Warming up the Inkubator
We loved working with Short Story Day Africa to release the anthology, Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa last year. This collection brought together writers from across Africa, each writing about the many ways that we grow, adapt, and survive in the face of our ever-changing global realities. Short Story Day Africa as long been a force in the African writing community. Through their writing and editing workshops and the Short Story Day Africa Prize, they have nurtured dozens of writers and editors, and brought many to international attention. This year, one of the writers featured in Disruption took home the prestigious Caine Prize, and we don’t see this momentum stopping anytime soon.
We were proud to partner with them on Disruption, and are excited to work with them again on their newest anthology. These stories will come from the writers of Inkubator, an intensive, three-month, online seminar designed by Short Story Day Africa and Laxfield Literary Associates. Through this program, writers develop, grow and hone their fiction writing and self-editing skills. The twelve writers chosen for the seminar are mentored by a distinguished group of writers, editors, and publishing professionals, and their final works will be compiled into an anthology.
And here’s where we come in.
Continue reading “Warming up the Inkubator”
The Spark: The Caine Prize Edition
We’re dedicating this edition of The Spark to the newest Caine Prize winner, Idza Luhumyo. Idza’s story, “Five Years Next Sunday,” was named the winner of this year’s Caine Prize for African Writing. The award is given to “a short story by an African writer published in English […] The winner is awarded a cash prize of £10,000, and the other four shortlisted writers will receive £500 each.”
We are proud to have published Idza’s award-winning story in our release, Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa, co-published with Short Story Day Africa.
Congratulations to Idza, and all of the shortlisted authors!
Continue reading “The Spark: The Caine Prize Edition”
The Spark: The “Hey, that’s a lot of news” Edition
Hot from the Press
Congratulations to Bridget Krone who was named a 2022 Skipping Stones Honor Award winner this week, for her debut novel Small Mercies! We are honored to publish both Small Mercies and Bridget’s second middle grade novel, The Cedarville Shop and the Wheelbarrow Swap, which comes out this September. Pre-order your copy now!
Also this week, The History of Man author Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu was featured in this amazing interview with The Rumpus to discuss the book’s complicated main character, Zimbabwean writers, Siphiwe’s literary influences, and more. And don’t miss this interview with our Catalyst Press staff on The Mystery of Writing!
This Wednesday July 13th at 12pm EST, tune in to this virtual event with the 2022 AKO Caine Prize shortlisted authors, including our very own Idza Luhumyo, whose short story “Five Years Next Sunday” is featured in Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa. Register here, and while you’re at it, check out this great feature of Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa on Brittle Paper!
Visit Women Writers, Women’s Books to read a new essay from Today is Tomorrow author, Caroline Kurtz on the difficulties and rewards of writing memoir.
And lastly, huge congrats to Futhi Ntshingila for being longlisted for the 2022 Sunday Times Literary Awards, announced this week! We were lucky enough to publish Futhi’s novel We Kiss Them With Rain back in 2018.
Continue reading “The Spark: The “Hey, that’s a lot of news” Edition”Big News for Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa
Please join Catalyst Press and our publishing partner, Short Story Day Africa, in congratulating Idza Luhumyo and Mbozi Haimbre. Idza was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for her story, “Five Years Next Sunday,” and Mbozi was shortlisted for a Nommo Award in the short story category for her story, “Shelter.” Both of these appeared in our recently-released collection, Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa, the newest Short Story Day Africa Anthology. Idza and Mbozi were also the winner and first runner-up, respectively, for the Short Story Day Africa Prize.
Continue reading “Big News for Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa”Author Q&A with Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa Authors
We are so excited to be the North American publisher for Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa. This thought-provoking anthology is the latest collection from Short Story Day Africa, a non-profit established to develop and share the diversity of Africa’s voices through publishing and writing workshops. And though we usually do author Q&As for our new releases, because this release features 21 authors, we’ve decided to do something a little different.
