Welcome to The Spark, our weekly roundup of news from Catalyst and beyond. This is our first edition with our brand new fancy name. Think of The Spark as a quick burst of news, a little shorter than our monthly(ish) newsletter, but just as fun. A fun-sized version of the Catalyst news you know and love. If you’re not subscribed to the full-sized version, be sure to subscribe here!
Hot from the Press
Two great mentions for Catalyst Press authors this week! Nigerian author Wole Talabi named his top ten favorite stories of 2021, and two (!!) stories from Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa were listed (“Shelter” by Mbozi Haimbe, and “Five Years Next Sunday” by Idza Luhumyo). We are proud to be the North American publisher for Disruption, available in stores and online. And Consortium Library Express featured a sneak peak of Niki Daly’s newest Lolo book, Fly High, Lolo. Fly High, Lolo is available for pre-order now. For more info on the Lolo early reader series, check out the “From the Backlist” section below.
Screw the Oscars…
Because it’s literary awards season, too! A bunch of awards were announced this week including the 2022 Youth Media Awards (which include the Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, Coretta Scott King Book Awards, and more), the Bologna Children’s Book Fair’s Ragazzi Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (read more about the finalists here). A police officer took home Australia’s most lucrative literary prize, in Canada, the Rising Star Awards were announced, and in the Czech Republic, the Muriel Award for best comic of the year was announced.
#ReadingAfrica Roundup
In this section, we’ll be sharing publishing news, book recs, and more all focused on African and African diaspora authors. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for our sixth annual #ReadingAfrica week, this year Dec 4-10!
This week, five African authors were named to the Dublin Literary Award longlist (Yewande Omotoso, one of the many authors we’re proud to publish at Catalyst, made the shortlist for this award in 2018), and the Island Prize for Debut Fiction’s inaugural prize was awarded to eight writers from ten African countries. Three African countries participated in the Ragazzi Award for the first time this year: South Africa, Mozambique, and Egypt.
Pulitzer prize winning critic Hilton Als debuted a new exhibit at David Zwirner Gallery in New York City based on Toni Morrison’s The Black Book, featuring work from Amy Sherald, Kerry James Marshall, and more. Henry Louis Gates Jr. gave an interview this week discussing how he made space for Black authors in the literary canon. Tomorrow, the African American Children’s Book Fair celebrates its 30th anniversary, hosted live in its largest event space ever, the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Weekly Reading Recs
Here’s what the literary world had to recommend this week: books to read in your 30s, books for children with dyslexia, and the most influential fantasy books of all time. Book Riot continued its “Best Books You’ve Never Heard Of” list , and Electric Literature recommended a winter read for your astrology sign. For queer reads, check out these queer Black romances, queer books from indie presses, and queer poetry for your astrology sign. For political reads, check out these books to understand the Ukrainian crisis, and 7 books on the complex relationship between Africa and China.
For thought-provoking reads, here’s Amelia Morris on writing wild motherhood, sobering reminders about the consequences of war on libraries and bookstores in Gaza and Afghanistan, and did you know that the author of The Vagina Monologues helped the director of Mad Max: Fury Road with character development?
From the Backlist
As we await the arrival of the fourth book in Niki Daly’s award-winning Lolo series, check out the first three books in the series below!
Praise for the Lolo series:
“Bright and cheerful Lolo is the star of the show in this new chapter-book series from South Africa. […} Young readers will find much to enjoy in this tale of a winning little girl and her family—hooray indeed!” —Kirkus Reviews
“With a simply written, graceful text and gray-scale pictures on nearly every page, these appealing stories are just right for children moving from beginning readers to chapter books.” —Booklist
“Daly’s lessons are relatable and resonant, sowing seeds of compassion and connection between the reader and Lolo. […] The expressive black-and-white digital illustrations, which resemble classic line art à la Amelia Bedelia, lovingly depict Lolo and her community. An endearing protagonist and clear thematic messages make this first in a series a winsome pick for early readers.” —Publishers Weekly
