Category: Crime Novels | Page 2

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”

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”

This Week in Literary News: Week of October 4

Awards abound! The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to poet Louise Glück this week. The committee chose Glück, who has also won the Pulitzer prize and the National Book Award, “for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.” Glück is the first American woman to win the award since Toni Morrison 27 years ago, and only the 16th woman of the 117 winners, overall. New to Glück and want to know where to start with her work? Poet Fiona Sampson writes about Gluck’s work and chooses some of her favorite poems for The Guardian.

In other award news, the MacArthur Foundation announced the 21 recipients of its fellowship, also known as the “Genius Grant.” In addition to an evolutionary geneticist, a property law scholar, and a documentary filmmaker, this year’s grantees also included quite a few names from the literary world: authors, Jacqueline Woodson, Cristina Rivera Garza, Fred Moten, N. K. Jemisin, Tressie McMillan Cottom, and playwright Larissa FastHorse. Learn more about all of the fellows here.

Not an award, but a really big deal nonetheless: Kevin Young, currently cultural director of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center and poetry editor of the New Yorker, has been named the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Per the Washington Post, during his time at the Schomburg, “Young created a Black Liberation Reading List with 95 books and coordinated programs. He also brought the Harlem-based archives of Harry Belafonte, James Baldwin, Sonny Rollins, Fred “Fab 5 Freddy” Brathwaite, and Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee to the center as part of “Home to Harlem,” a program that focuses on how artists shaped, and were shaped by, the neighborhood.” Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of October 4”

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”

New Release this Month

This month we’re now the publisher for not one, but two thrillers by award-winning author Max Annas. The Farm, which released earlier this month, is a taut thriller set in a rural South African farmhouse. When unknown and unseen shooters attack in the dark of night, a diverse group of people barricade themselves inside the house. No one knows who the target is, no one knows what the motive is, and no one knows who will survive the night.

The Farm, translated by Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds, was the winner of the 2015 German Crime Prize. The Farm joins The Wall, another award-winning novel from Max, as part of our African Crime Reads Series. These place-based novels offer mysteries and thrills— from police procedurals, to techo-thrillers, to family dramas— all set in locations around the continent.

Both The Farm and The Wall are out now. You can purchase them here at our site, or at your favorite local bookstore.

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”

This Week in Literary News: Week of August 23

Cover from the Turkish translation of *Dark Traces*

A huge congratulations to Marieke Lucas Rijneveld. Her novel, The Discomfort of Evening (translated by Michele Hutchison) was the winner of this year’s Booker Prize. It’s always exciting to see a work in translation win honors (especially during Women in Translation Month!). The role of the translator in bringing the shapes and nuances of an author’s words to another language can’t be understated. Over at the Los Angles Review of Books, there’s a great interview with Mustafa Çevikdoğan and Mehmet Erte, both writers and editors from Turkey. Their conversation touches on the publishing landscape in Istanbul, including the large number of translations available in the country: “Our market is saturated with translations, amounting to almost half of the books released. From Chinese to Norwegian to African languages, a wide range of world literature is translated into Turkish.” One of the titles that has recently been translated to Turkish is a familiar one for us at Catalyst— Dark Traces by Martin Steyn.

Also at Los Angles Review, a. great essay by Hope Wabuke on the frameworks of Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism, two genres that, in their own ways, “center Blackness, while engaging with the ability of science fiction and fantasy to speak about the oppression of marginalized individuals.” A fascinating look at the past, present, and future of Black speculative literature. Along those lines, there’s an interview at LitHub on one of our most speculative fiction authors, Octavia Butler. Aaron Robertson talks with illustrator James Ransome who illustrated a special edition of Butler’s 1979 novel Kindred.

Let’s move from speculative fiction to the other end of the scale: non-fiction. Emma Copley Eisenberg writes in Esquire about the process of fact-checking non-fiction books, including her own. From her piece: “When I set out to write my first book, I wanted to write a book that examined the very nature of facts and how we turn them into stories. To do this, I knew, I would have to get every fact that was verifiable correct. The more you want to ask the big, shifty questions, the more your foundation must be rock solid.” Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of August 23”

This Week in Literary News: Week of August 16

This week’s news is up a little later than usual, but filled with enough news to get you through your week ahead!

Jacana Media has issued its annual call for the Gerald Kraak Prize and Anthology, an anthology and prize on the topics of gender, human rights and sexuality, for writers and photographers across Africa. Submissions are open all year.

Speaking of Jacana, we’re pretty impressed with their “Don’t Shut Up” conversation, masterclass, and broadside series. If you haven’t checked these out, you should. You can catch up on old conversations at their Crowdcast website.

Publishers Weekly reports that even though many independent bookstores have closed permanently, some brave, entrepreneurial book-lovers have actually opened new bookstores during the pandemic! And they are succeeding! We love bookstores and are pleased to hear it. Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of August 16”

This Week in Literary News: Week of August 9

All this month we’re having a Summer Friday sale where you can save big (really big. 40% off big) on a themed selection of our titles. Last week it was out kids/YA books, and this week, we’re celebrating our women authors. Save 40% on some great books by using the code SUMMERFRIDAYS when you check out. This sale is only available when you order through our site.

And speaking of women authors, this month is Women in Translation month, a great opportunity to read globally. Started in 2014 by book blogger Meytal Radzinski, this month-long celebration of world literature focuses on women authors who write in languages other than English. According to stats on Radzinski’s blog, “approximately 30% of new translations into English are of books by women writers.” Women in Translation Month encourages readers to seek out and promote these books. Use the hashtags #WomeninTranslation or #WitMonth to share your reads and to find book recommendations. CLMP also has a helpful list of titles to get you started, including our own Sacrificed by Chanette Paul. Want some more ways to broaden your reading horizons? Check out these Q&As from translators Elsa Silke, who translated Sacrificed, and Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds who translated The Wall and The Farm by Max Annas (The Wall is out now, The Farm releases September 15).

And let’s keep talking about women, because honestly, why not? The Smithsonian celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which gave many women in the US the right to vote, by highlighting 19 suffrage stories that history has often overlooked. As they write on the project’s website, “For many women, especially women of color, the fight didn’t end when the 19th Amendment went into effect on August 26, 1920.” Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of August 9”

Peter Church Interviewed in The Big Thrill Magazine

Peter Church

Last month marked the release of Bitter Pill, the final book in Peter Church’s Dark Web Trilogy, a page-turning series that explores the dark side of our digital lives.

Peter recently chatted with Michael Sears of The Big Thrill magazine to talk about his latest book, his inspiration for the book, and how his writing process has been affected by the ongoing coronavirus lockdown in South Africa. All three books of the trilogy are out now, and all summer long, we’re offering a special price on the e-books when you buy from our site!

From the article:

BITTER PILL is the third book in Peter Church’s trilogy centered on Dark Video, a malevolent pornography organization that skulks on the dark web.

The protagonist, Robbie Cullen, is a student who becomes unwittingly caught in Dark Video’s tentacles. After a chance encounter with a girl who turns out to be a stripper, he’s shocked to discover that he stars in an online sex video. When he tries to resolve the issue with the stripper, he discovers her dead.

In parallel, we follow the exploits of Julian Lynch, one of Dark Video’s customers for victims of the Mickey Finn Club—barmen who spike girls’ drinks with a date rape drug. And pulling the strings of all this is Carlos Da Palma, the secretive man behind Dark Video. He trusts no one except Samuel Chester, his hitman.

BITTER PILL is a twisty book with memorable villains. Church talks more about it in this exclusive interview for The Big Thrill.

Read the full interview at The Big Thrill