First up, some Catalyst news! We’ve got some great upcoming events for you to join this November:
We Kiss Them with Rain author Futhi Ntshingila and Bom Boy author Yewande Omotoso are participating in the 2021 Open Book Festival’s podcast series, running from November 8-24, and on November 6 at 2pm EST (8pm South Africa), The Theory of Flight author Siphiwe Ndlovu will be in conversation with Cosmogramma author Courttia Newland and moderator Sean Jacobs, hosted by WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn! Here’s the registration info.
Can’t get enough Siphiwe and Courttia? Us either! Check out The Radical Books Collective’s “Beyond Wakanda! Celebrating New African Speculative Fiction” day on November 12 from 11am-2pm EST (5pm-8pm in SA), which features another conversation between Siphiwe and Courttia, moderated by Lizzy Attree.
To celebrate these two awesome events, take 15% off of The Theory of Flight when you order from our site, this month only! Use code RADICAL at checkout. And speaking of Courttia, we spotted him on Electric Lit this week!
Monday is South African pub day for Madame Livingstone by Christophe Cassiau-Haurie and Barly Baruti, and Roads and Bridges by Glynnis Hayward! Starting this Monday, both books will be available online and in most bookstores in South Africa! Congrats to Glynnis, Christophe, Barly, and Madame Livingstone translator Ivanka Hahnenberger! And be sure to check out this Q&A with Glynnis.
And lastly, mark your calendars for this year’s #ReadingAfrica Week, December 5-11! It’s our 5th #ReadingAfrica celebration, so it’s going to be our biggest one yet! Give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter so you keep up to date on this year’s virtual events, discounts, and more!
Time for some industry news! The Andrew W. Mellon foundation has awarded a grant to Illuminations, a new publishing series of classic works by Black playwrights, and The Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust has announced the creation of the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction to be awarded in October 2022. The USA is finally getting Abdulrazak Gurnah’s books thanks to a deal with Riverhead, Raven Leilani’s smash hit Luster is coming to HBO (thank you Tessa Thompson!), and the earliest collected edition of Shakespeare’s work on record is being auctioned this week. Acclaimed children’s book illustrator of black children’s and history books Jerry Pinkney died this week, and Believer Magazine is shutting down after nearly 20 years in business.
Here’s your weekly reading rec roundup: in honor of Halloween, here’s some Japanese horror reads and Halloween reading lists from Electric Lit and The New York Times. If horror’s not your vibe, try these WLW romance books, LGBTQ books for adult readers, and books for lovers of a really good stroll. Check out what literary adaptations to stream in November, great books by Chicano authors, Greek mythology reads for kids, books about menopause (that don’t demonize it), and graphic novels and graphic memoirs about mental illness (and an argument for why they’re so important). It’s Black Speculative Fiction month, so add these Hoodoo reads to your TBR list, and while you’re at it, check out Short Story Day Africa’s newest anthology Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa which features several speculative fiction short stories from Black authors! We’re proud to be the North American publisher for Disruption, and it’s available now from our online shop and in most bookstores!
Speaking of Disruption, a huge congratulations is in order for Helen Moffett, Edwin Okolo, and Alithnayn Abdulkareem, three of the twenty-three writers from ten African countries that were shortlisted for the 2021 Morland Scholarship for African Writing! Disruption features new work from Edwin and Alithnayn, with Helen providing the book’s beautiful introduction.
For some thought provoking reads, find out why we’re so intrigued by horror villains, why you like sniffing old books, and what therapists read during crises. Ọlájídé Salawu discusses the politics of language in Nigerian literature, Madelyne Xiaoon explains how Goosebumps helped her cope with very real fears from the pandemic year, and Claire Handscombe asks for truthful flap copy. Here’s Jenny Qi on writing obituaries for loved ones, Teju Cole on epiphanic writing, Antonio Damasio on the meaning of consciousness, and a brief history on Charlotte Cushman, a 19th century arts patron and radical feminist.
Finally, the 10 best book covers of October, courtesy of LitHub.
