In Catalyst Press news, the winners of this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize have been announced! We’re thrilled to be releasing Disruption, the newest Short Story Day Africa anthology, to the North American market in September. Disruption features stories from 21 new and emerging authors from across Africa, including the winning short stories of this year’s prize. Pre-orders are available now.
We love graphic novels. Over the years, we have published two graphic novels for young readers by Luke Molver on the life of legendary Zulu leader, King Shaka. We’re excited to release another graphic novel exploring another piece of African history— Madame Livingstone: Congo and the First World War. This historical graphic novel for adult readers is a story of war, adventure, and friendship.
Gaston Mercier, a lieutenant in the Royal Belgian Army, arrives at Lake Tanganyika, Congo in 1915 on orders to sink a critical German warship, the Graf Von Götzen. To aid him on this mission, he is paired with a local guide, an enigmatic mixed-race African and the supposed son of the famous explorer, David Livingstone, nicknamed “Madame Livingstone” for the Scottish kilt he wears. Together, while the pair hunts down the ship, Mercier learns more about the land around him and discovers the irrevocable and tragic effects of colonialism on the local people.
Madame Livingstone is written by Christophe Cassiau-Haurie, illustrated by Barly Baruti, and translated from the French by Ivanka Hahnenberger. Christophe is the author of several comics and graphic novels, and is a library curator and comics specialist. He is currently Director of Public Services for the National and University Library of Strasbourg. Barly is is a renowned Congolese cartoonist, and the co-founder of the Atelier de Création et de l’Initiation à l’Art (Creative Workshop for an Initiation to Art) to encourage talented youth in Kinshasa. Ivanka is a translator who has translated notable books such as Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh, and recently, the award-winning Catherine’s War by Julia Billet and illustrated by Claire Fauvel. We chatted with all three to talk about their work, the comic scene across the African continent, and what it was like to bring this work to a new audience. Continue reading “Q&A with the Authors and Translator of Madame Livingstone”
This week marked the release of our third graphic novel— Madame Livingstone written by Christophe Cassiau-Haurie, illustrated by Barly Baruti, and translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger. You may remember this book from such illustrious appearances as The New York Times,Publishers Weekly, and Foreword Reviews This historical tale of friendship and adventure is set in Congo during World War I. Stay tuned for a Q&A with the book’s creators later this month!
Mark your calendars for this great talk: On June 22, NYU’s Center for Black Visual Culture/Institute of African American Affairs presents a conversation with author Kevin Adonis Browne and Temple University Global Studies professor, Harvey R. Neptune on “Carnival and the Poetics of Caribbean Culture”
Over at AfroPop, an exploration of the Cuban intervention in Angola, and “Through music, interviews, and historical radio clips, producer Ned Sublette, author of Cuba and Its Music, tells the story of Cuba’s massive commitment in Africa, from the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and the subsequent independence of Congo, to the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.” Listen to the story here.Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of June 6”
We’re pleased to release two new books this May and June— You’re a Star, Lolo by Niki Daly and Madame LIvingstone by Christophe Cassiau-Haurie, Barly Baruti, and Ivanka Hahnenberger. Both books are available through your favorite bookseller, and right here on our site
YOU”RE A STAR LOLO
In May, we released You’re a Star, Lolo, the third book in author/illustrator Niki Daly’s Lolo series for beginning readers. The book was praised in a starred review from Kirkus, “[D]rawn tenderly and told in a way that honors the characters and their culture. Another winning addition—Lolo is indeed a star!”
You’re a Star, Lolo joins Here Comes Lolo and Hooray for Lolo in the Lolo series of books that introduce young readers to the adventurous and fun-loving Lolo who lives in South Africa with her mother and grandmother. Make sure to also check out all of the educational resources for the series including teaching guides, activity pages, a read-along with the author, and more!
Order:
MADAME LIVINGSTONE
This week saw this release of Madame Livingstone, a graphic novel set in World War 1 Congo. Written by Christophe Cassiau-Haurie, illustrated by Barly Baruti, and translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger this story of adventure and friendship finds Belgian pilot Gaston Mercier teamed with a local guide, an enigmatic man nicknamed Madame Livingstone. Together, the pair set out on a nearly impossible mission: finding and sinking a critical German warship, the Graf Von Götzen. Little by little as the war between Belgian and German colonial powers rages on, Mercier learns more about the land around him, and discovers the irrevocable and tragic effects of colonialism on the local people.
