Barefoot Arts Meander 2026 — Finding a Home for Your Story — Memoir Workshop with Karina M. Szczurek

In the beginning there were stories without homes.

Karina M. Szczurek is the founder and publisher of Karavan Press. She lives in a Victorian house in Cape Town that holds a private library of some fifteen thousand books, spanning its creator André Brink's own first published novel to editions centuries old. When the possibility of losing that home once loomed over her, she found herself searching for a different kind of home — one no one could ever take away. She realised, in the end, that a book itself is a kind of home away from home: a caravan, carrying you to unexpected places. It's how Karavan Press got its name.

Born in Poland, Karina lived in Austria, the United States and Wales before finding a home in South Africa, where she met and married the author André Brink. She is the author of the memoir The Fifth Mrs Brink (2017) and the novel Invisible Others, longlisted for the 2015 Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize, as well as editor of several award-winning short story anthologies. In 2019 she founded Karavan Press, and now runs the Philida Literary Award and the Karavan Press Literary Festival. She lives in Cape Town with her cat family: Glinka, Salieri and Mozart.

In this intimate workshop, Karina draws on her years as a publisher, editor and memoirist — building a home for other people's stories — to guide participants in finding a home for their own. Expect gentle, practical guidance on shaping memoir and personal narrative, honest feedback, and space to think about what your story needs in order to be told.

Held at a private home in Kenton-on-Sea. Refreshments and snacks will be served. Please bring your own writing instruments.