Resources

English Academy Review

The main publication of the English Academy is The English Academy Review: Southern African Journal of English Studies (EAR). This is a locally and internationally accredited journal, published twice a year, containing:

Scholarly refereed articles on all aspects of English including English education
Creative writing
Reviews of significant publications
Proceedings of the Academy
Academy lectures

More information regarding EAR, including the submission of articles for publication, can be found here.

Other publications

The Academy has published Better Than They Knew – an account of the contributions of English speakers in Southern Africa (ed. R.M. de Villiers. Cape Town: Purnell, vol. 1, 1972, vol. 2, 1974).

It has also published Guidelines on Terms and Punctuation, conference proceedings and occasional papers.

Members are informed on current activities by regular publication of the Newsletter.

Language Usage

Ask Oxford

The official website of Oxford dictionaries. Includes a free search of the Compact Oxford Dictionary and a free inquiry service on dictionaries, grammar, spelling, symbols, the English language, usage, words and word origins.

Words and Phrases Old and New

A chance for entertainment and enlightment. Subscribe to this service at:

Internet Grammar

The Internet Grammar of English is an online course in English grammar written primarily for university undergraduates. However, we hope that it will be useful to everyone who is interested in the English language. IGE does not assume any prior knowledge of grammar. Users of this service must pay a fee and must have Javascript on their computers.

Oxford Editorial

A private website dedicated by a former Oxford staff member to The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors and The Oxford Guide to Style (the revised edition of the famous Hart's Rules for Compositors and Readers). Also contains useful links.

South African Language- and Literature related
Organisations, Institutions and Websites

Teaching English Today

Dictionary Unit – Rhodes University

Amazwi South African Museum of Literature

The principal institution for research into South African literature written in English.

Institute for the Study of English in Africa

IBBY

SA South African branch of the International Board on Books for the Young. The only organization devoted to children’s books in all languages in South Africa. The website includes news and a membership form for those wanting to access reviews.

South African Translators’ Institute

Among the activities of the Institute, it administers the SATI Prizes for Outstanding Translation and Dictionaries.

Professional Editors' Group

The national organisation for professional editors. Among its activities it produces a newsletter listing job opportunities.

Toastmasters Southern Africa

An organization consisting of clubs of 20 members, where communication and leadership skills are enhanced. Toastmaster clubs provide a supportive environment for learning public speaking skills

Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa

Centre for the Book

The Centre for the Book is a unit of the National Library of South Africa. Its mission is to promote a South African culture of reading, writing and publishing in all local languages, and easy access to books for all South Africans. The core functions of the Centre for the Book:

Information and advice
Advocacy
Book development

The Centre for the Book website, the Children’s Literature Network, the Small Publisher’s Blog, the Writer’s Network Blog and E-groups and newsgroups provide daily sites for gathering and dissemination of information on books, reading, writing, publishing, libraries, book-selling and related issues. Particularly helpful are its publications on how to get one’s work published.

LitNet

The largest national literary site in South Africa, covering information, news and debate about fiction, poetry, theatre, film and more general cultural issues.

Book SA

Another South African website on literature, including news, blogs and a search facility to help you find a book at a book dealer.

This list includes both new works and editions of standard works. Many of them are available in public libraries. If you can’t locate what you are looking for, try your nearest university library.

English Usage

Crystal, David. Who Cares about English Usage? Penguin Books, 1984.
Fowler, H.W. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. 2nd ed., rev. Sir Ernest Gowers. Clarendon Press, 1965.
Partridge, Eric. Usage and Abusage. Penguin Books, 1981.
Peters, Pam. The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Quirk, Randolph. The Use of English. London: Longmans, 1969.
Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. Oxford University Press, 2005.

Punctuation

Straus, Jane. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation (10th ed.) Jossey-Bass, 2008.
Truss, Lynne. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. 2003.

History of the Language

Baugh, Albert C., and Thomas Cable. A History of the English Language. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978.
Bryson, Bill. The Mother Tongue: English and How it got that way. HarperCollins, 1990.
Crystal, David. The English Language. Penguin Books, 1978.
McArthur, Tom. The English Languages. Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Mesthrie, Rajend, ed. Language in South Africa. Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Dictionaries

The Chambers Dictionary (12th ed.) Chambers Harrap, 2011.
A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles. Oxford University Press, 1996. (This work is currently out of print, but is available in many larger libraries.)
Hoad, T.F. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Oxford University Press, 1986.
The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.) Prepared by J.A. Simpson and E.C. S. Weiner. 10 vols. Clarendon Press, 1989. (This major reference work is accessible in the larger reference libraries, and available to subscribers online and on CD.)
Oxford South African Concise Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2010.

Writing guides

The Economist Style Guide (10th ed.) The Economist, 2010.
Peck, John and Martin Coyle. The Student’s Guide to Writing: Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling. Macmillan, 1999.
Strunk, William and E.B. White. The Elements of Style (4th ed.) 1918. Longman, 2000.
New Hart’s Rules, Oxford University Press, 2005.
Zinsser, William K. On Writing Well. Harper Collins, 2006.

Documentation guides

Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.) University of Chicago Press, 2010.
MHRA Style Guide (3rd ed.) Modern Humanities Research Association, 2013.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th ed.) Modern Language Association, 2009.
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (3rd ed.) Modern Language Association, 2008.

Handbooks for editing and indexing

Booth, Pat. Indexing: The Manual of Good Practice. K.G. Saur, 2001.
Browne, Renni and Dave King. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (2nd ed.) William Morrow, 2004.
Einsohn, Amy. The Copyeditor’s Handbook (3rd ed.) Denver Publishing Institute, 2011.
Indexing for Southern Africa. Ed. Jacqueline A Kalley, Elna Schoeman, Marlene Burger. University of South Africa, 2005.
New Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press, 2012.
Recommendations: The preparation of indexes to books, periodicals and other publications. British Standards Institute, 1974.