Tag: Luke Molver | CatalystPress

The Spark: The Graphic Novel Edition

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We are so excited to announce the launch of our newest series, Panel & Page! The new series is where we’ll be publishing most of our upcoming graphic novels, and we’re so excited to use this announcement to officially tell you about all of the amazing graphic novels you can expect in 2023. You can find out more about Pearl of the Sea and KARIBA—our two upcoming releases from South Africa—and how they’re connected to the award-winning animation studio Triggerfish in this awesome mention here. And speaking of graphic novels, many thanks to World Kit Lit’s Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp for highlighting Shaka Rising—our very first graphic novel release— as one of her top 12 global children’s books for history lovers this week on Words Without Borders!

Lots of events on the way! Caroline Kurtz, author of the award-winning memoir A Road Called Down on Both Sides and the recently-released Today is Tomorrow, visits Chapters Books in Newberg, OR on October 7^th as part of the city’s First Friday Artwalk. Also be sure to mark your calendars for Thursday October 27^th at 6pm EST for the virtual 2022 Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards ceremony, where Young Blood author Sifiso Mzobe is being honored alongside the other shortlisted authors! And last up, we’re so excited that four Catalyst authors will be taking part in this amazing South African book tour hosted by Atlas Book Club founder Bunmi Emenanjo, where she’ll be bringing overseas visitors to South Africa to explore the country’s incredible beauty and wonderfully diverse literary scene.

Continue reading “The Spark: The Graphic Novel Edition”

This Week in Literary News: Week of April 18

First things first – Catalyst news! Niki Daly’s illustrated children’s book You’re a Star, Lolo got a starred review in Kirkus, and Luke Molver accepted his award for his graphic novel Shaka Rising, which was named an Honor Book for Older Readers by the Children’s Africana Book Awards last year. Two of our novelists, Young Blood author Sifiso Mzobe and Theory of Flight author Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, were featured in virtual talks this week – and both talks are now available to watch online! Join Sifiso on Stony Brook University’s Writers Speak Wednesdays and Siphiwe in conversation with Mercer University’s Dr. Vasile Stanescu.

And in honor of Earth Day this week, we’re offering a major discount on two of our titles, David Muirhead’s essay collection on South African animals Cat Among the Pigeons and Bridget Krone’s middle-grade novel Small Mercies. Use the code EARTHDAY at checkout on our site for 30% off both titles, only available until the end of April!

Tomorrow is Independent Bookstore day! Check out IndieBound’s indie bookstore finder and go buy yourself a book (or two, or twelve–we won’t judge!) to celebrate. UK bookstores have reopened just in time to take part in the revelry, and book sales went up a third in less than a week.

Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of April 18”

This Week in Literary News, Week of June 28

After losing South African treasure Elsa Joubert last week, we said goodbye to two more literary legends, including the father of Chicano literature Rudolfo Anaya, and Charles Webb, the man who gave us The Graduate.

Queenie author Candice Carty-Williams became the first Black author to win Book of the Year at the British Book Awards, and Girl, Woman, Other author Bernadine Evaristo also scored an award. Here’s what Carty-Williams had to say about her win.

On that note, The New York Times published a collection of interviews with Black authors, agents, editors and booksellers on what it means to Black in publishing. A collaborative research report on the industry, titled “Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing,” (PDF) was also released this week, featuring a foreword by Evaristo.

John Bolton’s hotly debated memoir sold over 780,000 copies in its first week, and another Trump book is on the way: a New York court gave Simon & Schuster the green light to publish President Trump’s niece Mary L. Trump’s tell-all book, set to release this month.

A previously unpublished, unfinished story from Little Women author Louisa May Alcott was released this week, and it looks like we may not have to wait much longer for the next Game of Thrones book. More good news: Lucasfilm just announced a huge publishing deal to produce a series of novels, storybooks, comics and more, based on the wildly popular Star Wars spin-off, The Mandalorian.

We have two new additions to our “Conversations with…” YouTube series, a series of conversations with Catalyst authors, friends, and partners. This week, our publisher Jessica Powers is in conversation with A Road Called Down on Both Sides author Caroline Kurtz and Bunmi Emenanjo, founder of Atlas Book Club. And ICYMI: check out my conversation with Small Mercies author Bridget Krone last week.

