The Pagecast Holiday Round-up: You Can't Stop The Sun From Shining by Sonny Bill Williams.

Loading player...
Welcome to day 1 of the Pagecast Holiday Round-up.

Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) is a once in a hundred-year athlete with immense sporting talent. He has been a national and international champion across Rugby Union, Rugby League and Boxing. Williams began his career in Rugby League, and has played in the Australian NRL with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the Sydney Roosters. He has played for the Toronto Wolfpack in Super League and has played Rugby Union for Toulon in France, Canterbury, Counties Manukau, the Crusaders, the Chiefs and the Blues in New Zealand and the Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan. He has won 58 caps for the New Zealand All Blacks and was a member of the teams that won the 2011 and 2015 Rugby Union World Cups. He has also played Rugby Sevens for New Zealand, competing in the 2015-16 World Rugby Sevens Series and the 2016 Olympics. Williams has boxed professionally seven times, winning all of his heavyweight bouts. He was the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association (NZPBA) Heavyweight Champion and World Boxing Association (WBA) International Heavyweight Champion. Away from sport, Sonny Bill Williams focuses on his family, his Islamic faith and is very involved in charity work and promoting social justice.

Co-produced by Ingrid Klückow and Nicola Bruns. A special thanks to Boomhuis studios for the studio time and technical support.
20 Dec 2021 English South Africa Books · Society & Culture

Other recent episodes

Pagecast at OBF 2026: Athi-Patra Ruga and Lethogonolo Mokogroane in conversation

For the final episode of Pagecast at the 2026 Open Book Festival, Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane is joined by Athi-Patra Ruga. Athi-Patra Ruga is a South African multidisciplinary artist whose work explores archives, spirituality, colonial histories and speculative world-building across performance, film, tapestry, sculpture and installation. He is also the co-founder of…
6 Sep 11 min

Pagecast at OBF 2026: Natalie Sifuma and Alma-Nalisha Cele in conversation

Natalie Sifuma is a Kenyan writer, researcher, and consultant currently based in Cape Town. She is the founder of Sisters in Climate — a Pan-African climate initiative — and is completing an MPhil in Inclusive Innovation at UCT’s Graduate School of Business, with a focus on social impact, climate, and…
6 Sep 11 min

Pagecast at OBF 2026: Sahra Noor and Lethogonolo Mokogroane in conversation

On this installment of Pagecast at the 2026 Open Book Festival studio, Lethogonolo Mokogroane is joined by Sahra Noor. Sahra is a Somali-American writer whose work explores belonging, migration, and the complicated work of building a life across cultures. Alongside her writing, she works in global health, supporting efforts to…
6 Sep 16 min

Pagecast at OBF 2026: Faraaz Mahomed and Alma-Nalisha Cele in conversation

Kicking off Sunday at Open Book Festival 2026, Faraaz Mahomed joins Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele in the Pagecast studio. Faraaz is a researcher in the field of mental health and human rights, based between New York and his native South Africa. His short stories and travel writing have appeared in Granta,…
6 Sep 15 min

Pagecast at OBF 2026: Kirsten Deane and Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane in conversation

For the final recording on Saturday, Kirsten Deane joins Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane in the Pagecast studio at Open Book Festival 2026. Kirsten Deane is the lead editor of English Alive, South Africa’s oldest publication for high school students. Her writing has been published in journals nationally and internationally, and her debut…
5 Sep 16 min