Category: About | CatalystPress

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!”

New This Month: Young Blood by Sifiso Mzobe

This month, we’re pleased to release Young Blood by Sifiso Mzobe! When it was released in South Africa, the novel was praised throughout the continent, earning Sifiso the South African Literary Award, the Sunday Times Literary Award, the Herman Charles Bosman Prize, and the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. Here in the U.S., the praise continued as it was named one of the Most Anticipated Crime Novels of 2021 by CrimeReads, Tsitsi Dangarembga called it one of her 10 Favorite Books in an article in Vulture, and Paul Harding, author of the Pulizter Prize winning novel Tinkers, called it “a compassionate, unsentimental, and artful portrait of a young man on the threshold of trying to preserve his life and his humanity by the very means that will almost inevitably destroy both.” We’re so happy to bring this book to U.S. readers.
Continue reading “New This Month: Young Blood by Sifiso Mzobe”

This Week in Literary News: Week of January 10

I guess this is what is known as an eventful week. There is just so very much is happening in the world at any given moment. Here’s hoping everyone has what they need to make it through this, and what are sure to be many more, eventful weeks.

One of the big events here in the US is the second impeachment of Donald Trump. I, for one, have really been putting my high-school civics education to use over the past week (and four years). For those who either want to brush up on the impeachment process, or pass along that info to a young learner, Pop Culture Classroom has a free comic about the Watergate Scandal, and “using the Watergate Scandal as context, this comic also provides students insights into the impeachment process and how it protects the checks and balances between Federal branches.” And over at JSTOR Daily (full disclosure: I’m a regular contributor there), they’ve created “Politics and Power in the United States: A Syllabus,” to help put our current political moment into historical context. And the New York Times is soliciting comments on how “teachers, particularly history, social studies, or civics teachers […]” are “addressing last Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol with their students.”

Africa in Words has a wrap-up post featuring all of the literary happenings over the past month. Festivals! Readings! New Books! Events! They’ve even included one of our favorite events from December— our #ReadingAfrica Week celebration and panel discussions.

“Women had always been part and parcel of the independence movement in Africa. In Southern Africa and Tanzania they stood side-by-side with the men to fight, so they were very much part of it.” As part of their series, “Reclaiming Africa’s Early Post-Independence History,” Africa is a Country has an interview with Fatma Alloo of the Tanzania Media Women’s Association on how women have, and continue to, use media to create change. Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of January 10”

This Week in Literary News: Week of January 3

In Catalyst news, CrimeReads included Sifiso Mzobe’s North American debut, Young Blood, as one of their most anticipated crime books of 2021! Young Blood will be available in April. BookClubz also selected Helen Brain’s The Thousand Steps, the first book in her dystopian Fiery Spiral trilogy, as their Young Adult pick for January! The second book in the series, The Rising Tide, is out later this year. And we’ll soon be partnering with BookClubz to coordinate a Catalyst Press book club featuring contemporary and classic African literature – so stay tuned!

The writing world lost Eric Jerome Dickey this week, who died at 59 after a several year battle with cancer. Dickey wrote almost 30 novels on topics of Black life and love and sold more than 7 million copies. In South Africa, beloved cookbook author and food critic Dorah Sithole died at the age of 67, just months after the release of her newest book, 40 Years of Iconic Food, which follows her journey from a child in a South Africa township learning to love food to traveling the world as a leader in African cuisine. Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of January 3”

Designing the Cover for The Theory of Flight

We spend a lot of time talking about what’s inside of our books— and with good reason! But one thing that makes books such a great experience, both inside and out, is the cover art. We’ve been so very lucky to work with artist/writer Karen Vermeulen on a number of book covers, including Love Interrupted, The Thousand Steps, and Unmaking Grace. Karen also did both the cover art and illustrations for Small Mercies, and we’re also proud to be the publisher for her forthcoming illustrated memoir. Stay tuned for more info on that!

Karen’s work has helped tell a piece of the story before the first page is even turned, and that’s really clear in her cover design for the forthcoming release The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu. This beautiful novel with hints of magical realism is set in an unnamed African country, and, through the lives of interconnected families, tells the story of decades of national history.

We chatted with Karen about her process of designing the cover for The Theory of Flight. You can read more about her work in this Q&A, and be sure to check out her website, Instagram, and Twitter.

Continue reading “Designing the Cover for The Theory of Flight”

Join us for #ReadingAfrica 2020!

