Author: SarahBelle Selig | Page 3

The Spark: Week of March 20

Hot from the Press

We’re so excited to have officially launched our GlobalComix page last week! GlobalComix is a platform for comics readers and creatives anywhere in the world to discover, read and publish comics and graphic novels online. You can check out our publisher page to read all of our graphic novels from your phone or computer, and be sure to give us a follow to be the first to access our upcoming releases!

Get out your calendars, because our authors have some amazing events coming up! This coming Tuesday March 29 at 6:30pm Pacific Time, Catalyst authors Richard Conyngham (All Rise: Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa – A Graphic History) and Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (The History of Man) will be appearing at PubWest Live, a virtual event hosted by PubWest and Massy Arts. The event also features Christopher Chávez, author of The Sound of Exclusion: NPR and the Latinx Public. Register here!

And on April 5 at 7pm Pacific Time, join author Caroline Kurtz for a livestreamed reading and discussion of her new book Today is Tomorrow with Annie Bloom’s Books–and get a signed copy if you pre-order from Annie Bloom’s!

Introducing The Spark

Welcome to The Spark, our weekly roundup of news from Catalyst and beyond. This is our first edition with our brand new fancy name. Think of The Spark as a quick burst of news, a little shorter than our monthly(ish) newsletter, but just as fun. A fun-sized version of the Catalyst news you know and love. If you’re not subscribed to the full-sized version, be sure to subscribe here!

Hot from the Press

Two great mentions for Catalyst Press authors this week! Nigerian author Wole Talabi named his top ten favorite stories of 2021, and two (!!) stories from Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa were listed (“Shelter” by Mbozi Haimbe, and “Five Years Next Sunday” by Idza Luhumyo). We are proud to be the North American publisher for Disruption, available in stores and online. And Consortium Library Express featured a sneak peak of Niki Daly’s newest Lolo book, Fly High, Lolo. Fly High, Lolo is available for pre-order now. For more info on the Lolo early reader series, check out the “From the Backlist” section below.

This Week in Literary News

We’ve changed our weekly literary news roundup just a bit for the new year. From now on, you’ll find tips on #ReadingAfrica all year round, great titles to check out from our backlist, and of course, other bookish news from across the internet. Think of this as a mini newsletter (for the regular-sized serving of our newsletter, subscribe here). Happy reading!

Public libraries are doing great, but literary magazines–not so much. Apple Books launched its new book club, and We Need Diverse Books started a grant for educators teaching diverse stories. The Rathbones Folio Prize and the Waterstone Children’s Book Prize announced their shortlists, and the National Book Foundation announced its inaugural titles for its new Science and Literature program. Ashley Bryan, beloved author of children’s books on Black lives including Beautiful Blackbird, died at age 98.

Catalyst South Africa is Growing!

Hi everyone!

If we haven’t met, I’m SarahBelle Selig and I’m the South African Office Head for Catalyst Press—or as I like to call it, “boots on the ground” in Cape Town for all things Catalyst. My role changes by the day: it could be publicizing a new book, meeting with our distributors, coordinating an event, or, my personal favorite, catching up with one of our amazing authors.

We’ve had a few big changes here in South Africa lately, including transitioning to our new local distributor, Protea Distribution, releasing a new fiction book and a graphic novel, and last but certainly not least, welcoming a new member to the team, Izak de Vries!

Izak is technically new to Catalyst, but he’s been a part of the Catalyst family for years. He previously worked for our former distributor Lapa Uitgewers, but he’s also been a close friend of Jessica’s for many years—so he’s been an incredible friend to the press since our founding in 2017, and has been a champion of our books in more ways than one. Now, Izak writes for LitNet, and he has graciously joined our team part-time to help me steer the boat and expand our work here in South Africa.

Whether it’s out and about at a book launch, or sipping cups of coffee in his Mowbray home with a dog in my lap, I love any opportunity I get to work with (and learn from) Izak, so I’m especially thrilled that he’s joined the team. And I can’t wait to introduce him to you today!

You can also stay up-to-date on Catalyst South Africa, by subscribing to our South Africa-focused mailing list (which will occasionally feature Afrikaans editions)

Continue reading “Catalyst South Africa is Growing!”

This Week in Literary News: The #ReadingAfrica Recap Edition

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for joining us this week for our fifth annual #ReadingAfrica Week, our annual celebration of African literature. In lieu of a literary news blog this week, we decided to give you a #ReadingAfrica recap, to share all of the fun activities we hosted this week in one place.

From virtual events to social media challenges to playlists, we wait all year for #ReadingAfrica, because it’s the best opportunity to interact with YOU, our Catalyst family. While our books celebrate African authors and African stories all year round, #ReadingAfrica is such a great way to bring everyone together and make some noise—and this year the noise was the loudest it has ever been!

So if you missed out on the fun, don’t worry: #ReadingAfrica week 2021 may be over, but thanks to our friends over at LitNet, LitHub, and CrimeReads, you can check out the full recordings and transcripts of the events you missed by clicking the links below. Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: The #ReadingAfrica Recap Edition”

This Week in Literary News: Week of November 14

First up, some Catalyst news! Make sure to mark your calendars for three epic virtual events we’re hosting for our fifth annual #Reading Africa week: an African comics and graphic novels event on December 6^th, an African kid lit event on December 8^th, and an African women authors’ event on December 10^th. All events will be held at 12:00pm EST, or 7:00pm SAST. #ReadingAfrica week starts December 5^th and lasts all week long, so be sure to follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to join in on the festivities!

