Let’s start off with some exciting Catalyst news. Visit LitHub to read an excerpt from our forthcoming release, Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa. Disruption is the newest Short Story Day Africa anthology, and features 21 new and emerging authors from across Africa. It releases September 7, and you can learn more about the collection here.
How much do you love that Bobby Byrd (our friend and Cinco Puntos press co-founder) was included in this list of books on Sandra Cisneros’ nightstand? Speaking of Cinco Puntos, read this lovely article on the press, and its impact on the publishing world. This summer, CInco Puntos announced that it was being acquired by Lee and Low.
“I felt more disconnected, displaced and determined to understand and document this history for myself and other indigenous South African groups that have been scattered across the region because of colonialism.” Over at gal-dem, Nomqhele Beauty Dhlamini writes about the Xhosa people of Zimbabwe, and discovering a part of her heritage.
“Repatriating the cultural heritage of nations that were robbed is part of a long process of restorative justice for past wrongs that Western powers are approaching in a variety of ways. Morally, it has to be the right thing to do.” Many nations have acknowledged that they hold stolen artifacts, but the debate on what to do with them still goes on. Author Gill Paul examines the issue in this CrimeReads essay.
For our French-speaking readers, Christophe Cassiau-Haurie, author of our recently released graphic novel Madame Livingstone (illustrated by Barly Baruti and translated from the French by Ivanka Hahnenberger) has an essay series at Africultures exploring the many languages that make up African comic history and culture. First up is a look at comics in Swahili.
And speaking of works in translation, this month is a great one for those who want to expand their reading horizons. It’s World Kid Lit Month, a month spotlighting “world literature for kids and teens, especially fiction and nonfiction translated to English from other languages.” And if that wasn’t enough to get excited about, it’s also National Translation Month, another celebration of translated literature. CLMP has a list of books in translation in celebration, and it features two Catalyst books— The Wall by Max Annas (translated by Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds) and Madame Livingstone. This month, you can save 20% off on all of our translated titles!
“It is this storied past—beginning with the Cherokee removal, to the banishment of Black people in Forsyth County, to the lake’s disembodied souls in search of some kind of absolution—that I carry with me whenever I visit.” Beautiful essay from Anjali Enjeti, “The Haunting of Lake Lanier,” at Oxford American.
“Nevertheless, I would return to that house and eat at that table again and again, without further incident. But I would never forget the shot fired because the wound it left would not allow me to forget. The memory is lodged in me like the bullet it was intended to be.” And another great essay, this time by Bernice L. McFadden— “My Seat at the Table” for Longreads.
What are the worst jobs in literature? Romance novels are still hot properties. (but are they ruining relationships?) The highs and lows or high school required reading. Folklore, diversity, and comics.
And finally, this Monday is Labor Day in the US. Check out this piece on three pivotal moments in workers’ history, a Labor Day reading list from the Seattle Public Library, and one just for kids at School Library Journal.
