Karina Uncategorized

Karavan Press title: Beyond a Boy by Paul Morris

A crow visited him in this shifting mind place and told him something. But when he woke, he couldn’t remember the message it had brought. He could see the bird in his mind’s eye, flapping to the ground, the brilliant white collar on the bottomless-black body. The thick strong bill, the expressionless eyes and the animated movements of its head.

What it had told him was important, but gone.

From the dusty streets of childhood, through adolescent bedrooms, to the roar and chaos of battlefields, the characters in this striking debut short story collection navigate the complexities of being boys and men in a difficult world.

Beyond a Boy explores the immemorial themes of love, regret, war, adventure, grief and hope with courage and vulnerability, shining a different, piercing light on portrayals of boyhood and manhood.

ISBN: 978-0-6398626-3-7

Publication date: November 2026

About the Author

PAUL MORRIS writes short stories and travel articles and may, or may not,  have some other secret projects on the go. His memoir, Back to Angola, about returning to the battlefields on a bicycle, was a critically acclaimed South African bestseller. His other occupations have included cocktail barman, builder’s mate, traveller, human resources manager and psychotherapist. He is happiest in the mountains or on the sea. His nomadic tendencies are mostly tamed but his love of the African continent is not. Paul lives in his hometown, Cape Town, with his wife, Jen, and his dog, Biggles. Beyond a Boy, published by Karavan Press, is his first collection of short stories.

Karina Uncategorized

Author: Paul Morris

PAUL MORRIS writes short stories and travel articles and may, or may not,  have some other secret projects on the go. His memoir, Back to Angola, about returning to the battlefields on a bicycle, was a critically acclaimed South African bestseller. His other occupations have included cocktail barman, builder’s mate, traveller, human resources manager and psychotherapist. He is happiest in the mountains or on the sea. His nomadic tendencies are mostly tamed but his love of the African continent is not. Paul lives in his hometown, Cape Town, with his wife, Jen, and his dog, Biggles. Beyond a Boy, published by Karavan Press, is his first collection of short stories.

Karina Author, Book, Event

Nondwe Mpuma and Melissa Sussens will be reading at The Commons on Wednesday, 11 November 2026

Nondwe Mpuma and Melissa Sussens will be reading to us at The Commons on Wednesday, 11 November at 19:30 SAST.

Nondwe Mpuma is a lecturer and PhD candidate in the English department at the University of the Western Cape. Her research interests include creative writing pedagogies, writing about writing, speculative fiction and contemporary South African writing. Her debut collection Peach Country was published in 2022. She is the winner of the 2017 Patricia Schonstein Poetry in McGregor Award and has been published widely in South Africa and abroad. Her collection was named as one of Brittle Paper’s Notable African books of 2022, Griot Global’s 100 Notable African Books of 2022 and the collection was shortlisted for the Humanities and Social Sciences Award 2023 for Best Fiction: Poetry.

Melissa Sussens is a queer veterinarian and poet. Her debut collection, Slaughterhouse (Karavan Press, 2022), was a finalist for the 2024 HSS Awards and was shortlisted for The Ingrid Jonker Prize 2024. She placed 2nd in the 2020 New Contrast National Poetry Prize and was shortlisted for the 2022 prize. Melissa was also shortlisted for the 2024 Isele Poetry Prize and her work has appeared in many publications, both locally and internationally. She has performed at the Poetry In McGregor festival, The Commons and The Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Collective. She spent years as a teaching assistant for Megan Falley’s international writing course, Poems That Don’t Suck and her favourite part of writing is editing. Melissa lives in Cape Town with her wife and their two dogs. Find her at melissasussens.com or @melissasussens.

Please note that a film screening will also be taking place on the same night in the main room at The Commons, so the Red Wheelbarrow has been asked to relay that anyone attending the reading who’d like to place an order from the bar please do so before 19:45. Thank you.

As always, the reading by the featured poet will be followed by an open mic session for poets from the audience. Poets are welcome to read from their own work as well as from the work of a favourite poet.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Date & time: Wednesday, 11 November 2026, 19:30
Venue: The Commons, Surfer’s Corner, Beach Rd, Muizenberg, Cape Town, 7970
Phone: 083 799 8294

For more info, including the link to The Red Wheelbarrow’s complete poetry archive, visit their website. Recordings of their weekly Zoom readings are on their YouTube channel.

Karina Author, Book

Her of Perfidy, a new Louis Viljoen play at The Antique

A breathless account of one woman’s encounter with a peculiar devil nestled inside of her. She journeys into the seductive corners of a lonely life that leads her to a descent into the murky depths of desire, betrayal, revelation and unrealised potential.

There is poetry to be found in the strangest places, even when it’s written on the floor in blood.

“A life lived half asleep and half on the run. With a pause in the middle for some sex and fun.” – Her of Perfidy

Her of Perfidy is the eighth collaboration between actor Emily Child and playwright Louis Viljoen. This award-winning duo previously brought to life such acclaimed plays as The Emissary, The Hucksters, The Vulgarians, and The Pervert Laura. This is the first time they are undertaking a one-person play together: An opportunity to challenge themselves to create something neither of them have ever dared take on before.

