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.
Young Blood is the story of 17-year-old Sipho, a high-school dropout from Umlazi, a township on the outskirts of Durban. He joins a carjacking syndicate to make a name for himself and find his place in the world. Joined by his partners Musa and Vusi, Sipho learns the tricks of the dangerous trade and pushes deeper into the underbelly of Umlazi under the guidance of gang leader Sibani. Young Blood is a candid and unapologetic look at the intricate balance of circumstance and choice, as Sipho discovers just how far he can push his luck before the damage is irrevocable—and the consequences deadly.
Sifiso is a writer, editor, translator and a life-long resident of Umlazi. In 2014, he was included on the “Africa39 List,” naming 39 of the most promising authors under the age of 40 from Sub-Saharan Africa and the diaspora. When he was asked about the US release of his novel, he said, “I’m happy that my work will find a new audience, and that ten years after the initial release the story is still being discovered.” We can’t wait for more readers to find this book. Young Blood releases on April 13, 2021 and pre-orders are available now.
