First things first: huge congratulations to Hannes Barnard, author and translator of our forthcoming release Halley’s Comet, on this fantastic review in Kirkus. They called his YA novel. “a thrilling, tension-filled story of friendship, love, radicalism, and justice that will resonate with many readers.” And we can’t help but agree. Halley’s Comet is out in January.
Things in the Bronx just got a lot bookier (yeah, I know it’s not a word. Mind your own business spellcheck.). A used shuttle bus has now become home to Bronx Bound Books, a bookstore on wheels started by writer Latanya DeVaughn.
Got a lot on your mind? Consider heading to your bookshelf. Researchers have found that daily reading has plenty of benefits, and is a great task to add to your to-do list. From Inc. “Researchers have determined the practice of reading–a cognitive exercise–lowers stress and depression, raises your intelligence, protects your memory, and helps you to be more open-minded.”
“There are so many things we’ve missed over the past year, but one of them, for me anyway, is the casual pleasure of reading something great and talking about it with other book people.” From Steph Cha’s lovely introduction to this year’s The Best American Mystery Stories anthology, which you can read in full at Crime Reads.
And while it has been hard not having as many in-person book events lately, the move to the digital realm has made our big world feel a little smaller. We can now see authors who live half a globe away right in our living rooms. Like, for instance, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (The Theory of Flight) who will be on the digital stage twice next month. First at Word Bookstores in conversation with fellow author Courttia Newland on November 6, and the pair meet again as part of Radical Book Collective’s day-long celebration of African speculative fiction on November 12.
“What I owe to my teachers — and to my students — is a shared sense of wonder and awe as we contemplate works of the human imagination across space and time, works created by people who don’t look like us and who, in so many cases, would be astonished that we know their work and their names.” Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on literary freedom
“Marketing a book is an art form, a delicate match of writer and approach.” Tell me about it, ! An illustrated look at how writers from the past might have marketed their books.
By now you know the big news: Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah is the 2021 Nobel laureate for literature. It’s a big deal. Brittle Paper has put together an appreciation to the author by 103 African writers, including fellow laureate Wole Soyinka who wrote, “The Nobel Prize comes home.”
And another event to add to your calendar: On October 18 at 6pm South African time, Jacana Media hosts a conversation with Richard Conyngham, author of All Rise: Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa along with two of the book’s contributing illustrators— Andre Trantraal and Mark Modimola. Moderated by historian Hlonipa Mokoena. We’re proud to be the US publisher for this book. US readers will be able to get it in April.
And in addition to All Rise, we have a lot of exciting titles coming out in the new year. Be sure to check out this blog post to read all about them!