The recently opened independent theatre, The Antique, is the perfect venue to stage this fast-paced and thrilling character study. The intimacy of The Antique brings the audience nose-to-nose with the intricate nature of the play’s unique construction and delivery. Her of Perfidy invites the audience into the belly of the beast and keeps a tight grip for sixty rip- roaring minutes.

Another frequent collaborator of Viljoen’s is designer Kieran McGregor, who brings Her of Perfidy to life with his unique aesthetic touch. Having recently designed the visually sumptuous The Vulgarians and The Killing of a Union Leader, McGregor will once again provide audiences with a design that is distinctive and intoxicating.

Her of Perfidy will be on stage at The Antique Theatre & Bar from 10 to 28 November 2026. The play carries an age restriction of 18 for explicit language, descriptions of sex and death, and the delight of surrendering to one’s dark passions.

For more details and bookings, see:

The Antique

LOUIS VILJOEN is a Cape Town-based playwright and director. Described as ‘one of South Africa’s most exciting playwrights’, Viljoen’s gripping writing is known for its intricate use of language and an uneasy intimacy that keeps audiences enthralled.

He has written and produced numerous plays, including The Bile Boys, The Frontiersmen, The Verbalists, CHAMP, Porno 88, The Kingmakers, The Pervert Laura, Oh Baby, I’m A Wild One, The Emissary, The Eulogists, The Demon Bride, The Hucksters, The Grass Widow, The Visigoths, The Sin Drinkers, Mrs. Mitchell Comes to Town and The Vulgarians. Viljoen has won the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for Best New South African Script for CHAMP (2013) and The Kingmakers (2015). He was the recipient of the Rosalie van der Gucht Best New Director Award for his plays The Kingmakers and The Pervert Laura.

Karavan Press is the proud publisher of ten of Viljoen’s plays in Selected Plays.

Karina Author, Book, Event

Dawn Garisch reading at The Red Wheelbarrow

Dawn Garisch will be The Red Wheelbarrow’s featured poet on Zoom this week.

Dawn Garisch is a medical doctor and award-winning author and poet. She has had seven novels, three poetry collections, a non-fiction work, a short story collection, two children’s books and memoir published. Four novels were published in the UK, including Breaking Milk (Heloise Press, 2024), also short-listed for the CNA Sunday Times award in South Africa (2021). Her short story collection What Remains (Karavan, 2023) won the NIHSS and the Nadine Gordimer SALA awards in 2024 in that category. She has had four plays and a short film, Cry Me A Baby, produced, and has written scripts for the TV edudrama Soul City. Her poem Blood Delta won the DALRO prize in 2007, Miracle won the Sol Plaatjie EU competition in 2011, and the collection Difficult Gifts (Modjaji, 2011) was shortlisted for the Ingrid Jonker Prize.

As always, the reading by the featured poet will be followed by an open mic session for poets from the audience. Poets are welcome to read from their own work as well as from the work of a favourite poet.

Join: Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 813 6429 6708

Passcode: poetry

Date: 29 October 2026

Time: 19:30 SAST

For more info, including the link to The Red Wheelbarrow’s complete poetry archive, visit their website. Recordings of the weekly Zoom readings are on their YouTube channel.

Karina Author, Book, Festival

Karavan Press & Indeed Books at the 2026 BookBedonnerd Literary Festival in Richmond

The Karavan is heading to Richmond this week where we will be participating in the BookBedonnerd Literary Festival, taking place between 29 and 31 October 2026, one of the highlights of the literary calendar every year.

Catch the following Karavan Press and Indeed Books authors at the festival:

Thursday 29th October – Day 1

09:30 STEPHEN SYMONS – SATRLORN

Friday 30th October – Day 2

10:00 ANGIE BUTLER – THE SHADOW OF ELSEWHERE

15:00 GAIL GILBRIDE – AN UNSUITABLE WOMAN

15:40 TRACY GOING – THE POWER OF WRITING & STORYTELLING

16:45 ROGER LUCEY – HOW TO BUILD A HOUSE IN THE MOUNTAINS

Saturday 31st October – Day 3

10:00 SHERYL & SANDY JAMES – UNBRIDLING

We will also be running three writing workshops at the Vetmuis Plaaskombuis, every morning between 8 and 9AM:

THURSDAY: Karina M. Szczurek

FRIDAY: Kerry Hammerton

SATURDAY: Chantal Stewart

Join us for this wonderful Karoo adventure!

Karina Author, Book, Event

Poems Galore at Salon Hecate, 3 November 2026

Please join us at Salon Hecate, Noordhoek Art Point Gallery, to celebrate four recently published poetry collections – Nothing Is Lost, Fishwife, Memories In Our Throats and Gathered Seams – on 3 November, 5.30 for 6PM. We will read and discuss and have a glass of bubbly to toast Kerry Hammerton, Diane Awerbuck and all the poets of Memories In Our Throats edited by Melissa Sussens and Gathered Seams published by Modjaji Books.

Click here for more details: Salon Hecate at Noordhoek Art Point