Continue reading “The Little Ambulance War of Winchester County”
The Little Ambulance War of Winchester County
Chaos in Kinshasa
Peter Church on his Dark Web Trilogy
Editor’s Note: We’re revisiting this 2020 Q&A with Peter because now you can buy all three of his thrillers in one convenient bundle! The Dark Web Trilogy bundle is out on May 16, and pre-orders are available now.
Peter Church’s Dark Web Trilogy takes readers to the dark side of our digital lives. Starting with Crackerjack, these interconnected techno-thrillers explore the dangers lurking in a shadowy, underground world where the virtual and the physical collide in dangerous ways. The final installment in the series, Bitter Pill, comes to US readers on June 15. We caught up with Peter to chat about the series, his process for writing these connected stories, and if we might see more from the characters his created.
What’s New in 2022
Fall is in the air here (translation: I’m already cold). As the calendar pages start falling away on 2021, we thought it’d be a good time to give you all a little sneak peek at our upcoming titles— many of which are available for pre-order.
We’re excited to add more books from one of our favorite children’s authors, Niki Daly, our very first young adult book in translation, and a new addition to our growing list of graphic novels. In addition to those, we think there’s something for just about every kind of reader in our 2022 catalog. Continue reading “What’s New in 2022”
Young Blood
Sifiso Mzobe in The Big Thrill
We are thrilled to be the US publisher for Sifiso Mzobe’s multi-award-winning novel Young Blood. This gripping coming-of-age/crime novel is set in the South African township of Umlazi and centers on Sipho, a teenager who finds himself spiraling deeper and deeper into the township’s criminal underworld. How far can he push his luck before there’s no turning back?
Sifiso recently sat down with Joanne Hichens for an interview with The Big Thrill Magazine about his work and the novel. If that interviewer’s name sounds familiar, it’s because Joanne can also be seen around Catalyst HQ (virtually, anyway) as the author of another one of our books— Divine Justice, which is also out now! Continue reading “Sifiso Mzobe in The Big Thrill”
Watch: Events with Catalyst Authors Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu & Sifiso Mzobe
This month, two of our authors— Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu and Sifiso Mzobe— had events. In the before-times, when you missed a great event, that was it; you saw some pictures, and your friends told you all about the fantastic time you missed. But that was then, and this is now. Now you have a second chance to check out these authors in person (or, you know, virtually, on your couch, in your pjs). Continue reading “Watch: Events with Catalyst Authors Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu & Sifiso Mzobe”
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”
Q&A with Joanne Hichens
This month, we were proud to release the thriller Divine Justice by Joanne Hichens. Divine Justice is the first book in Joanne’s Rae Valentine series, and we’re excited to introduce readers to this feisty, smart, and tough character.
Rae is a newly-minted PI, recovering addict, and in the middle of healing from a big breakup when she is hired to find a set of missing diamonds. The case sends her deep into the dark and violent world of the white supremacist gang, the Core, whose xenophobic and racist crime spree has been terrorizing Cape Town. And once the gang has Rae in their sights, the case may be more than she can handle. (And be sure to visit CrimeReads to read an essay from Joanne about the ways that the resurgence of white supremacist violence played a role in crafting hers, and other crime novels in South Africa.)
Divine Justice has earned praise from Publishers Weekly, The Mysterious Book Report, LitNet, and authors like David Swinson (The Second Girl and Trigger), who writes, “Divine Justice is a no-nonsense, walloping thriller, with an intoxicating and smart protagonist in Rae Valentine. Be sure to find a comfortable spot before opening the book because once you’re taken on the ride it is hard to get off.”
We chatted with Joanne about her work, how she handled having two books releasing at the same time, and why crime writing was a way for her to “see the baddies get what they deserve.”
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”