Welcome to The Spark, our mini newsletter featuring news from Catalyst and beyond. If you’d like to subscribe to the full size version, click here. Same great news, in a larger size. Anyway, onwards!
In Catalyst news, you can hear two of our talented authors showing off their skills behind the mic in these conversations hosted by PEN South Africa. Richard Conyngham, author of the recently-released graphic novel All Rise, joins Rebecca Hall, author of Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts, for a conversation led by professor Hlonipha Mokoena on “historical revolts and acts of resistance, working with archival records, pedagogy, and the relationship between illustration and written narratives.” And Unmaking Grace author, Barbara Boswell leads a conversation between poets Natalie Diaz and vangile gantsho. They discuss “art and healing, sensualities, the violence of the English language as well as how it is transformed by those who speak it.” Both All Rise and Unmaking Grace are out now.
Our friends at the Radical Books Collective are hosting a summer reading book club featuring books by African authors:
July 01, Friday: The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber Register here.
July 23, Saturday: In the Company of Men by Véronique Tadjo. Register here.
Aug 20, Saturday: Harry Sylvester Bird by Chinelo Okparanta. Register here.
New reviews are coming in for On My Papa’s Shoulders written and illustrated by Niki Daly and Halley’s Comet, written and translated by Hannes Barnard. School Reading List praises On My Papa’s Shoulders, “The illustrations are eye-catching, with a warmth of character detail and a thought-provoking sense of space and perspective. […] A celebration of the bond between fathers and sons this is a great book to read and share.” And LitNet praises Halley’s Comet, “Hannes Barnard has written a young adult novel, and therefore it needs to carry the realities of history to a generation that has come after […] it is a window through which young adults might get a glimpse back into that time.” Both books are out now.
All Rise makes an appearance on Brittle Paper‘s list of “33 African Books to Kick Off Your Summer Reading.” And if those aren’t enough suggestions, check out this list of historical fiction for teens, or this one featuring books about unconventional families, or this huge list of “88 Books to Bring Your Summer Alive.”
“How much influence did MTV expect to brandish when it came to young readers’ literary interest,” asks Rachel Vorona Cote in this article on the rise, fall, and (possible?) rebirth of MTV Books.
We host an annual #ReadingAfrica celebration, but we hope you keep celebrating all year round. Here’s a few places to start:
Anderson Tepper talks to author Patrice Nganang about his trilogy of novels exploring trilogy exploring the history and national identity of Cameroon.
Barbara Boswell, who you might remember from a few paragraphs up, has released a new book— Lauretta Ngcobo: Writing as the Practice of Freedom, exploring the life of this pioneering Black feminist writer. Part biography, part anthology, and part literary criticism, this book uses Ngcobo’s work and literary analysis to explore what it meant to be a woman in exile, the transition from apartheid to democracy, and her influence on South African literature and feminist thought. Congratulations, Barbara!
A deep dive into peanuts, and the way they transformed agriculture in Africa and beyond.
“Everyone who’s queer in Zambia, you can never, never be who you are. Not when you’re gay.” A look at how the Zambian LGBTI+ community is fighting for their rights.
“It’s just great to read these love stories that have chronically ill people as protagonists, like neurodivergent people, people in wheelchairs. It opens up so much more possibility for what love can hold, I think.” Akwaeke Emezi visits the First Draft podcast to talk about their latest novel, You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty.
And finally, books as decor, yea or nay?