Joline Young

Historian in Cape Town
About Joline

Joline Young is a historian, researcher, and author who holds a Master's degree in Historical Studies at the University of Cape Town, with Distinction. Joline has spent the past decade researching the history of Simon's Town and is an authority on the subject. Joline's walking history tours of Simon's Town focus particularly, but not only, on the history of slavery in the town. Joline also offers social history and slavery tours throughout the Western Cape. Her short story 'July', set in Simon's Town, was shortlisted for the Pen-Studlinski Award and went on to receive an honorable mention from the Nobel Prizewinner, J.M. Coetzee.

Joline's book, An Uncomfortable Paradise https://www.africanbookscollective.com/books/an-uncomfortable-paradise, has recently been published. and offers an historical journey into Simon's Town.
Pertinently, the book focuses on the human stories of indigenous and enslaved people in Simon's Town, as well as people who were slaveholders. The book captures Simon's Town during the period of Dutch East India Company possession, the first British occupation, the Dutch Batavian Republic and Second British Occupation and offers a lens into the experiences of the indigenous dispossessed San and Khoi people as well as people who were either enslaved or people who were slaveholders. Copies of the book are available to purchase from Joline n her tours.

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