Modjaji Authors at Time of the Writer
The Time of the Writer festival returns for its 25th edition March 14 – 21 2022. We’re delighted that several Modjaji writers are featured in the festival, which is happening virtually this year. See below for Modjaji author appearances, and find the full programme here.
Beyond the Words in Shorts Stories
Catch Lynn Joffe, author of The Gospel According to Wanda B Lazarus, and Lindiwe Nkutha, author of 69 Jerusalem Street, in “Beyond the Words in Shorts Stories” on Wednesday, 16 March at 15h00.
Lynn and Lindiwe join Nthikeng Mohlele, Niq Mhlongo, and others for a rich conversation on the world of short fiction.
Sexuality & Politics: Re-aligning the relationship
Uvile Ximba, author of Dreaming in Colour, and Sara Matchett and Alex Halligey, co-editors of Collaborative Collaborations: Celebrating 21 years of The Mothertongue Project, join Tracey Saunders, Buki Papillon in “Sexuality & Politics: Re-aligning the relationship” on Monday, 14 March at 17h00 for #CocktailHour.
Beyond Words: Imagination, Success & Recognition
What role do writers play driving social change?
Lynn Joffe, author of The Gospel According to Wanda B Lazarus, joins Nancy Richards and others on Thursday, 17 March at 15h00 for “Beyond Words: Imagination, Success & Recognition”.
Modjaji Authors at Franschoek Literary Festival
The beloved Franschoek Literary Festival returns – in-person! – over the weekend of 13 – 15 May 2022. Save the date!
The line-up boasts names such as Elif Shafak, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Zakes Mda, Karen Jennings, and our very own Colleen Higgs (my mother, my madness, deep south, 2020) and Sally Cranswick (Women Out of Water, Modjaji Books, 2021).
Stay tuned for the full programme announcement. In the meantime, you can browse the list of participants and check their website out for details about membership and discounted tickets for members.
Please note that attendance at all FLF events is conditional on showing proof of vaccination, or proof of a negative Covid-19 test result (PCR or Rapid Antigen) less than 72 hours old.
Pamplona-Iruñea Declaration for independent, decolonial, ecological, feminist, free, social and solidarity-based publishing
“During the conference of The International Alliance of Independent Publishers in Pamplona in November last year one of the things we worked on was the Declaration for independent publishing,” Colleen Higgs, current co-ordinator of the English network, says.
The declaration reaffirms our commitment to the cultural, social and political character of books and reading, the democratisation of books in our societies, and reading as an emancipatory practice that strengthens the critical thinking of citizens and stakeholders within their society.
The declaration also emphasises that independent publishing has a vocation to resist the pressure of continued commodification in the world of books.” Read the full declaration here.
Interlink Publishers buy World English Rights for Uvile Ximba’s Dreaming in Colour
We’re delighted that Dreaming in Colour by Uvile Ximba will be getting an international audience: US-based Interlink Publishers have bought World English Rights!
Ximba’s astonishing debut coming-of-age novel, which follows main characters Langa and her love Khwezi and is set against the backdrop of the #RUReferenceList in Makhanda, and was published by Modjaji in 2021. The NIHSS generously supported the publication of this title.
Our thanks to Bieke van Aggelen of African Literary Agency for facilitating this deal.
The Gospel According to Wanda B Lazarus gets a second edition
Lynn Joffe’s The Gospel According to Wanda B Lazarus, has been flying off the shelves. We’re delighted to be bringing out a second edition, which includes a glossary of Yiddish words in the novel. This will also be the novel’s third print run.
Find Joffe’s debut novel, which has been recommended by Stephen Fry, in any good SA bookstore or direct from our online store.
Janet van Eeden interviews Michelle Edwards for LitNet
Thanks to Janet van Eeden for this fantastic inter-review with Michelle Edwards, author of Go Away Birds. Van Eeden describes this debut novel as “page-turningly good”.
She goes on to say: “The plot moves swiftly through the first-person voice of Skye, who is that most delicious of literary devices: an unreliable narrator. […] This is a powerful debut novel for a writer who knows how to keep a reader intrigued by just enough information, but not too much. I look forward to the next novel from this promising author.”
Read the whole review, including a Q&A with Michelle Edwards, here.
Catching up with The Girl Who Chased Otters
Sally Partridge’s latest YA novel, The Girl Who Chased Otters, was published in 2021 by Modjaji. We had a fantastically fun launch party in December 2021, with readers Alex New, Caitlin Gronow, Qailah Bhamjee, Sabreen Mohamed and Juanita de Villiers. The conversation was led by Kate Olivier. They discussed the novel and its themes with Sally Partridge. You can watch the recording on our YouTube channel.
Author and Sunday Times book reviewer Tiah Marie Beautenment also reviewed The Girl Who Chased Otters in her newsletter. She describes the book as “a tender read that contains hidden barbed wire. Pretty much like life, really”. Read her full review here.
Michael Sears Interviews Ameera Patel about Outside the Lines
Ameera Patel’s thriller and family drama Outside the Lines was first published in South Africa by Modjaji in 2016. In 2020, Catalyst Press published the United States edition.
Michael Sears, co-author of the Detective Kubu series, called Outside the Lines “a tense, literary thriller” and interviewed Ameera for “The Big Thrill”. Read the full article here.
Olivia M Coetzee guest-edits an edition of Words without Borders on Kaaps
Olivia M Coetzee guest-edited an edition of Words without Borders on Kaaps and featured some local writers who are working in Kaaps. This led to a feature on Kaaps in Publishing Perspectives.
We’re proud to have published 3 of the authors featured: Shirmoney Rhode (Nomme 20 Delphi Straat, 2016), Khadija Heeger (Beyond the Delivery Room, 2013), and Olivia herself (Innie Shadows, 2019). Read the full edition of Words without Borders here.
Coming soon from Hands-On: Plan B by Sean Thompson
Hands-On, our custom publishing imprint, is excited to be publishing Sean Thompson’s Plan B: How South Africans can invest in the UK property market.
Plan B: How South Africans can invest in the UK property market is a practical, step-by-step guide. It is full of useful advice on how to get started, from leveraging bank finance to finding investment grade properties from distance. It gives practical advice on working with and finding contractors and project managers, as well as case studies of people that have invested with the guidance of WealthTrek. Plan B offers insight into how the UK property market works – specifically on how to grow your investment portfolio through refinancing, and building your cashflow from day one through interest-only funding. Before you take the leap into UK property investing, find out more from a team with years of experience.
This gorgeous cover was designed by Rudi De Wet.
Red Wheelbarrow and The Book Shoppe host Modjaji poets for an Only Magic We Know reading
Modjaji’s poetry anthology, The Only Magic We Know (Modjaji, 2020) features 12 years’ worth of southern African women’s poetry.
Thanks to The Book Shoppe and Cape Town-based poetry collective Red Wheelbarrow, for hosting several of the featured poets, including Helen Moffett, Christine Coates, and Robin Winckel-Mellish for a lovely reading on 1 March, 2022.