Tag: South Africa

Catalyst South Africa is Growing!

Hi everyone!

If we haven’t met, I’m SarahBelle Selig and I’m the South African Office Head for Catalyst Press—or as I like to call it, “boots on the ground” in Cape Town for all things Catalyst. My role changes by the day: it could be publicizing a new book, meeting with our distributors, coordinating an event, or, my personal favorite, catching up with one of our amazing authors.

We’ve had a few big changes here in South Africa lately, including transitioning to our new local distributor, Protea Distribution, releasing a new fiction book and a graphic novel, and last but certainly not least, welcoming a new member to the team, Izak de Vries!

Izak de Vries

Izak is technically new to Catalyst, but he’s been a part of the Catalyst family for years. He previously worked for our former distributor Lapa Uitgewers, but he’s also been a close friend of Jessica’s for many years—so he’s been an incredible friend to the press since our founding in 2017, and has been a champion of our books in more ways than one. Now, Izak writes for LitNet, and he has graciously joined our team part-time to help me steer the boat and expand our work here in South Africa.

Whether it’s out and about at a book launch, or sipping cups of coffee in his Mowbray home with a dog in my lap, I love any opportunity I get to work with (and learn from) Izak, so I’m especially thrilled that he’s joined the team. And I can’t wait to introduce him to you today!

You can also stay up-to-date on Catalyst South Africa, by subscribing to our South Africa-focused mailing list (which will occasionally feature Afrikaans editions)

Continue reading “Catalyst South Africa is Growing!”

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.

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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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Coming in 2021: The Rising Tide by Helen Brain

For the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting our upcoming releases for the new year. You’ll learn a bit about our 2021 releases, their authors, and information about pre-ordering.

Helen Brain, photo by Patrick McKenna

If you’re like us, Helen Brain’s novel, The Thousand Steps, left you wanting more. The first in Helen’s Fiery Spiral Trilogy, a dystopian fantasy series for young adult readers, introduced us to 16-year-old Ebba. Ebba, like most of the population in the book’s futuristic Cape Town setting, lives in a bunker deep within Table Mountain, far removed from the world “above,” which she and the others believe was destroyed. When Ebba is suddenly elevated to the outside world, she discovers everything she thought she knew was wrong, and that she holds the power to change the world.

Ebba’s story continues in the second book of the series— The Rising Tide, set for release in June 2021.
Continue reading “Coming in 2021: The Rising Tide by Helen Brain”

Coming in 2021: You’re a Star, Lolo by Niki Daly

For the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting our upcoming releases for the new year. You’ll learn a bit about our 2021 releases, their authors, and information about pre-ordering.

Niki Daly

We’ve been so proud to be the North American publisher for author/illustrator Niki Daly’s Lolo series of books for new solo readers. Niki is an award-winning and much beloved author of numerous books for children, and we’re excited to bring the exuberant, fun-loving, and curious Lolo to even more readers.

We’ve already published Here Comes Lolo and Hooray for Lolo, which were both praised by critics and both named Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections. We’re adding one more of Niki’s delightful books to our catalog— You’re a Star, Lolo— set for release in April 2021. Continue reading “Coming in 2021: You’re a Star, Lolo by Niki Daly”

Coming in 2021: Young Blood by Sifiso Mzobe

For the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting our upcoming releases for the new year. You’ll learn a bit about our 2021 releases, their authors, and information about pre-ordering.

Sifiso Mzobe | photo by Rogan Ward

We’re excited to welcome Sifiso Mzobe to the Catalyst Press roster of authors. We’re so proud to be the North American publisher for his multi-award-winning novel Young Blood. We’re not kidding when we say “multi-award-winning.” When it was published in South Africa, Sifiso’s gritty coming-of-age novel earned him the South African Literary Award, the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize, the Herman Charles Bosman Prize, and the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa— one of African literature’s most prestigious awards. Continue reading “Coming in 2021: Young Blood by Sifiso Mzobe”