Tag: Q&A | CatalystPress

Author Q&A: 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.

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Q&A with Joanne Hichens

This month, we were proud to release the thriller Divine Justice by Joanne Hichens. Divine Justice is the first book in Joanne’s Rae Valentine series, and we’re excited to introduce readers to this feisty, smart, and tough character.

Rae is a newly-minted PI, recovering addict, and in the middle of healing from a big breakup when she is hired to find a set of missing diamonds. The case sends her deep into the dark and violent world of the white supremacist gang, the Core, whose xenophobic and racist crime spree has been terrorizing Cape Town. And once the gang has Rae in their sights, the case may be more than she can handle. (And be sure to visit CrimeReads to read an essay from Joanne about the ways that the resurgence of white supremacist violence played a role in crafting hers, and other crime novels in South Africa.)

Divine Justice has earned praise from Publishers Weekly, The Mysterious Book Report, LitNet, and authors like David Swinson (The Second Girl and Trigger), who writes, “Divine Justice is a no-nonsense, walloping thriller, with an intoxicating and smart protagonist in Rae Valentine. Be sure to find a comfortable spot before opening the book because once you’re taken on the ride it is hard to get off.”

We chatted with Joanne about her work, how she handled having two books releasing at the same time, and why crime writing was a way for her to “see the baddies get what they deserve.”

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Q&A with Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu

This month, we were proud to release Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu’s award-winning novel The Theory of Flight in North America. When it was released in South Africa, the novel was awarded the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize. We are pleased to give even more readers the opportunity to read this beautiful book.

This sweeping epic explores decades of family and national history through the lives of a group of interconnected characters. Through the country remains unnamed in the novel, its history closely mirrors that of Zimbabwe, and the plot centers on Genie whose family and friends struggle to come to terms with her impending death. This novel sketches, through the lives of a few families and the fate of a single patch of ground, a nation’s history – from colonial occupation through the freedom struggle, to the devastation wrought by the sojas, the HIV virus, and The Man Himself. At turns mysterious and magical, but always honest, The Theory of Flight explores the many ways we lose those we love before they die.

The novel has earned praise from Bustle, Full Stop Magazine, and Publishers Weekly where it earned a starred review. Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of Nervous Conditions and the Booker-Prize-shortlisted novel, This Mournable Body also named the book one of her ten favorites in this list at Vulture magazine. (And you can read an essay at LitHub on how Zimbabwean authors like Tsitsi have inspired Siphiwe’s work.)

We chatted with Siphiwe about her work, the difficulties of defining a book like The Theory of Flight, and how fiction helps us “maneuver the often rocky and complicated terrains of the past and present.”

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Designing the Cover for The Theory of Flight

We spend a lot of time talking about what’s inside of our books— and with good reason! But one thing that makes books such a great experience, both inside and out, is the cover art. We’ve been so very lucky to work with artist/writer Karen Vermeulen on a number of book covers, including Love Interrupted, The Thousand Steps, and Unmaking Grace. Karen also did both the cover art and illustrations for Small Mercies, and we’re also proud to be the publisher for her forthcoming illustrated memoir. Stay tuned for more info on that!

Karen’s work has helped tell a piece of the story before the first page is even turned, and that’s really clear in her cover design for the forthcoming release The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu. This beautiful novel with hints of magical realism is set in an unnamed African country, and, through the lives of interconnected families, tells the story of decades of national history.

We chatted with Karen about her process of designing the cover for The Theory of Flight. You can read more about her work in this Q&A, and be sure to check out her website, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Q&A with Barbara Boswell

Huge congratulations to Barbara Boswell! Her novel Unmaking Grace is out now in the US! Released in South Africa under the title Grace, Barbara’s novel about one woman’s journey to break the cycle of intergenerational violence earned her the 2017 Debut Prize from the University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African writing. Here in the US, her novel has been praised by Kirkus Reviews as “A smart, compassionate portrayal of one woman’s quest to end the cycle of violence.”; author Yewande Omotoso (Bom Boy, The Woman Next Door) calls it “a deeply compelling and important story”; and Ms. Magazine included it in their list of must-reads for December. We couldn’t be prouder to publish this thoughtful and moving book.

You can order the book online from IndieBound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, here on our website, and, of course, you can pick up a copy at your favorite local bookstore! We chatted with Barbara recently about her writing, Unmaking Grace, and the writers who shaped her life and work. Continue reading “Q&A with Barbara Boswell”