Tag: Luke Molver

Help Us Bring African Stories to Readers Worldwide

Big news from Catalyst HQ! We’ve launched our second Kickstarter campaign to help us with distribution and promotion of our graphic novel King Shaka: Zulu Legend. King Shaka, the second release under our Story Press Africa imprint picks up after the events of Shaka Rising. Shaka is now King of the southern chiefdoms, but he can’t rest easy. His rule is threatened both by the increasing European presence in southern Africa, and by his brothers who are conspiring against him. Throughout it all, King Shaka must continue to forge alliances, expand the reach of his power, and uplift his people.

We’ve launched the Kickstarter to help us with production and distribution, but we’re also planning to launch a buy-one-give-one initiative, which will help us get books to readers who need them most. We’ve started this program through a partnership with South African literacy organization— READ Educational Trust —and want to add more partner organization in Africa and North America. If you choose the buy-one-give-one reward on our Kickstarter campaign, you’ll be a big part of helping us get this program running (and stay tuned for updates here on the Catalyst site that will enable a buy-one-give-one option on our sales page).

Check out this video from our campaign, and head over to Kickstarter to support us!

Shaka Rising Named an Honor Book by the Children’s Africana Book Awards

Shaka Rising: A Legend of the Warrior Prince was named an Honor Book for Older Readers by the Children’s Africana Book Awards! The awards, presented by Africa Access, a non-profit that celebrates and promotes African literature for young readers. The Children’s Africana Book Awards are an annual award honoring “authors and illustrators of the best children’s and young adult books on Africa published or republished in the U.S.” We couldn’t be more excited that Shaka Rising was among the honorees!

Shaka Rising is the first in our African Graphic Novel Series, and the first release from our collaborative imprint, Story Press Africa. You can read about Shaka Rising author/illustrator Luke W. Molver in this Q&A. And you can learn more about the awards, and the other winners and honorees here.

From the Editor’s Desk: 2018 Reflections

This comes from our newsletter series, From the Editor’s Desk, where Catalyst founder/publisher, Jessica, gives you a peek behind the Catalyst curtain. Subscribe to our newsletter to get more looks inside Catalyst HQ, author Q&As, giveaways, and more!

I have to tell you the truth, I’m feeling kind of tired. But it’s a good tired! 2018 was a whirlwind year (following 2017, its own kind of whirlwind) and included many firsts. For this Editor‘s Desk column, I thought I’d tell you what some of those firsts were–all of them worthy of celebration. And hopefully I’ll find some time to do just that this month–celebrate all the firsts of 2018. Continue reading “From the Editor’s Desk: 2018 Reflections”

Interview with Catalyst Founder at Bookology Magazine

First of all, bookology is a delightful word to say. Go on. Say it. We’ll wait… Fun, right? Secondly, the good folks at the delightfully-named Bookology Magazine chatted with Catalyst founder Jessica Powers to talk about our children’s/young adult offerings.

[Jessica’s] goal is to bring to Western readers books that reveal the world from different perspectives—tilting, reversing or tweaking the standard Western understanding of what’s real, true, necessary, or beautiful. Her motivation to create this press is her belief that books can be the fire and fuel for change. One book in the hands of one child can change—and has changed—the world for many.
Head over to Bookology to read the full interview, and many thanks to them and to interviewer Nancy Bo Flood!

 

 

Who Can Beat a Superhero? Reflections from Comic Con Africa

Some members from the Story Press Africa team, our collaborative imprint with Jive Media Africa, were at Comic Con Africa, and they had an amazing time! It was a pleasure to meet so many dedicated fans, fantastic publishers, and talented artists and to bring Shaka Rising to South African audiences (and now, it’s official; Shaka Rising is available through North America and South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana!). We’re sharing some of our thoughts from the event, and what we took away from it. Read on for reflections from Hilary Kromberg and Robert Inglis. And for a really great visual wrap-up of the event, be sure to check out this one-minute documentary from the talented folks at DocuMinute (which features some artwork from Shaka Rising!)

Continue reading “Who Can Beat a Superhero? Reflections from Comic Con Africa”

Coming Attractions

We’ve had a good year so far. Since January, we’ve released four books making our current catalog six books deep. We’re really proud of the work we’ve been able to do since we’ve launched, and we’re excited about what the future holds.

Let’s talk about the future.

We can’t wait for you to read our next releases. There are kid’s books, thrillers, sci-fi, graphic novels, memoirs, fiction, non-fiction, you name it. We thought we’d share some of the great Catalyst titles coming to bookstores in the next year. Some are available for pre-order right now, if that’s your thing (we hope it’s your thing). And if you’re looking for any of our current titles, they are for sale right here on this very site, if that’s your thing (we hope that’s your thing, too). You can keep up with us as we share more news about these releases by signing up for our newsletter. Continue reading “Coming Attractions”

Q&A with Luke W. Molver

This Q&A is an extended version of the one that appeared in our most recent newsletter. Want to read more interviews like this, plus stay up-to-date on everything going on at Catalyst Press? Be sure to subscribe!

Earlier this year, we released Shaka Rising: A Legend of the Warrior Prince by author/illustrator Luke W. Molver. This graphic novel was the first release in our African Graphic Novel Series and the first release under our Story Press Africa imprint. The book was praised by The Wall Street Journal, Kirkus, Booklist, and the Midwest Book Review. This nuanced look at the life of the legendary Zulu king is part family saga, part military epic, and part history lesson. It has been a pleasure to bring Shaka’s story to readers. Luke will be bringing this story to even more readers as the book makes its South African release this month. Luke will be celebrating that, along with his other accomplishments at Comic Con Africa in Johannesburg this month.

We chatted with Luke about his work, writing Shaka, and what’s next for him. Keep up with Luke at his website, on Instagram, and on Facebook.  Continue reading “Q&A with Luke W. Molver”

Luke W. Molver in The Independent

Shaka Rising, the first book in our African Graphic Novel Series, makes its debut in South Africa in September! We’re pretty excited. Ahead of the book’s release, its author Luke W. Molver, was interviewed by South African newspaper The Independent. Some highlights: Continue reading “Luke W. Molver in The Independent”