Lauren Beukes on confronting the monsters around us (trailer)

The award-winning sci-fi writer shows how South Africa's dark past transforms into her fiction in this unusual presentation at Design Indaba Conference.

South Africa's favourite science fiction author Lauren Beukes brings an element of theatre and drama to the stage with an unusual presentation at Design Indaba Conference 2014.

The writer – winner of the UK's highest award for science fiction, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, in 2011 – uses what she know best, the art of storytelling, to weave a compelling  journey for the audience. In so doing, she reveals her creative process, which draws on her personal and collective history and experience to tackle some of the tough issues our society faces, such as the abuse of power, xenophobia, crime and guilt.

“In this country for a very long time we didn't know our story,” says Beukes, referring to the Apartheid government’s censorship measures that ultimately controlled the grand narrative of the country.

Post-apartheid, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission started to uncover a fuller story told by both perpetrators and victims. "How do you forgive your dark past as a country, and how do you do it as an individual?" she asks.

She shares several very personal experiences of xenophobic encounters and the domestic violence and ultimate murder of a close friend, all of which have influenced the narratives and characters she conjured for her works, Zoo City and The Shining Girls.

This is her way to confront the “monsters around us”, which she believe it is our moral imperative to do.

This year for the first time, the Design Indaba Conference talks make their premiere on our app, conveniently packaged in one place and available for free download. To watch Lauren Beukes' full conference talk download the app here or keep watching designindaba.com for updates.

Watch the Talk with Lauren Beukes

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