Huge congratulations to Caroline Kurtz! Her memoir A Road Called Down on Both Sides: Growing up in Ethiopia and America was recently awarded the Best First Book Award by the Presbyterian Writers Guild! The award honors the best debut by a Presbyterian author written during 2018-2019. Caroline’s thoughtful memoir of her life as the child of missionaries explores faith, family, and what it means to find home when you’ve grown up between cultures and continents. We couldn’t be prouder.
Caroline isn’t the only Kurtz sister in the winner’s circle right now. This year, the Writers Guild has also awarded Jane Kurtz the 2020 Distinguished Writer Award in honor of her career as a writer and literary advocate. Jane has published over 35 children’s books, and with Caroline, founded Ready Set Go Books, a publishing company that produces books for young readers in English and three Ethiopian languages.
As the award ceremony, like many other events, has been postponed, the Kurtz sisters have recorded their acceptance speech, which you can see below. Congratulations to both Caroline and Jane!
There’s a great new online exhibit of African comic art. “Afropolitan Comics: From South Africa to the Continent, Images in Conversation” features “tales from across Africa as the artists and writers construct new narratives in one of the oldest forms of expression.” We’re so proud that one of the featured artists is Luke W. Molver, the author/illustrator for our series of graphic novels on the life of legendary Zulu leader, Shaka (Shaka Rising, King Shaka).
South African author Elsa Joubert died recently, another in the long list of those lost to the coronavirus. Joubert is best-known for her apartheid-era novel The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena, which as the New York Times reports in their obituary, “opened the eyes of many white South Africans to the harsh treatment that the black majority had been enduring largely out of their sight.”
There was criticism over the lack of diversity among the winners of the Media24 Book Awards (South Africa). As the Johannesburg Review of Books reports, the outcry was a reaction to “the fact that all the winners of the awards, as well as the majority of the shortlisted authors and judging panels, are white.” Media24 has issued a statement acknowledging the issue, which you can read here.
Small Mercies
We began the first in what we hope is a long-running series of conversations with Catalyst authors, friends, and partners this week. Our first installment in our “Conversations with…” series features our office manager SarahBelle Selig in conversation with Small Mercies author Bridget Krone.
Even as states begin the long process of reopening, the need to connect online still seems as relevant as ever. One way to do that is by starting a virtual book club. Jessica Pryde at BookRiot offers some tips for starting your own through your public library.
Andy Fitchfrom the LA Review of Booksrecently spoke with Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American legislator in the United States, to discuss her recently released memoir, Somalia, her politics, and why she’s put her faith “in seeing what American democracy looks like when elected officials actually engage the people.”
Outside the Lines, our recent release by Ameera Patel, has been earning praise all over: Publishers Weekly (starred review), Shelf Awareness, Ms. Magazine, CrimeReads, and others. We chatted with Ameera about her work, her book, her writing process, and more. Read our Q&A with her here. You can also read an excerpt from the book at CrimeReads. And since you’re already gearing up to visit CrimeReads, make sure to also check out the excerpt from another of our recent releases, Bitter Pill by Peter Church, which has also earned its fair share of praise from Publishers Weekly, NY Review of Books, Cosmo, and others. We’re also offering the e-books of Peter’s Dark Web Trilogy for a special price all summer long. Check it out here.
“I think those of us who acknowledge the humanity of young people, those of us who acknowledge the complexity and the beauty and the sophistication of childhood know that when you’re writing it, all of those elements have to be present.” Author Jason Reynolds (All American Boys, Long Way Down) chats with Krista Tippett of On Being about children’s literature and the power of books to heal.
And finally, we are pleased to take part in the PEN World Voices Festival’s Indie Lit Fair. The Fair, hosted by the Festival and the Community of Literary Magazine and Presses (CLMP), “showcases the breadth of independent magazines and presses our country has to offer.” There are so many amazing indie publishers featured— from book publishers to magazines to literary journals— each offering special pricing on several of their items. We’re presenting three award-winning books: Love Interrupted by Reneilwe Malatji, We Kiss Them with Rain by Futhi Ntshingila, and Bom Boy by Yewande Omotoso, at a special price when you buy all three. Visit the Indie Lit Fair here.
In support of Black Lives Matter and Juneteenth, the hashtags #BlackPublishingPower and #BlackoutBestsellerList have been trending, encouraging people to buy books by Black authors and from Black-owned bookstores from June 14-June 20.
