In conversation with Anna-Bet Stemmet | One for the (Afrikaans) books

From Malmesbury to Montagu. Pink hair, jam-and-cream scones, and a crowd-pleasing new book. This is the appeal of Anna-Bet Stemmet's debut collection of personal essays that made a mostly English-speaking audience fall in love with Afrikaans writing. Her witty, raw, and nostalgic South African voice is exactly what your bookshelf is missing.

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Book launches and author interviews are always high on my list of cultural outings. But one of my frustrations is that the setting is generally not conducive to taking great photos. That's what made Montagu Bookshop’s May ‘26 launch of Anna-Bet Stemmet’s debut collection of personal essays such a special moment. 

Setting the scene

Whichever way you look at it, La Rochelle - a Cape Victorian mulberry-pink manor house in Montagu - is photogenic; she doesn’t have a bad side. Despite it being autumn, pink is clearly always in season.  

And the delightful twist on ‘elevenses’ - tea paired with scones topped with jam and cream - was the cherry on the top. 

Meet the author

Pink hair and a brightly patterned outfit are always going to strike a delightful pose. And Anna-Bet carries out the combo with flair.

It's almost a dare. She does it "aspris.“

For those of you who aren’t convinced, the lesson of “never judge a book by its cover” applies. 

Her warmth, ready smile, honest reflections, and down-to-earth manner immediately endeared her to the audience gathered in the garden. We were instantly won over by this Malmesbury author. 

Let’s talk about her book cover

“GOED WAT GEBEUR HET MET MENSE OP PLEKKE” begs you to pick it up, even if your Afrikaans is patchy.  

The abridged backstory goes like this: Anna-Bet's original cover vision brief to her creative designer was to reimagine a personalised Space Case visually - those stationery hold-alls we had in school - with stickers on it.  

Aren’t we glad the designer went rogue? The final cover is not only gorgeous, but also a visual clue to the stories held within.

It’s made to be photographed.

Each of the body images is ‘cropped’ from old photographs of Anna-Bet's family members, and the ‘emblematic’ heads are symbolic to each story told. 

These little touches are quirky, humorous, nostalgic, and meaningful. And if you're looking for a quick summary of her book, the preceding sentence is it.  

The cast of characters 

Anna-Bet's collection of 29 personal essays is creative non-fiction. So the cast of characters we're introduced to are real-life people. (In some instances, names have been changed.)

Some of my favourites (no spoilers, just teasers):

1. Gielie Rademeyer and his unwitting high school ‘feminist manifesto.’ (That will teach him.) 

2. The ‘fairy tale’ of Jakkals and Bets.

3. Die ‘regte’ Sandra. (Fourth time's the charm.)

4. An ex-boyfriend with a (well-deserved) shiner. 

5. Meneer Bester, the old age home, and 16.4 minutes. This one will move you to tears. 

6. Grieta, Brian, Baba, and the tender tale of the brown vintage crockery. This one, too, will bring you to tears.

7. A life lesson from Oupa John and Afrikaans author, Chris Barnard. (More tears). 

8. The young Chatsworth mother who needed directions. (This was a last-minute poignant essay selected for the 2025 Stellenbosch Woordfees Bundel, and the catalyst for Anna-Bet's published book.)

9. A neighbour's parrot, Valkyrie's stone collection, and the first pear.

Go ahead and order the book. 

The (mostly English-speaking) audience

Here's where the narrative gets interesting…

This is an Afrikaans collection of personal essays with some Mengels sprinkled in here and there. 

Even though Montagu is predominantly an Afrikaans platteland dorpie, 75% of the audience were English.

This was quite an anomaly.

Perhaps it's good marketing, but I think it's more than that. 

I think as readers (and writers), even if Afrikaans is not our first language, we love a good story, we love an inspirational real-life author's journey, and we love supporting local.

That is the test of true small-town magnanimity and community spirit. 

None of this was an issue to Anna-Bet. She seamlessly flipped backwards and forwards between English and Afrikaans as if on a garden swing, taking us all on this fun ride with her.  

Why this collection works

My two favourite descriptions of Anna-Bet's collection are that it's “sorbet vir die siel” (sorbet for the soul), and “slaaptydstories vir volwassenes” (bedtime stories for grownups). 

I will add that I think it's a great coffee shop companion read.

You can dip in and out at your own pace, and you don't have to read the stories in the order they are published in the collection.  It's really up to you - whatever takes your fancy and whichever way the wind blows.  

I had been gifted a copy of  “GOED WAT GEBEUR HET MET MENSE OP PLEKKE” and read it before the launch. It took me a while and definitely pushed me out of my reading comfort zone. There were also times I consulted Google Translate (if only I'd kept my HAT woordeboek). But I just LOVED it!  

Anna-Bet's turns of phrase, her bold writing style - equal parts witty, cheeky, honest, tender, and raw - is a gift to any South African reader, especially if you have even a little Afrikaans in your linguistic background.

But here's the good news...

We were told to watch this space, as Anna-Bet's next goal is to translate her collection into English, which was music to 75% of the audience's ears.

The title? Probably, “STUFF THAT HAS HAPPENED TO PEOPLE IN PLACES”, or something along those lines.  

My final take?

This writer’s voice - and this collection - deserve a place on the bookshelves and in the hearts of both Afrikaans and English readers.

P.S. If this is your first introduction to Anna-Bet Stemmet, then check out her socials or get to know a little more about this word wrangler and ink slinger on her website. 

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Written by Leanne Johnson