From the Editor’s Desk

From the Editor’s Desk is an occasional series of dispatches from our founder Jessica. This first appeared in our newsletter (which you can subscribe to here).

I’m back in the U.S. again and while it feels great to be home, I admit that I miss my “other” home. Visiting South Africa is always a mixture of nostalgia and excitement, an odd feeling of visiting an old love and meeting a new love all at the same time.
Continue reading “From the Editor’s Desk”

Notes from the 2019 ALA Conference

I had a great time at ALA2019 in Washington D.C.

Booth 707

Catalyst Press shared booth space at the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative booth with several other publishers who focus on international and translated literature. GLLI was founded by Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds, who is also the talented translator of our  recent release The Wall by Max Annas. Business was booming at the GLLI booth, with a lot of interest in publications from Africa. I brought 60 Advance Review Copies, which were snatched up before noon on Saturday, the first full day. We trust that they got into the hands of librarians who care and who will promote African writers and books set in Africa. Continue reading “Notes from the 2019 ALA Conference”

From the Editor’s Desk: 2018 Reflections

This comes from our newsletter series, From the Editor’s Desk, where Catalyst founder/publisher, Jessica, gives you a peek behind the Catalyst curtain. Subscribe to our newsletter to get more looks inside Catalyst HQ, author Q&As, giveaways, and more!

I have to tell you the truth, I’m feeling kind of tired. But it’s a good tired! 2018 was a whirlwind year (following 2017, its own kind of whirlwind) and included many firsts. For this Editor‘s Desk column, I thought I’d tell you what some of those firsts were–all of them worthy of celebration. And hopefully I’ll find some time to do just that this month–celebrate all the firsts of 2018. Continue reading “From the Editor’s Desk: 2018 Reflections”

Jessica Powers at the TLA Conference

If you’re in town for the Texas Library Association’s annual conference two things are true: one, you’re going to see so many amazing books and authors; and two, you’re going to have several opportunities to see Catalyst’s own Jessica Powers. This time, she’s taking off her publisher hat (well, pushing it slightly to the side) to make room for her author’s hat. She’ll be signing copies of her newest book Broken Circle (Akashic Books), and generally being awesome at a couple of talks.

On Wednesday, April 4 she’ll be signing books at the Ingram Librarians Party on Wednesday night from 5:30-7 (The Underground at Frankie’s Downtown 1303 Main St. Dallas, TX 75202). On Thursday April 5, she’ll be at the afternoon Texas Tea with the Authors at the Omni Hotel. And, on Friday, April 6 she’ll be on a panel (CPE#531: SBEC 1.0) “The Language of Dreams: Fantasy Fiction for Young Adults” from 10:30 – 11:30 am.

Stop by any of these. Say hello and don’t be alarmed by the sheer number of hats she’s wearing (at last count—author, publisher, editor, publicist…).

 

 

Notes from NCTE

NCTE was held in St. Louis this year. The view wasn’t so bad.

November was a busy month here at Catalyst/Story Press Africa HQ. Our authors were shining at other blogs and getting stellar reviews for their great work. Meanwhile, our publisher, editor,  and general get-things-done-er, Jessica has been pretty busy, too. She’s been donning her cloak (she switched the cape out for it) at readings and conferences across the country in promotion for her new book, Broken Circle (Akashic Books), with (of course) a healthy dose of Catalyst thrown in.

The sibling duo at this year’s NCTE conference.

 

Most recently, Jessica and her co-author (her brother Matt) were at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) conference and the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) in St. Louis. Jessica presented on books and social justice at NCTE, and the duo were also being awesome on a panel at ALAN. And two of our books, We Kiss Them With Rain and Shaka Rising were presented in front of nearly 600 educators at ALAN.

And you know what? You know why we do this thing we do? Why we play with words, arranging and rearranging them, turning them over, just to make sure that for a minute, for a page, for a paragraph, for a sentence someone gets to find themselves in book? I could tell you, but I think Matt said it way better than I could on the panel.

In recounting his struggles with reading as a child and how much teachers, storytellers, and people who love literature can make a difference in helping a kid see themselves in words, Matt (beautifully) said:

“In your classrooms, you are a family. You can help give kids who need it an identity, a story of themselves, that helps them make it.”

That’s why we do it. Every reader was that kid once, and maybe still is. Each of our books, from the darkest crime novel to an educational graphic novel, is about reaching a reader.

One thing I’ve always loved is hearing one of our authors, Martin Steyn (Dark Traces) talk about what got him into writing. It was reading Stephen King and losing himself in that world that made want to create that feeling for someone else. It’s unbearably cool that we get to do that here, that we get to share stories and let storytellers do their thing.

Story Press Africa in the Publisher Spotlight Booth at NCTE.