On May 22, the Harlem Arts Alliance is hosting “Voices of the Coast,” an online exhibit and panel discussion that will “unite the voices and coasts of visual artists and cultural commentators from Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, and the African Diaspora.” The companion exhibition is scheduled for later this year.
Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate saw a picture “that would catapult her to global fame — not for what it showed, but for what it did not.” Great article in the New York Times exploring Nakate’s story of erasure, racism, being “a fighter for the people and the planet,” and her new book set for release this November.
Tomorrow is Independent Bookstore day! Check out IndieBound’s indie bookstore finder and go buy yourself a book (or two, or twelve–we won’t judge!) to celebrate. UK bookstores have reopened just in time to take part in the revelry, and book sales went up a third in less than a week.
Here’s a little something for the comics lovers. Michigan State University is hosting “Beyond the Black Panther: Visions of Afrofuturism in American Comics,” a virtual exhibit exploring “how themes such as aesthetics, Black feminism, and community, common to Afrofuturism, shape contemporary Black comics.”
And speaking of Afrofuturism, check out this great article at LitHub— Emily Lordi talks with pioneering musician Nona Hendryx: “There’s a whole group of speculative fiction nerd people, of which I count myself one,” who connect online and eventually collaborate—“you sort of come out of your Afrofuturism closet at some point and go ‘Ah, yes, I am just a nerd as well! I may look like this,’” she said, gesturing at her glamorous self, “‘but this is what I am.’”
Seeing yourself and your stories in the media is such a valuable and important thing. In this article from Smithsonian magazine, a profile of children’s book author Alicia D. Williams on writing the stories she wished she could see as a child. On the importance of sharing these stories with young readers, Williams says, “They’re in control of the information when they write the narrative themselves, from their point of view, instead of accepting what’s been told to them. Give them the information, and they’re the storytellers. That’s what I want.”
A wonderful and always timely project, Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities, a collaboration between Black Women Radicals and the Asian American Feminist Collective, “looks to Black and Asian American feminist histories, practices, and frameworks on care, community, and survival for the tools and strategies to continue to build towards collective liberation.” There are reading lists, interviews, articles, and more. And over at the Atlantic, an interview with author Cathy Park Hongon the wave racist attacks against Asian people.
Want to explain vaccines to a kid in your life? A new graphic novel might be just the thing. But as this New York Times article points out, the form that book takes— physical or digital— might matter. “Print makes it easier for parents and children to interact with language, questions and answers, what is called “dialogic reading.” Further, many apps and e-books have too many distractions.”
Jessica Powers
In Catalyst news, this month Catalyst founder/publisher Jessica Powers hits the digital stage of the Dallas Literary Festival as part of a panel on small presses on at Charles M. Blow, Joy Harjo, and Deesha Philyaw. Check out the full schedule of events at their website.
At Hyperallergic, Adam Katzman explores the film depictions of Ghanaian revolutionary Kwame Nkrumah. “The story of Ghana’s early years of independence mainly exists as a fragmentary, contradictory mosaic scattered over decades of celluloid memoria.”
Our friends at the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative have welcomed a new writer on board. Please join us in welcoming their newest reviewer, South African author Lebohang Masango who joins the #WorldKidLit Wednesday team.
There’s a short Q&A at Africa in Words with Lizzy Attree. Among the many things she does, Lizzy is also the director of Short Story Day Africa (SSDA), and we’ll be working with her and her team this year as the US publisher for the SSDA anthology Disruption. Stay tuned for more information on that!
“On March 6, 1971, a group of some of the top musicians from the United States -– Ike and Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, the Staple Singers, and more -– boarded a plane bound for Ghana to perform in a musical celebration that was dubbed the “Soul to Soul Festival.”’ Afropop Worldwide revisits the festival on its 50th anniversary with musicologist John Collins, poet and scholar Tsitsi Ella Jaji (who, by the way, wrote a beautiful blurb for Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu’s The Theory of Flight), concert goers and more. They’ve also included a companion piece of selected readings and videos.
