Tag: Fiction

The Spark: The Long Weekend Edition

Hot from the Press

TODAY IS TOMORROW

Catch up on two great Catalyst author events:

Caroline Kurtz did a virtual reading with Annie Bloom’s Bookshop from her new book, Today is Tomorrow, a follow up to her award-winning memoir A Road Called Down on Both Sides: Growing up in Ethiopia and America. Today is Tomorrow, which reflects on the years Caroline and her husband spent working with war refugees in South Sudan and Kenya, is on sale April 19. Happy pub week, Caroline!

And on Friday, Johns Hopkins’ Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences hosted a great conversation with Windham-Campbell Prize winner Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu. We’re proud to be the North American publisher for Siphiwe’s The Theory of Flight and The History of Man, both available now!

FLY HIGH, LOLO

And finally, the fourth book in Niki Daly’s beloved Lolo series, Fly High, Lolo, just received a starred review from School Library Journal! SLJ called the book “a beautiful addition to the series, and a worthy addition to library shelves.” Fly High, Lolo, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, is available for pre-order now. Continue reading “The Spark: The Long Weekend Edition”

Q&A with Hannes Barnard

HANNES BARNARD

 

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.

Halley’s Comet is out now, and available through your favorite bookseller. Continue reading “Q&A with Hannes Barnard”

Author Q&A: Glynnis Hayward

GLYNNIS HAYWARD

Note: We are the publisher for the South African release of the book. For US purchases, please visit Glynnis’ author page on Amazon.

We’re thrilled to team up with author Glynnis Hayward to distribute her newest novel, Roads and Bridges, in South Africa.

Glynnis, a Pulitzer Center award-winning writer, was born and raised in South Africa. After graduating from the University of Natal in KwaZulu Natal, she taught English before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s. Roads and Bridges, which follows an American Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa as she attempts to adopt a young orphan and falls for a local man, is her fourth novel. Her first three—A Telling Truth, A Significant Test of Blood, and Light on a Dark Secret—are all set primarily in South Africa and California.

Before Roads and Bridges’ November 1st release, we caught up with Glynnis to chat about being an expat, opening oneself up to others’ truths, and navigating the many liminalities—cultural, emotional, and spiritual—explored in her new novel.

Continue reading “Author Q&A: Glynnis Hayward”

Q&A with Bridget Krone

This Q&A comes to us from SarahBelle Selig. SarahBelle is our representative for all things Catalyst/Story Press Africa in South Africa. If you’re following us on any of our social media accounts, look for the hashtag #CatalystSA, for news about our books in South Africa.

We are so thrilled to announce our February release, Small Mercies, a middle-grade novel by South African author Bridget Krone! Dubbed by Kirkus Reviews in a starred review as “sensitive, funny, and tender,” Small Mercies, which also features illustrations by Karen Vermeulen, tells the story of a Mercy, a shy girl from Pietermaritzburg with two eccentric foster aunts, a chicken named Lemon, and one big problem. When Mercy is faced with snooty school bullies and ruthless real estate developers, she learns that telling the truth – no matter how messy it is – may be the perfect remedy for life’s tricky situations. As put by New York Times bestseller Kathi Appelt, “You will not leave the pages of this book without feeling somehow smarter and wiser and kinder.”

A former English teacher, Bridget Krone has written many English language textbooks and short novels for use in South African schools. Bridget has spent most of her life in and near Pietermaritzburg, a town whose quirky residents and complicated history make it a microcosm of life in South Africa. We caught up with Bridget to chat all things Small Mercies – from bees, to bullying, to Gandhi. Check out an excerpt below, and read the rest at our site. And don’t forget to grab your copy online on IndieBound or in your favorite local bookstore! Continue reading “Q&A with Bridget Krone”

Coming in 2020: Upcoming Releases Part 2

A few months ago, we covered what you’ll be seeing from us in the first half of 2020. And if we did the math right, that means we owe you news about six more months of releases. So here it is! We think we’ve got something for every kind of reader — from those reading their very first books, to those who’ve been reading for just a little bit longer. Many of these books are available for pre-order now. Continue reading “Coming in 2020: Upcoming Releases Part 2”

Literary News & Notes

We’re pleased to welcome Naomi Valenzuela to #TeamCatalyst! Naomi is from Phoenix, Arizona and El Paso, Texas, and joins us as our intern. She 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.

She’ll be writing a weekly round-up of literary news from Catalyst and beyond (plus writing a few other things for the blog in the future. Watch this space!). We couldn’t be happier to have her here. Welcome, Naomi! Continue reading “Literary News & Notes”