Making rain for southern African women writers
Modjaji Books is an independent feminist press that publishes southern African women writers. Modjaji Books fills a gap by providing a platform for serious and ground-breaking writing by new and established women writers with brave voices. We publish short stories, novels, memoirs, biography, poetry, essays, narrative non-fiction, reference books and relevant non-fiction.
The history of publishing in South Africa is enmeshed with the culture of resistance that flourished under apartheid. Struggle literature may have emerged from the underground, but women’s voices and particularly black women’s voices – are still marginalized. Modjaji Books addressed this inequality by publishing books that are true to the spirit of Modjaji, the rain queen: a powerful female force for good, new life and regeneration.
Modjaji titles have won many prizes or been short-listed for prizes. The prizes include the Ingrid Jonker prize for debut poetry, the UJ prize for debut creative work, the NIHSS prize for fiction , short-listings for the Sunday Times fiction prize and the M-Net film prize, a good number of SALA prizes as well as a short-listing for the Caine Prize. In 2014, Bom Boy by Yewande Omotoso was one of the three titles shortlisted for the inaugural Etisalat prize for debut African fiction. Love Interrupted by Reneilwe Malatji won two awards – the 2015 Nadine Gordimer, SALA award and the international prize the 2014 Aidoo-Snyder Award.
Modjaji Books was started in 2007 by Colleen Higgs, it is an independent press that publishes the writings of southern African women. Higgs previously worked for the Centre for the Book, a project of the National Library. She innovated several projects such as the award-winning Community Publishing Project and Writer Development, and brought out a series of pamphlets on writing and publishing.
We are proud that in January 2014, we were invited to be a member of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers. Currently Colleen is the coordinator of the English network of the Alliance, and participates in the organising committee.
We have published a number of African Small Publishers’ Catalogues, in 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2021. This is our contribution towards building networks amongst small presses in Africa.