If you’re unsure which books to buy for your children or teens on the topic of anti-racism, Publishers Weekly released a list. The lengthy list encompasses both non-fiction and fiction titles, and spans picture books to novels. At Catalyst, we also published a smaller list, including adult books and organizations to support, should you wish.
The National Book Critics Circle’s board fell apart this past week over charges of internal racism. Almost 2/3 of the board members resigned, and the remaining board has committed itself to doing the hard work of changing its structure and approach to be specifically anti-racist.
In censorship news: This week, the highest-ranked leader in the land, our President, attempted to ban a book by John Bolton, the former national security adviser. The book purportedly offers an insider’s view on the President’s egregious behavior. Mr. Trump claims that the book reveals classified secrets and should not be released. Advocates for its release argue that if he successfully bans the book, it will undo decades of free speech precedent. Court hearings began June 19th.
In Catalyst Press news, we released Bitter Pill by Peter Church this week. Bitter Pill is the third installment in his Dark Web Trilogy, and continues our African Crime Reads series. Publishers Weekly has praised Bitter Pill, writing, “Church expertly juggles the multiple story lines all the way to the sordid, frantic maelstrom of the denouement.” You can read an excerpt from the novel at CrimeReads.
This is a time for listening, yes, but it is also a time for doing. But remember, what doing looks like for you could look vastly different from someone else. Movements are made of lots of individual roles, and you, like many of us, will need to find your part to play. And that requires a deeper understanding of the world around you. We believe that voices and texts are powerful ways of gaining that, and have assembled a list of some books that we think can help us understand.
This list is, by no means, comprehensive. It contains both fiction and non-fiction, poetry and academic work, books for adults and young readers. Since so many of our authors are African, and part of our mission at Catalyst is to amplify those voices, you’ll also find several books by African authors, many of which were written to speak to times, conditions, and politics that, in many ways, mirror our own. There are books here that speak to the whys and hows of how we got to this moment in time, but there are also some that celebrate Black history and activism, or simply just Black lives— important things to remember and hold on to right now. We will be periodically adding to this list.
If you want to extend your reading into other action, we have also included a list of resources and organizations who are fighting against racism, against police brutality and state violence, and for Black lives. We’ve all been moved to speak, but now we have to be moved to action, and we include ourselves in that call. We’re going to continue doing the work that we need to do here at Catalyst to make sure that justice, empathy, and equity aren’t just our words, but our actions.
Author Yewande Omotoso (Bom Boy) recently published this essay in the Sunday Times (South Africa) about enduring the coronavirus pandemic. We have republished it here with permission of the author.
We Need The Courage to Live Through This Wide Awake That which cannot be explained can be comprehended, and endured, in silence
Without intending to seem callous, the question comes to me: our world is fraught with crises, what is it about this one that has captured us so?
Perhaps it is in Covid-19’s knack for globality, its capacity – helped along by our technologies of fast transportation – to roam the planet touching what it pleases. This free-roaming characteristic, the apparent opposite of the ecological crisis, the malaria crisis or, localised in a different way (within certain kinds of bodies for instance), the rape crisis.
As Arundhati Roy put it in a recent article in the Financial Times: “Coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could.”
Covid-19, like a psychopathic bank robber, has started taking lives, all kinds, and, however slow some have been to take notice, it now has our full attention.
Usually, now, at this part in the movie, the bank robber makes demands, the deft police officer negotiates and, depending whose side we are meant to be on (the cops or the robbers), the movie resolves itself; someone either goes to jail or gets away with a million dollars.
But this is not a movie, of course. It’s real life. Still, as someone who worships at the altar of story, unfaltering in my faith that fiction bears truth, I wonder: if we personified this virus for a few seconds, what are Covid-19’s demands?
Another way of phrasing that question: what is this moment really asking of us apart from the essential fussing with disinfectant wipes?
Our weekly round-up of literary news here at Catalyst and beyond, is brought to you by our intern Naomi Valenzuela. Naomi is from Phoenix, Arizona and El Paso, Texas, and is majoring in Creative Writing and minoring in English & American Literature at the University of Texas, El Paso, with plans of working in the publishing business after graduation
The New York Times has an article on the different women authors running for the Booker International Prize, an award for literature translated into English.
There is a library in Abidjan centered on women’s writing from Africa and Brittle Paper has an interview with Edwige-Renee Dro, the woman who started this project.