We’ve talked to some of the Disruption authors, and asked them to share some thoughts about why they write. What compels them to fill blank pages with words, images, scenes, and dialogue. What keeps them writing when it’s hard, when it feels like the words won’t come, when that story you need to tell just won’t let you go. And they answered. With thoughtful, smart, inspiring statements about what keeps them going (Responses have been edited for clarity)
Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa, edited by Jason Mykl Snyman, Karina M. Szczurek, and Rachel Zadok is out now. Order your copy here. Continue reading “Author Q&A with Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa Authors”
This Week in Literary News: Week of August 8
In Catalyst news this week, Joanne Hichens’ thriller, Divine Justice was included in Amplitude Magazine’s roundup of books featuring amputees. Amplitude Magazine is a publication “for amputees who want to live more fully.”
“It is in the act of remembrance and re-evaluation of such music that a fuller appreciation of the hidden spaces in this country’s struggle heritage come to light. There is deep history to be excavated. Each in their own way, these albums are psalm songs of the South African jazz holy grail.” Liam Brickhill in Africa is a Country on two recently reissued albums from Matsuli Music, a label focused on South African rarities and jazz classics.
“In the early days of the Cold War, the CIA launched journals, concerts, and co-opted high-profile African-American NGOs.” Head to CrimeReads, to read an excerpt from Susan Williams’ book White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa. Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of August 8”
This Week in Literary News: Week of August 1
Happy Women in Translation Month! This month, we’re celebrating with 20% off of Sacrificed (paperback or ebook), the U.S. debut of bestselling Afrikaans author Chanette Paul, translated by Elsa Silke. Read an excerpt of the thriller that the New York Journal of Books says “places Chanette Paul among the classiest thriller writers of our day.” And be sure check out some of our posts from WIT Months past with tips on how you can add more translated literature— especially by women authors— to your bookshelves!
In celebrity author news, Mel Brooks is penning a memoir at 95, our beloved Mother of Dragons Emilia Clarke has a new superhero comic book (sigh…not about dragons), and Abby Wambach recommends three books on sports and leadership. And in South African author news, 38-year-old Karen Jennings is nominated for a Booker for her novel, The Island. This week, she spoke with The Guardian about repeated rejections and writing while poor.
Romance Writers of America is in trouble again, after having awarded their top prize for religious book of the year to a book about a genocidal, misogynistic maniac—and then promptly rescinding it. And just when we thought they were fixing things up over at RWA…
Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of August 1”
This Week in Literary News: Week of June 20
In Catalyst Press news, the winners of this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize have been announced! We’re thrilled to be releasing Disruption, the newest Short Story Day Africa anthology, to the North American market in September. Disruption features stories from 21 new and emerging authors from across Africa, including the winning short stories of this year’s prize. Pre-orders are available now.
In celebrity book news, beloved British television host Graham Norton has a new memoir, James Patterson and Bill Clinton are back with more tropes, and Jared Kushner and President Joe Biden’s sister both signed book deals (sigh). And most important, Tsitsi Dangarembga became the first Black woman to win the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade! Go Tsitsi!
A literary heritage project in Australia is trying to save the nation’s books, and five organizations across the United States have started a collective fundraiser in support of Black literary arts. This week commemorates 121 years since the loss of the Hanlin Library (the what, you ask?). And in case you needed another reason to hate Amazon… Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of June 20”
This Week in Literary News: Week of May 16
Lots to get into this week, so let’s do it!
On May 22, the Harlem Arts Alliance is hosting “Voices of the Coast,” an online exhibit and panel discussion that will “unite the voices and coasts of visual artists and cultural commentators from Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, and the African Diaspora.” The companion exhibition is scheduled for later this year.
Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate saw a picture “that would catapult her to global fame — not for what it showed, but for what it did not.” Great article in the New York Times exploring Nakate’s story of erasure, racism, being “a fighter for the people and the planet,” and her new book set for release this November.
And, hey, if you’re already at The New York Times, be sure to check out their Globetrotting feature of new and forthcoming international books. We’re thrilled to see our very own Madame Livingstone there!
Prepare to have your mind blown over at New Frame as Rofhiwa Maneta talks to multidisciplinary artist Nolan Dennis about his work a.sun.black, “an online game – or digital essay game, as he refers to it – that shares seminal Black liberation texts in the same fragmented way he was led to Black liberation theory.” Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of May 16”