Three years ago, we had an idea. What if we got readers, publishers, librarians, authors, and everyone who loves books together to celebrate African literature? That was the start of our Reading Africa Week celebration, and this year we’re excited to hold it for the fourth time. Each year during the first full week of December— this year December 6-12— we ask book lovers of all kinds to use the hashtag #ReadingAfrica on posts that highlight African literature. Whether it’s a new release or an old favorite, poetry or comics, non-fiction or a thriller, make sure to use #ReadingAfrica across social media to let us know what you’re reading.

Part of why we’re so excited about Reading Africa Week is that it shows the diversity of writing from the continent. As our colleague at Cassava Republic, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, noted “African writing is not a genre. It encapsulates different genres.” Readers of all kinds can find something to love when they read globally. Over the past three years, we’ve seen booklists, playlists, videos, amazing articles, and one year, when Africa Science Week overlapped, a fantastic assortment of academic papers and scientific studies. All this is to say, this is one of our favorite weeks. We get to talk (even more) about books and authors we love, and we get to learn more about the books and authors you love. For us, the magic of discovering a new author, a new poem, or a new book to share with a child you love never goes away.

We’re looking forward to sharing even more great books and authors with you this year.

Update: We’ve added a new piece to our #ReadingAfrica Week celebration! Join us for two virtual events. Both are free, but registration is required. More information here.

Coming in 2021: Young Blood by Sifiso Mzobe

For the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting our upcoming releases for the new year. You’ll learn a bit about our 2021 releases, their authors, and information about pre-ordering.

We’re excited to welcome Sifiso Mzobe to the Catalyst Press roster of authors. We’re so proud to be the North American publisher for his multi-award-winning novel Young Blood. We’re not kidding when we say “multi-award-winning.” When it was published in South Africa, Sifiso’s gritty coming-of-age novel earned him the South African Literary Award, the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize, the Herman Charles Bosman Prize, and the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa— one of African literature’s most prestigious awards. Continue reading “Coming in 2021: Young Blood by Sifiso Mzobe”

Coming in 2021: The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu

For the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting our upcoming releases for the new year. You’ll learn a bit about our 2021 releases, their authors, and information about pre-ordering.

We’ve been proud to be the North American publisher for several acclaimed and award-winning books. Bom Boy (South African Literary Award), Love Interrupted (Aidoo-Synder Book Prize), and Unmaking Grace (University of Johannesburg Prize for South African writing), among others. We’re pleased to add another such title to our catalog in 2021: The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu.

Continue reading “Coming in 2021: The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu”

Coming in 2021: Divine Justice by Joanne Hichens

For the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting our upcoming releases for the new year. You’ll learn a bit about our 2021 releases, their authors, and information about pre-ordering.

Since our founding, part of our mission has been to show thriller readers the wonders of South African crime fiction. Our first two releases were thrillers, after all. We’ve loved them from the beginning. We couldn’t be happier to add another title to our African Crime Reads Series—place-based crime and thriller novels set in locations throughout the continent— Divine Justice by Joanne Hichens. Continue reading “Coming in 2021: Divine Justice by Joanne Hichens”

This Week in Literary News

The impact from the devastating fires across the Western United States has extended to bookstores and publishers, Publishers Weekly reports. “This is a very scary time to be a bookseller and a small business owner,” says Kit Steinaway, the programs manager at the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC). The article notes some ways that you can help, including by donating to BINC, an organization that provides aids to booksellers during fire season. If you’d like information about other organizations that can use your help, this article at The Cut offers some suggestions.

This month is National Translation Month, and we’re proud to publish the English-language translations of several fantastic books. National Translation Month falls right after Women in Translation Month, so if you’re looking to read globally, there have been so many great suggestions over the past two months. Over at CLMP, there’s been two round-ups of books from indie publishers, and we’re in both! Sacrificed by Chanette Paul (translated by Elsa Silke) has a spot on the Women in Translation list, while The Wall by Max Annas, translated by Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds is on the National Translation Month list. And speaking of Max, his latest thriller, The Farm, also translated by Rachel, released earlier this week! Congratulations, Max!

The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu

Max gets double congratulations this week, as his German-language thriller, Morduntersuchungskommission was named the winner of the 2020 Cologne Crime Award. And in other award news, the Booker Prize has released its shortlist. Of the six nominated shortlisted books for the prestigious award, four are from debut authors, four are women-authored, and two are by African authors, including Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body. Aside from being fans of her work, Tsitsi is special here at Catalyst since she graciously provided a blurb for our forthcoming release The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu. Tsitsi called Siphiwe’s debut “A dazzling novel of delicate and astonishing magic.” The Theory of Flight is out in January. Continue reading “This Week in Literary News”