South African Journalist to Discuss His Nation¿s Future

EVANSTON, Ill. --- The future of South Africa will be the topic of a discussion featuring Mark Gevisser, one of that country's most respected journalists, Wednesday, May 6, at Northwestern University.

"South Africa after Mandela and Mbeki: A Public Conversation between Mark Gevisser and Medill School of Journalism Associate Professor Douglas Foster" will take place at 6 p.m. in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum, 1870 Campus Drive, Evanston campus. A book signing will follow the free, public event.

Gevisser is author of the newly published "A Legacy of Liberation: Thabo Mbeki and the Future of the South African Dream" (Palgrave Macmillan). A social history of South Africa eight years in the making, the book attempts to make sense of the country's struggle for liberation and its future under Jacob Zuma. Zuma is the controversial president of the African National Congress who is expected to easily win the April 22 presidential election.

A review in the New York Times Book Review called Gevisser's book "an impressive feat of journalism." An earlier edition of the book earned Gevisser the prestigious Alan Paton non-fiction literary award.

Gevisser has written for The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Nation, Vogue and South Africa's Mail and Guardian. Currently a reporter at the Sunday Times of South Africa, he also has worked in film and television. He was the screenwriter on the documentary film "The Man Who Drove with Mandela."

Gevisser's discussion is part of Medill's popular Crain Lecture Series. The admission-free series is named in honor of magazine publishers Gertrude and G.D. Crain Jr. For further information about the May 6 event, call (847) 491-5401 or visit the Medill Web site at http://www.medill.northwestern.edu.