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Women in Translation Month, Chanette Paul

In her post introducing this year’s Women in Translation Month, the event’s creator Meytal Radzinski writes about what she hopes comes from this year’s event:

People learning about the publishing imbalance in translation between men and women. People seeking out new and diverse literature by women writers from around the world. And people doing it not out of any sense of obligation or guilt, but because there are so many good books that this just becomes a month that focuses their reading.

It’s not just about this August, or next August, but about celebrating diverse literature every day. Expanding just one month’s reading list can open up a world of possibilities, of viewpoints, of ideas. It’s what we hope our books do for our readers, and, more to the point, what we hope reading does. We step outside of our lives every time we open a book, and whether that new experience brings us joy, or thrills, or sadness, or knowledge, we leave with more understanding. Now, more than ever, we need to look towards diverse voices and perspectives in art and listen to their stories.

As part of Women in Translation Month, we’d like to introduce you to some of our authors who are working in translation. First up, Chanette Paul:

Chanette is a South African author of more than 40 books in her native language Afrikaans. On October 10, we are pleased to release her first English-language novel Sacrificed (translated by Elsa Silke), a translation of Offerlam. Sacrificed follows Caz Colijn from the Congo’s diamond mines to Belgium’s finest art galleries, and from Africa’s civil unrest to its deeply spiritual roots in her search for the truth about her trouble past.

Continue reading “Women in Translation Month, Chanette Paul”

Interview with Catalyst Founder Jessica Powers

While at the recent ALA Conference, our superhero founder Jessica Powers took some time out to speak with Lisa Degliantoni from the podcast The Lisa D Show.

Their conversation covers Jessica’s road from African Studies PhD student to independent publisher (with a few stops along the way for teaching, motherhood, novel-writing and publishing, a long-time career as an editor, and, well, all the life that happened in between). Have a listen!

 

 

 

 

Tales from Booth 3120A: Catalyst Press at ALA Annual Conference

I’m going to pick just a few words to describe Catalyst’s weekend at the American Librarian Association‘s Annual Conference. Here goes: Authors, diversity, publishers, and superheroes. Stick with me. Continue reading “Tales from Booth 3120A: Catalyst Press at ALA Annual Conference”

Excerpt from Chanette Paul’s Novel Sacrificed

In Chanette Paul’s US debut, Sacrificed, we meet Caz Colijn, a woman whose quiet and secluded life is interrupted by new discoveries from her troubled past. Many thanks to Books Live for featuring this excerpt:

Prologue
17 January 1961
Katanga, Congo

The night air reeked of savanna dust, sweat and fear. Of betrayal, greed and the thirst for power. A stench Ammie knew well.

César’s left hand gripped her arm. The right hand was clenched around her jaw.

“Watch, bitch,” he hissed in her ear. “Watch!”

Elijah stood under an acacia, a hare in the headlights. It was new moon. At the fringes of the pale smudge between somewhere and nowhere loomed the vague shapes of more trees. Somewhere to the left something rustled in the tall grass. A jackal howled in the distance, its mate echoing the mournful cry.

A command rang out, followed by the distinct sound of four rifles being cocked. She wanted to close her eyes but she kept staring as if her eyelids were starched.

Elijah coughed and spat out a gob of bloody mucus. His vest, once white, was smeared with soil, sweat, saliva, blood. One shoe was missing. He wasn’t looking at the soldiers with their rifles. From behind the lopsided spectacles on his battered face his eyes searched out her own. The glare on the lenses made it impossible to read the expression in his eyes.
Another command. Rifles raised to shoulders.

Read the rest at Books Live

 

 

 

Excerpt From Martin Steyn’s Novel Dark Traces

Many thanks to Books Live for publishing this excerpt from Martin Steyn’s upcoming novel, Dark Traces. Dark Traces, Steyn’s debut novel in English, follows Detective Jan Magson and Inspector Colin Menck as they race against the clock to search for a killer.

One
March 9, 2014. Sunday.

“Yet another Sunday lunch with the family interrupted by blood and maggots,” remarked Warrant Officer Colin Menck beside him. “What a great job we have, hey, Mags?”

Behind the wheel Warrant Officer Jan Magson did not respond. He simply continued along the meandering Vissershok Road out of Durbanville, looking for the murder scene.

“Casey has embarked on a grand campaign to get a horse for her birthday. Next year, when she turns ten. Because it’s a special birthday.”

Magson glanced at the horses looking out over the white wooden fence. Further on, on the opposite side of the road, a sign indicated the turn-off to the Meerendal Wine Estate. The rest was just vineyards, the green much too vivid. He didn’t want a new docket.

“So I’m talking to myself again today.”

Sometimes Menck was like a child whose mouth had to be in constant motion, opening and closing, emitting sound. “I didn’t sleep well,” said Magson.

“I don’t ask a lot. ‘Yes’. ‘Oh’. Even a grunt will do.

Read the rest at Books Live

Catalyst Press Featured in Publishers Weekly

Many thanks to Publishers Weekly for featuring our launch.

Drawing on her years of publishing experience and love of African culture, Jessica Powers, YA author and longtime editor and publicist at Cinco Puntos Press, has started Catalyst Press. The indie publisher will focus initially on contemporary African literature, as well as graphic novels based on African historical events and figures.

Catalyst Press is launching with four titles this fall, and has distribution through Consortium. The house’s initial list will include three adult novels released under the Catalyst imprint, in addition to the first title in the African Graphic Novel Series, a line of YA graphic novels based on African historical events and figures.

Read more at Publishers Weekly