It’s no secret that Flow employs a particularly mad bunch of people. In fact, we make a point of not keeping it a secret. We’re an odd lot, full of quirks. Behind the professional scenes, we’re into everything from dress-up parties to making our own avocado-and-coconut ice cream, and breakdancing.
But it’s not all fairy wings, food and footwork; our various interests extend to our reading habits as well. And since I’m always curious about the book covers peoples are cracking, I thought I’d ask a random sampling of Flowstars what literary worlds they’re exploring after hours.
As a starting point, it’s only fair to mention that I am currently waist-deep in Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which won last year’s Man Booker Prize. Beside my bed, Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and David Gilbert’s & Sons await. I am drawn to fiction, almost always; that said, my recent non-fiction forays – Tyler Hamilton’s The Secret Race and Born to Run by Christopher McDougall – were riveting.
One of Flow’s project managers, Thabs Royds, rattled off a list of favourites when asked to provide one or two. Among them: Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In; the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry; the memoir The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin (of which Thabs owns a signed copy); and the acclaimed play, for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange. The plays on her list highlight Thabs’s training and performance in the dramatic arts.
“Each of these books speaks to what I like to explore in myself and in other people,” says Thabs. “Interestingly enough, I’ve just realised that these are all very female-centric. Two are plays set in a very specific time in African American history and are seminal theatrical works, describing the culture at the time.
“I’m interested in how they influence current African American culture and how that, in turn, influences African culture. As a performer, I have been given the role of African Americans, and these works have been heavily influential in my understanding of this landscape.
“Lean In is a discussion on women in the workforce and what Sandberg has gone through, and she’s inviting people to lean into this space, to be aware of what is happening around them, and, as much as possible, to open up opportunities to others.
“What I like about all of these books and plays is that each time I come back to them, I find something new in the story and in myself.”
Financial director Bev Strimer recently polished off Stephen Fry’s latest autobiography, More Fool Me.
“I love biographies,” says Bev, “and Stephen Fry’s in particular. This one, his third, was really good. It’s slightly different because he’s hugely open about his drug use – he spent more than 10 years on cocaine – and speaks about it candidly.
“If he did another, I’d certainly read it,” says Bev, who is now re-reading an old favourite, A Game Ranger Remembers, an autobiography by Bruce Bryden.
A few books came immediately to writer and subeditor Willem Steenkamp’s mind when asked what some of his most memorable recent reads have been: Maranda Engelbrecht’s cookbook Babel, offering dishes from Babylonstoren, a farm at the foot of the Simonsberg mountain in the Western Cape; Assegais, Drums & Dragoons: A Military & Social History of the Cape by Willem Steenkamp senior; and Shirley, Goodness and Mercy by South African poet, novelist, short-story writer and memoirist Chris van Wyk.
“The books represent the kind of stuff I like to read – great food books, well-written and new approaches to historical work, and beautifully written biographies,” says Willem.
“Chris van Wyk had that rare ability to make you laugh and cry on the same page; my dad’s book is an academic work that reads like a novel – 40 years’ worth of research; and the Babel book is a triumph of design and stunning food.”
It’s worth mentioning that Willem is our aforementioned avocado-and-coconut ice cream maker.
This list goes on: Flow PR star Shaun Demmer is making his way through Amy Poehler’s Yes Please and Dan Savage’s American Savage; designer George Xafis has just finished Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, and Around Africa on My Bicycle by Riaan Manser; and web developer Alex Cowling has been reading Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug, a user-experience book of best web practice. Sometimes (as in Alex’s case), what we do and what we read coincide perfectly.
We’re an eclectic bunch, but don’t judge us by our covers alone. We’re even more eclectic when you open our pages.