On LitHub, Meghan Cox Gurdon recounts the ancient skill of oral storytelling and argues why we should be reading aloud more often. Also featured on LitHub this week: 10 quotes from Ta Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. Coates’ book is one of many we list on our “Where to Begin” blog post, a reading and resource list in response to the death of George Floyd.

Looking for some title inspo? Here’s seven pan-African book groups disrupting the traditional book club. Or check out these 30 LGBTQIA science fiction and fantasy books, because let’s be real: Pride Month should last all year.

In more Catalyst news, Shaka Rising and King Shaka: Zulu Legend author Luke Molver is featured in the National Arts Festival’s awesome Afropolitan Comics digital exhibit, celebrating the African continent’s thriving comics industry. Check out Luke’s mention in New Frame’s exhibit coverage.

Loved the character but hated the story? Us too. Buzzfeed has you covered.Did someone say covers? LitHub’s Emily Temple picks her twelve favorite book covers from June. If some aesthetically-pleasing reading is just what the doctor ordered, check out Charles Owens’ visual history of real and mythical serpents, or get aquatic with the Cephalopod Atlas, a weirdly satisfying encyclopedia about octopus.

Finally, Washington Post with the headline we can all agree on. [Ed. Note: And, though she’s too modest to share, for a follow-up to this, check out SarahBelle’s article at World Literature Today on how one bookstore is responding to these new, browser-less times]

Stay in and Color!

As we’re all practicing social distancing right now, things can get a little, let’s say, monotonous, at home. We’re all looking for fun activities to keep us entertained. We here at Catalyst want to help you, and so we’re pleased to offer coloring pages from our books Shaka Rising and King Shaka by author/illustrator Luke W. Molver. Download the pages: Shaka Rising, King Shaka

Karen Vermeulen, the artist who has designed a number of our covers, also has a coloring page available for download, with others available to her Patreon subscribers. Download her page here. You can learn more about Karen and her work, including her online workshops, at her website www.karenvermeulen.com

This Week in Literary News: Week of March 22

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

In Catalyst Press news, Catalyst founder/publisher, Jessica Powers was on the Intralingo Podcast! Watch or listen as Jessica discusses her new book (Under Water, published by Cinco Puntos Press), her connections to Africa, and other topics.

On Ozy, meet Fawzia Gilani-Williams, a teacher and author who is rewriting fairytales for Muslim children after she noticed the U.K.’s lack of diversity in children’s books.

Children’s publishers have reported a large rise in sales due to the shut-down of schools during this pandemic. Read more over at The New York Times,

The Washington Post gives readers a guide on different ways to participate in the literature scene, including live-streams, online book clubs, and where to find and buy books.

In these difficult times, Read It Forward has a short essay by Emily M.D. Scott about how libraries continue to affirm our humanity.

In more Catalyst news, King Shaka: Zulu Legend by Luke Molver is a finalist for Pop Culture Classroom‘s Best in Young Adult Graphic Literature! Part of Pop Culture Classroom’s mission is to celebrate diversity through the tools of popular culture and the power of self-expression.

Writer Lilly Dancyger gives us a perspective on the anxieties of publishing a book while struggling to cope with these recent changes to the world over on Electric Lit.

Over on LitHub, publicists discuss their change to online events and their thoughts about these technological adaptions.

This Week in Literary News

Want to lend a helping hand in your community? On Electric Lit, this article shows you how teaming up with NYC Books Through Bars can help deliver books to local prisoners.

Brittle Paper has information about book reviewers for Publisher’s Weekly. They are calling for book reviewers, an opportunity for more diversity within the publishing industry.

Also on Brittle Paper, an article about the 2020 London School of Economics’ LSE Shape The World festival and this year’s inclusion of a panel centered around “African Talks: The Global Legacy of African Women Writers”.

Over on New Internationalist, our own Yewande Omotoso (Bom Boy), writes about navigating through Johannesburg without a car, and finding a new perspective in the city.

OkayAfrica has an article and video on Samba Yonga’s TED Talk where she discusses the need to create superheroes for and from Africa.

There is an excerpt from one of our releases, Sacrificed by Chanette Paul and translated to English by Elsa Silke, over on The Johannesburg Review of Books.

The New York Times has an article about stories of the female trio and explores how this trope is so effective in literature and outside of it.