CAPE TOWN: A PLACE BETWEENBY HENRY TROTTER
Africa is a Country radio explores the musical history of Cape Town with New School professor Sean Jacobs and filmmaker Dylan Valley. And after listening to this conversation, you want to dig into the complex and intersecting histories of the Mother City, be sure to pick up a copy of Henry Trotter’s Cape Town: A Place Between, the first book in our Intimate Geographies Series.
Black Women Radicals has put together a great list of 16 Black feminist archive projects. From hip-hop, to visual art, to Caribbean history, there are so many fantastic projects to explore.
“While the cost of living continues to rise and older generations of activists fade away — making it harder for free-spirited artistry to exist — we gather tightly to embrace Ferlinghetti’s cathedral in all its dusty homeliness and independent boldness on the corner of Columbus and Broadway.” The literary world is mourning the loss of poet, publisher, and founder of City Lights books, Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Read remembrances from SF Gate, the New York Times, The Nation, and from his community at City Lights. And, of course, spend some time with his poetry.
The New York Times‘ George Gene Gustines writes about a new graphic novel, Muhammad Ali, Kinshasa 1974, that “retells the events of the legendary heavyweight title fight in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
KING SHAKA BY LUKE W. MOLVER
Black History Month may be coming to a close, but amazing books by Black authors and stories of Black heroes and history are important any time of year. CLMP has put together a reading list of books and magazines from small presses that celebrate this history. We’ve got two titles on the list— The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, which uses fiction to explore the history of Zimbabwe, and King Shaka by Luke Molver, a graphic novel from our Story Press Africa imprint that explores the life of legendary Zulu leader King Shaka.
And finally, Tina Jordan at the New York Times looks at the history of literary games and puzzles in the paper’s pages. “In this era of crossword puzzles, Words With Friends and The Times’s own Spelling Bee, it’s fascinating to look back at just how long the paper has been printing word games and literary quizzes.” You can test your book knowledge with a quiz from 1989.
In Catalyst news, Bridget Krone’s Small Mercies was just named an Outstanding International Book by the U.S. Board of Books for Young People (USBBY)! This is the second time a Catalyst Press book has won this prize, starting with Futhi Ntshingila’s We Kiss Them with Rain. And a new translation from Ivanka Hahnenberger, the translator for our upcoming graphic novel Madame Livingstone, was just awarded the prestigious Batchelder Award! The Batchelder Award celebrates outstanding children’s books from outside of the United States that have been translated into English. The winning book, Catherine’s War (HarperCollins), was originally published in France in 2017 and tells the story of a Jewish girl named Catherine who is forced to change her identity during World War II. Madame Livingstone, our newest graphic novel about an unlikely friendship in the Congo during World War I, isavailable from Catalyst Press in June. Congratulations to Bridget and Ivanka!
In celebrity book news, Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade wrote a children’s book, Shady Baby, inspired by their daughter and scheduled for release in May. Also in May, Big Short author Michael Lewis is releasing a new book, this time about the group that anticipated the global pandemic. Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is starting a book club, and so is Jeffrey Sachs. Maria Shriver is starting up an imprint at Penguin called The Open Field. Quentin Tarantino signed a two-book deal with Wiedenfeld & Nicolson, the first of which will be the director’s first work of fiction, based on his film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Speaking of the film, its co-star Margaret Qualley will be starring alongside Sigourney Weaver for the movie treatment of the breakout 2014 memoirMy Salinger Year, out March 5th.
Think that #ReadingAfrica means just traditional novels? Not even a little! In addition to all of the great novels out there, you can also get your African literature in the form of comics and graphic novels. We’ve got a few suggestions for some you may want to add to you TBR list.
The Aya Serieswritten by Marguerite Abouet illustrated by Clément Oubrerie, translated by Helge Dascher. Loosely based on the author’s life in Cote d’Ivoire, these stories focus on 19-year-old Aya and her friends as they navigate life in Yop City in the 1970s.
The Kwezi Series by Loyiso Mkize, Clyde Beech and Mohale Mashigo. Love superheroes? Then this is a great pick. Set in the fictional South African locale, Gold City, nineteen year old Kwezi discovers he has superpowers, but he also discovers that those powers come with a great responsibility. Is he up to the challenge? Read an interview with the comic’s creators here.
