivation why the candidate is interested in the internship
- special qualities that the applicant can bring to the work of the Centre for Creative Arts.
The Centre for Creative Arts at the university of KwaZulu-Natal recognizes the immense value that literature contribute to economic growth and social development; and to how the voice and works of artists contributes to advancing a culture of human rights & social justice. Candidates applying for this position must in addition to having the required qualifications also be able to demonstrate a passionate interest in the arts and a deep respect for the status of artists.
Key Job Deliverables:
Poetry Africa Festival:
The Poetry Africa festival will take place in October 2023 with events in Durban, Johannesburg and Bloemfontein. A select number of events will be held online. Work under the supervision of the Senior Administrator & Poetry Africa co-ordinator to provide administrative & production support to the curatorial team.
- Work with the curatorial team to develop an effective social media strategy for the promotion of the Poetry Africa festival
- Liaise with contracted poets to obtain their biographical and promotion data.
- Write up promotional content for the festival’s programme, website and social media platforms
- Work with the Centre for Creative Arts team to develop a successful audience development strategy for the live and online events.
- Work with the festival’s guest relations co-ordinator and oversee travel logistics for festival participants.
- Provide logistical support for the festival’s outreach programme
- Co-ordinate and oversee the smooth operations of the festival in its 3 city programme.
- Assist with report writing to funders and other stakeholders
The incumbent will work in a trainee role during the Poetry Africa festival in preparation for taking on fuller curatorial and co-ordination responsibilities for the Time of the Writer festival, which takes place in March 2024.
Time of the Writer festival:
The Time of the Writer festival will take place in Durban. A select number of events will be held online. Working under the supervision of the Director for the Centre for Creative Arts the incumbent will take on significant curatorial, logistics and operational responsibilities for the festival.
- Design the curatorial thinking for the 2024 Time of the Writer festival and implement a quality programme that articulates the curatorial thinking of the festival.
- Write up and administrate festival participation call-outs
- Liaise with selected writers and confirm their participation in the festival
- Co-ordinate all aspects of the programme and schedule
- Liaise with venues and oversee the logistical factors for the effective running of festival venues
- Work with the festival’s promotional team to:
- prepare promotional content for the festival’s website, hard copy festival brochure and social media platforms.
- develop press releases and an effective media campaign.
- grow a results-driven audience development campaign for the festival events
- organise branding for the festival venues
- Oversee the festival’s outreach programme to community arts centres
- Liaise with authors / publishers regarding the sales of their books at the festival
- Co-ordinate and oversee the smooth operations of the festival
- Manage and administrate an allocated budget for the festival
- Assist with report writing to funders and other stakeholders
- To work under the supervision of the Director of the Centre for Creative Arts who shall set the curatorial and operational standards for the festival and who shall have final management oversight.
For both the Time of the Writer festival and the Poetry Africa festival the incumbent must be able to maintain a systematic archive of all articles, reports, reviews, recordings and minutes from the project as an organised body of work that can be used for scholastic purposes as well as to guide future directions for the implementation of literature festivals.
General:
This internship is designed to provide a graduate student with the opportunity to work with the professional team and interns at the Centre for Creative Arts to affirm the Centre’s reputation as a leader in South African literature festivals. The Key Performance Areas (KPA’s) are geared towards granting the incumbent a valuable opportunity to acquire and develop comprehensive skills and experiences in the design, curation, networking opportunities, editorial experience and implementation of an international festival programme, contribute to the formal knowledge economy at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and advance the opportunities for poets, authors and publishers to engage and inspire audiences with the primary objective of growing a critically engaged audience for literature.
