Congratulations are in order for author Tsitsi Dangarembga. The author and filmmaker who was recently shortlisted for the Booker Award for her novel This Mournable Body, has just been awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. She is the first Black woman to win the prize. We love Tsitsi around these parts, not just because she’s an amazing writer, but that she has championed two of our books— Young Blood by Sifiso Mzobe and The Theory of Fight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu—naming them as two of her favorite books in a Vulture article last year, and providing a blurb for Siphiwe’s novel.
And speaking of Siphiwe and congratulations, she was shortlisted for the Writing Gender residency sponsored by Huza Press and the Goethe Institut Kigali. The residency supports two authors–one African and one German—as “they complete or make significant advances with a work-in-progress novel manuscript.” The program hopes to make space “for opening up conversations about gender, its modes of construction, histories, representation and relationality to power.” We are so proud to publish Siphiwe’s novels, The Theory of Flight (out now) and The History of Man (coming January 2022). Good luck, Siphiwe!
Mahogany Browne has been named the first poet-in-residence at New York’s Lincoln Center. As the New York Times reports, the residency “will run from July to September and will include in-person and virtual events such as poetry readings, film screenings, discussions and performances.”
“One of the things that I believe makes poetry poetry is the very close attention that we give language and intention, which to me feels like a kind of touch. Even if we’re writing about something that’s painful or something that feels a little bit more like resistance or a love poem, the care and touch that we give each of those poems is similar.” Head over to LA Review of Books to read this fantastic interview with poet Natalie Diaz.
Be sure to visit Goodreads to enter to win copies of two of our books—The Rising Tide by Helen Brain (out July 13), and Cape Town: A Place Between by Henry Trotter (out now). The Rising Tide giveaway ends on July 6, and Cape Town on July 13. The Rising Tide is the second book in Helen’s Fiery Spiral trilogy, a dystopian fantasy series for young adult readers— you can enter here. Cape Town is the first in our Intimate Geographies series, short books of around 100 pages which aim to help readers go beyond the surface of fascinating places; you can enter here.
I love this look back of bestsellers that were “flying off the shelves 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago this week. And if you’re looking for more retro book news, Indiewire has a list of “7 Rare Vintage Comic Books Worth Adding to Your Collection”
Summer time is here (for some of us), and summer reading season begins! Here’s a list of translated children’s books to entertain young readers; books for every summer moment (for example, “Best Rage Reads,” “Best Read for a Cabin in the Woods”); books with an environmental or social justice theme; and graphic novels for middle-grade readers.
Great review of Sifiso Mzobe’s Young Blood at Crime Fiction Lover: “Over just 220 pages Sifiso Mzobe takes us on a joyride with Sipho and Musa. Just like the cars they steal and love their story is fast, dangerous and full of risks. Petrol heads will love the comprehensive descriptions of the cars, in particular the BMW 325i, the preferred model for township spinning. These sections read like a love letter to automobiles and the characters’ enthusiasm and pure passion for them are a diversion from their crimes. Who would’ve thought car engines could be poetic?”
And finally, another great use of comics in education: Educational anthropologist writes about her Mosquitoes & Me camp where campers explore “mosquito biology, ecology and disease transmission,” and based on those lessons, the kids “design a mosquito comic book character that is either a hero or a villain.”