ICYMI, Brittle Paper and Radical Books Collective hosted their “Beyond Wakanda” event last week, a celebration of African speculative fiction. Catch up on this awesome panel between Catalyst’s The Theory of Flight author Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu and Cosmogramma author Courttia Newland, led by Lizzy Attree. And lastly, Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa cover designer Megan Ross was named a finalist for the 2021 GBAS Book Cover Awards!

In industry news, Empire of Pain author Patrick Radden Keefe took home the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction this week, and the winners of the 2021 National Book Awards were announced. Learn more about this year’s fiction winner, Jason Mott, and his novel, Hell of a Book. A Harry Potter 20^th anniversary reunion is airing on New Year’s Day, The Girls author Emma Cline is starting an imprint, and finance celebrity Gary V. secured one million sales of his new book in one weekend—by leveraging NFTs. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is releasing a new book, and so is Kevin from “The Office.”

Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of November 14”

This Week in Literary News: Week of October 24

First up, some Catalyst news! We’ve got some great upcoming events for you to join this November:

We Kiss Them with Rain author Futhi Ntshingila and Bom Boy author Yewande Omotoso are participating in the 2021 Open Book Festival’s podcast series, running from November 8-24, and on November 6 at 2pm EST (8pm South Africa), The Theory of Flight author Siphiwe Ndlovu will be in conversation with Cosmogramma author Courttia Newland and moderator Sean Jacobs, hosted by WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn! Here’s the registration info.

Can’t get enough Siphiwe and Courttia? Us either! Check out The Radical Books Collective’s “Beyond Wakanda! Celebrating New African Speculative Fiction” day on November 12 from 11am-2pm EST (5pm-8pm in SA), which features another conversation between Siphiwe and Courttia, moderated by Lizzy Attree.

To celebrate these two awesome events, take 15% off of The Theory of Flight when you order from our site, this month only! Use code RADICAL at checkout. And speaking of Courttia, we spotted him on Electric Lit this week! Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of October 24”

Author Q&A: Glynnis Hayward

Note: We are the publisher for the South African release of the book. For US purchases, please visit Glynnis’ author page on Amazon.

We’re thrilled to team up with author Glynnis Hayward to distribute her newest novel, Roads and Bridges, in South Africa.

Glynnis, a Pulitzer Center award-winning writer, was born and raised in South Africa. After graduating from the University of Natal in KwaZulu Natal, she taught English before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s. Roads and Bridges, which follows an American Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa as she attempts to adopt a young orphan and falls for a local man, is her fourth novel. Her first three—A Telling Truth, A Significant Test of Blood, and Light on a Dark Secret—are all set primarily in South Africa and California.

Before Roads and Bridges’ November 1st release, we caught up with Glynnis to chat about being an expat, opening oneself up to others’ truths, and navigating the many liminalities—cultural, emotional, and spiritual—explored in her new novel.

Continue reading “Author Q&A: Glynnis Hayward”

This Week in Literary News: Week of October 3

First up, a few updates on your favorite Catalyst authors! Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, author of award-winning novel The Theory of Flight and her upcoming follow-up, The History of Man, recently spoke at the Harare Book Club, and you can catch up on the event here. And mark your calendars for Saturday November 6^th at 2pm EST, when Siphiwe will be in conversation with author Courttia Newland in a discussion of Afro-futurism, in partnership with Brooklyn’s Word Bookstore.

Futhi Ntshingila, author of We Kiss Them With Rain is celebrating the launch of her new book, They Got to You Too, in South Africa on Tuesday October 12^th at 18:30 SA time, 12:30pm EST, and you can tune in live. Congratulations, Futhi! Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of October 3”

This Week in Literary News: Week of September 19

First up, a few Catalyst events coming your way in the next few weeks! Tomorrow, Saturday 25^th at 9am EST (15:00 South Africa time), join The Theory of Flight author Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu as she chats with the Harare Book Club, by joining live on Twitter and Instagram @hararebookclub. And mark your calendars for 10:00pm EST on October 3rd, when Siphiwe will be participating in the Who? New! panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival!

Also tomorrow: from 10am to 1pm UK time (11:00 to 14:00 in South Africa, or 5am to 8am EST for our early birds in the USA!), join Divine Justice author Joanne Hichens as she cohosts a Crime Writing Workshop on Zoom. Can’t do the live session? The self-pace version will be available on All About Writing‘s website starting September 28^th.

Finally, we’re so thrilled to see our very own Catalyst Press publicist, Ashawnta Jackson, on the front page of Crime Reads today, with her fascinating piece on how depictions of women in murder ballads illuminate the history of gender-based violence.

In book awards news, the 2021 National Book Awards longlist, the Cundill History Prize shortlist, and the 2021 Kids’ Book Choice Awards finalists were all announced this week. And ICYMI, the Booker shortlist was released last week, and features Damon Galgut from South Africa! Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of September 19”