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.
Hannes Barnard is a Catalyst Press trailblazer. Though we’ve published several books in translation before, his novel, Halley’s Comet, is our very first one for young readers. Books are a way to explore the world, and we hope that readers—especially young readers—take that journey through our books.
And what a way to start!
Halley’s Comet, written and translated by Hannes, is a powerful and emotional coming-of-age story set in the last years of South African apartheid. Kirkus called it “a thrilling, tension-filled story of friendship, love, radicalism, and justice;” World Kid Lit praised it writing, “This YA story is a crossover novel that is bound to stay with readers – young and old – long after they finish it;” and Sonia Patel, author of William C. Morris Award finalist Rani Patel In Full Effect, writes “Hannes Barnard delivers an indelible exploration of the importance of empathy in seeing color without seeing inferiority.” In short, this is a truly great book.
The novel centers on Pete, a white 16-year-old schoolboy. Pete lives a relatively sheltered life, primarily concerned with girls and rugby— until one January night changes everything. Thrust together with two complete strangers—Petrus, a Black farmworker’s son and Sarita, an Indian shopkeeper’s daughter—the trio form an era-defying friendship that is sparked by a shared secret. And when anti-Apartheid revolutionaries set their sights on the town, it will change the course of the three young people’s lives forever.
We talked with Hannes about his work, how he created characters with kindness and empathy, how reading translated literature can “drive out preconceptions and open our eyes and minds,” his advice for young writers, and much more.
“It is in the act of remembrance and re-evaluation of such music that a fuller appreciation of the hidden spaces in this country’s struggle heritage come to light. There is deep history to be excavated. Each in their own way, these albums are psalm songs of the South African jazz holy grail.” Liam Brickhill in Africa is a Country on two recently reissued albums from Matsuli Music, a label focused on South African rarities and jazz classics.
Happy Women in Translation Month! This month, we’re celebrating with 20% off of Sacrificed (paperback or ebook), the U.S. debut of bestselling Afrikaans author Chanette Paul, translated by Elsa Silke. Read an excerpt of the thriller that the New York Journal of Books says “places Chanette Paul among the classiest thriller writers of our day.” And be sure check out some of our posts from WIT Months past with tips on how you can add more translated literature— especially by women authors— to your bookshelves!
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”
It’s Black History Month! To celebrate, here’s a quick read about Toni Morrison‘s time as a Random House editor, a crash course on the wonderful Zora Neale Hurston, a coder making stories by authors of color more accessible to young readers through the app We Read Too, and a new book highlighting the contributions of Black creators, publishers, and booksellers to thecomics industry.
It was also Valentine’s Day this week, and we’re blaming Geoffrey Chaucer. (This article also wins the award for the most brutal subtitle of all time).
In celebrity book news, Bill Gates’ new book on climate change came out this week, basketball star Chris Paul is releasing a memoir in September, and Mark Hamill (aka Luke Skywalker) has a new Dr.Seuss-esque children’s book about masking up in COVID times. All proceeds will go to World Central Kitchen. Celebrity magician Wayne Alan is releasing a book detailing the history of magic shows in the White House, and the Navy SEAL who oversaw the Bin Laden raid and the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips is publishing a children’s book about simple life lessons. The cast for the new Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends was just announced, and Reese Witherspoon is starting an Instagram cooking show called #EatTheBook, where she’ll cook recipes inspired by her book club picks.
Lots of great stuff from all around the book world this week. Let’s get right to it!
Georgia College & State University is hosting a virtual African Writers Festival this month, featuring some amazing writers including Mona Eltahawy, Maaza Mengiste, and Novuyo Tshuma, among many, many more.
Black history is often reduced to moments, and those moments can become myths. As great as it is that we celebrate Black History Month, we need to be careful that the myths and moments don’t flatten, particularly with the Civil Rights Movement, what is often long, intentional, hard work that can’t be reduced to a single moment. At the New York Times, author Jeanne Theoharis, reflects on what this flattening has done to the work of Rosa Parks. “‘Over the years, I have been rebelling against second-class citizenship. It didn’t begin when I was arrested,’ Mrs. Parks reminded interviewers time and again.” Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of January 31”
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 PublishersWeekly, 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.”
We’re pleased to release two great new books this month: Divine Justice, by Joanne Hichens and The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu. Both books are available now through your favorite bookseller (but we’d love it if you chose an independent bookstore!) Continue reading “New Releases This Month”
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”
In Catalyst news, 