The Internet Archive gave access to millions of digital works with its “National Emergency Library” due to the pandemic. An article on NPRinforms that many books are being shared here without authors’ permission.
Also on NPR, read about how The Plague (1947) by Albert Camus has skyrocketed in sales in Europe and what literature can show us about situations like ours.
Electric Lit has a list of free or cheap resources for writers trying to get published for the first time and don’t know where to start.
Read It Forward has a list that shares eight books about loneliness and solitude in these times of isolation.
On The Guardian, learn about the charities which celebrities are taking a part in by live-streaming themselves reading children’s stories.
Finally, in Catalyst Press news, our authors are also participating with our remote reading series! In this series, we’ll have videos from our authors/editors sharing from some of their books. Find them here at our site, or on our YouTube channel.
In just a few short weeks, it feels like the world as we have known it has collapsed. We’re all trying to keep in touch as best we can, and those of us who can work from home are doing so, but we know that a lot of people have lost or will lose their jobs; we know that people will have trouble paying rent or feeding their families. And meanwhile, all of us have to deal with the fear and uncertainty of an illness that can be deadly, and may affect us or our loved ones.
The economic shutdown of the USA has affected book publishers in myriad ways. Amazon is making shipping of books a low priority. Independent booksellers have changed the way they work with customers, and are working to ship online orders as well as provide curbside pickups. But booksellers and publishers alike are going to be dramatically affected by the quarantines and shelter-in-place orders, primarily through loss of sales, but also through loss of marketing opportunities to get the word out about our books through reviews and other outlets that are also not operating under optimal conditions (or at all.)
Catalyst Press is committed to weathering this storm but, as a new small press we are especially vulnerable to a tank in sales. This is true for all small presses, not least for us. For those of you who really want to support us during this time, here are a few ways:
If you’re in North America, you can order new and older books directly from our website or from independent bookstores at this link.
South Africa is in a severe lockdown right now, and deliveries of books aren’t happening. In the meantime, you can order ebooks at Amazon. We always want to support independent bookstores but in this particular case, please do buy ebooks on Amazon! But if you want to buy physical books and you can wait for them to be delivered, you can order copies from LAPA, our distributor in South Africa, and they will resume deliveries when they can.
We are also able to accept one-time or recurring tax-deductible donation through Fractured Atlas, a 501 (c) (3) arts organization that has offered us fiscal sponsorship. This is an option we’d love for you to consider anytime, of course!
Even if ordering books or offering donations is not possible for you at this time, we love hearing from our supporters on social media, this blog, or via email, so please feel free to drop us a kind note anytime. We’d love to hear about past books we published that you loved, future books you’re looking forward to, or suggestions for future books.
Thanks guys. Keep in touch and stay well!
Jessica, Publisher & Founder, Catalyst Press (with imprints Story Press Africa & Powers Squared)
The residents of The Pines, a community in East London, South Africa, put up walls and gates to protect themselves from the dangers of the outside world. But what happens when the thing that’s meant to keep people safe, becomes someone’s biggest threat? That’s the question posed in Max Annas’ upcoming release The Wall, out on May 21 (paperback, digital, andaudio versions). In this taut, fast-paced thriller, Max tackles issues of race, class, exclusion, and violence, but with a light touch that makes The Wall a surprisingly humorous book. This is Max’s first book in English (and you can learn more about Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds, the book’s translator, here).
We chatted with Max about his influences, The Wall, and the magic of seeing his book “living in another language.” Pre-order your copy of The Wall through IndieBound. This Q&A first appeared in our monthly newsletter. If you want to be the first-to-know about events, sales, and fun extras like these author Q&As, be sure to subscribe! Continue reading “Q&A with Max Annas”
We’ve had a good year so far. Since January, we’ve released four books making our current catalog six books deep. We’re really proud of the work we’ve been able to do since we’ve launched, and we’re excited about what the future holds.
Let’s talk about the future.
We can’t wait for you to read our next releases. There are kid’s books, thrillers, sci-fi, graphic novels, memoirs, fiction, non-fiction, you name it. We thought we’d share some of the great Catalyst titles coming to bookstores in the next year. Some are available for pre-order right now, if that’s your thing (we hope it’s your thing). And if you’re looking for any of our current titles, they are for sale right here on this very site, if that’s your thing (we hope that’s your thing, too). You can keep up with us as we share more news about these releases by signing up for our newsletter. Continue reading “Coming Attractions”
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