The Carnegie Medal longlist for 2020 gives us many retellings of classic literature such as Moby Dick and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but with a twist. Check out this article at The Guardian, and take a look at the reimagining of these books.

Lastly in more Catalyst news, Shaka Rising by Luke Molver is on sale for 50% off! Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity as it ends in February.

February’s Spotlight Author: Luke W. Molver

This month’s spotlight shines on author/illustrator Luke W. Molver. Luke is the co-author (along with Mason O’Connor) and illustrator of the first book in our African Graphic Novel Series, Shaka Rising: A Legend of the Warrior Prince, and the author/illustrator of its sequel King Shaka: Zulu Legend. Both of these books are published through Story Press Africa, our collaborative imprint with Jive Media Africa. As part of our ongoing Author Spotlight Sale, this month we’re offering Shaka Rising for 50% off!

Shaka Rising is the story of a legendary Zulu leader’s rise to power during one of southern Africa’s most turbulent periods. Shaka’s story is one of family drama, political intrigue, and warfare, and is told in a nuanced and exciting way that’s both entertaining and educational. Add in Luke’s fantastic illustrations, and you’ve got a great book for the young reader in your life!

Luke and Shaka Rising have had an incredible run since the book was released in 2018. It has earned rave reviews from The Wall Street Journal (“[M]arks the launch of a welcome historical graphic-novel series set in Africa”); Kirkus (“A worthy introduction that offers a young Anglophone audience entry into a legend of Africa”); and Booklist (“This is a tale comics has heretofore not done justice to, and it’s handsomely presented here.”), among many others. It was also shortlisted a Nommo Awards for African Speculative Fiction in the Graphic Novel category, and was named an Honor Book for Older Readers by the Children’s Africana Book Awards.

In addition to his work on the Shaka books, Luke is also a comic book creator whose work, most recently, has been featured at the Johannesburg Art Gallery’s exhibit The Art of Comics. You can also learn more about Luke in this short video interview with Beautiful News South Africa or this interview with Smash Pages.

All this month, and only at our site, you can get the paperback version of Shaka Rising for just $8.50. Order here

Giveaway Winners, Graphic Novels, and Why We’re Sharing African History Worldwide

Last month, we and our Story Press Africa partners held a giveaway to celebrate the release of the latest installment in our African Graphic Novel Series— King Shaka: Zulu Legend by Luke Molver. The entry was pretty simple: like our post, and then comment with the name of a historic person or event you’d like to see in a future graphic novel. And people really delivered! There were a host of names, and a timeline’s worth of notable events. It was truly amazing.

Readers are excited about African histories and stories. They want to put faces to names, they want to see history live again on the page. Whether it is the stories of your own country and your own ancestors, or that of those who live worlds apart, there is something special and vital about keeping those stories, those names in our memories. While we won’t list every name and event giveaway entrants suggested, we thought we’d share just a few to show just how many stories there are to tell… Continue reading “Giveaway Winners, Graphic Novels, and Why We’re Sharing African History Worldwide”

King Shaka: Zulu Legend Out Now in South Africa

L-R: Catalyst Press founder Jessica Powers, Jive Media Africa/Story Press Africa co-founder Robert Inglis, Luke Molver

Huge congratulations to Luke Molver! His graphic novel King Shaka: Zulu Legend made its South African debut at the Midlands Literary Festival last weekend! Reviews have started to come in for the book; The Midwest Book Review has praised the novel as “thoroughly engrossing from cover to cover” and Kirkus Reviews calls it “authentically enlightening and entertaining.” We’re hoping that readers everywhere will agree!

King Shaka author/illustrator Luke Molver

King Shaka, the continuing story of Shaka’s rise to power, comes to North America in October. You can pre-order your copy here!

Thank You!!

So many books on their way to South Africa!

Last month, we launched a Kickstarter to help us fund production and distribution of our upcoming graphic novel King Shaka: Zulu Legend, and we so happy to announce that it was funded! As part of our supporter rewards, we included a buy-one-give-one option that allowed supporters to not only get their very own copy of King Shaka, but to give one to a school or library in South Africa. And through your generosity, the copies you see here will be distributed through our partnership with READ Educational Trust, a South African literacy organization that’s making sure children all over the country have access to books. This is just the start of our work making sure that kids who need books can get them. Your support will also help us roll out a buy-one-give-one option here at our website—so stay tuned! Continue reading “Thank You!!”