20-year-old author bridges SA's past and present through historical fiction

DEBUT author Alia Khan Koumantarakis has turned a turbulent chapter of South Africa's past into a moving literary piece, bringing to light the silent echoes of history in her novel, RIOT.

- NADIA KHAN

The official book launch will take place at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban on December 6.

Khan Koumantarakis, 20, who lives in Cape Town, said she began developing RIOT as a screenplay shortly after the unrest and violence that took place in Durban in July 2021.

"During the 2021 riots, I remember the shock and fear that spread through communities, and I couldn't help but wonder if something like this had ever happened before. That's when my mother told me about the 1949 riots, a time when the same city, the same streets, and the same communities were torn apart by violence and racial tension.

"What fascinated me was how few people my age even knew this event had occurred. I wanted to use storytelling, through film and literature, to uncover that silence and give it a voice. The initial script version was published in 2022. I later decided to adapt it into a novel, which was completed and published in 2025," she said.

Khan Koumantarakis, who hails from Durban, said writing RIOT became both a creative and emotional journey.

"It was not just to retell a tragedy, but to understand the human side of it. I wanted to explore how history repeats itself when we don't confront it, and how love, empathy, and shared humanity can exist even in moments of division and hatred."