Karina Author, Book

Karavan Press title: An Unsuitable Woman by Gail Gilbride

Life has dealt journalist Deborah Morsey a challenging hand. The traumatic dealings with South Africa’s apartheid police, devastating betrayals and failed love affairs make her feel like a stranger in her own life. Dancing with Nick, a widowed sheep farmer, at a friend’s wedding, she begins to see a new future. After a whirlwind courtship, she accepts his proposal and embraces the idea of becoming a farmer’s wife as well as the stepmother to his daughter, Sara. Opening a small pre-school on their property for the farm workers’ children gives Deborah a renewed sense of purpose while the forgotten love letters she finds hidden in her grandmother’s desk rekindle her innate romanticism. But the uninvited flashbacks to her earlier life and the secrecy around the circumstances of Nick’s first wife’s death are unnerving, and the everyday with Sara and her father is not as uneventful as she’d hoped it would be. Deborah’s weekly visits to her cousin Abi in Grahamstown give her some respite from the farm until she is introduced to human rights lawyer Sanjay, who makes her question everything she thought she knew about love.

A bold exploration of love in all its confusing guises, An Unsuitable Woman is the much-awaited second novel from the author of Under the African Sun.

Praise for An Unsuitable Woman

‘What happens when a young woman from the city suddenly marries a widowed farmer believing that he, his young daughter and country-living will cure her post-traumatic stress disorder and broken heart? Is it possible to sustain the role of traditional wife under any circumstances by simply willing it? What does she do when encounters, events and lingering looks remind her who she truly is and what she really wants? Heartbreaking, heartwarming, and oh-so very true, An Unsuitable Woman delivers a pitch-perfect tribute to the complexities of relationships, misplaced longing, and the general messiness of life. Gilbride excels in exploring how characters are shaped over time by politics, family dynamics and tragedy. An insightful, sharply observed gift of a book!’

– Penny Haw, author of The Invincible Miss Cust and The Woman and Her Stars

About the Author

GAIL GILBRIDE lives with her family in the Hemel en Aarde Valley, where she swims in the sea, writes, gardens and paints. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (Rhodes) and a post-graduate diploma (UCT). She taught English, Sound Perception and Communication Skills. She also used to dance and mastering the Tango is still on her wish list. Gail is the author of Under the African Sun, a top ten finalist in the Author Academy Awards competition (USA) and Cat Therapy, an unplanned memoir. An Unsuitable Woman is her second novel.

Publication date: September 2026

ISBN: 978-1-0492-1511-2

Karina Author

Author: Gail Gilbride

GAIL GILBRIDE lives with her family in the Hemel en Aarde Valley, where she swims in the sea, writes, gardens and paints. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (Rhodes) and a post-graduate diploma (UCT). She taught English, Sound Perception and Communication Skills. She also used to dance and mastering the Tango is still on her wish list. Gail is the author of Under the African Sun, a top ten finalist in the Author Academy Awards competition (USA) and Cat Therapy, an unplanned memoir. An Unsuitable Woman is her second novel.

Karina Author, Book

Karavan Press title: Chasing Waves – The Rise of Women’s Surfing in South Africa by Melissa A. Volker

In 1977, the world surf tour comes to South Africa and the final event of the SA Pro Contest Circuit runs at Umhlanga Rocks, north of Durban. Zigzag Surfing Lifestyle Magazine reports that ‘thousands of young, foxy, tanga-clad ladies’ request autographs from the surfing stars.

Prior to the final matchup between the male surfers, the women’s surf contest, a single heat, paddles out. It is called the ‘comedy interlude’ in the press.

A little over four decades later, Melissa A. Volker watches the women’s surfing Gold Medal Match at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. South African surfer Bianca Buitendag is competing against USA’s Carissa Moore and wins the first ever Olympic surfing medal for South Africa. Thinking about the challenges South African women had to overcome to charge the waves, Melissa wonders who paved the way for Buitendag. She decides to find out. Chasing Waves chronicles the journey and tells the story of the remarkable women who have defined the local surfing scene.

Praise for Chasing Waves

‘In Chasing Waves, Melissa Volker gives voice to the girls and women who shaped South African surfing’s past and continue to make waves in the present. Weaving in reflections on her research journey and her own surfing life, Volker crafts a tapestry detailing the choices and challenges of courageous female surfers since the Sixties. In documenting their life stories, Volker surfaces hidden surf histories and shows how the waves have become more inclusive. This is not only a book for those who surf but also for those who wish to wade into the unfolding history of South African beach cultures.’ – Glen Thompson

‘An extraordinary book. Chasing Waves, and the women surfers it recognises and celebrates, will inspire you both in and out of the water. I know I will return to it often.’ – Qarnita Loxton

About the Author

MELISSA A. VOLKER is the author of short stories, a novelette, two novels, and several articles on women’s surfing. Her writing is inspired by the land and seascapes of the Eastern Cape, where she grew up. Her environmental romance Shadow Flicker won the Romance Writers Organisation of South Africa’s Strelitzia Award for the best manuscript in 2017. The novel’s protagonist is a renowned surfer. Melissa learnt to surf in 2015 and won the Women’s 45+ South African SUP Surfing Championships in 2017 and 2019. She lives in Cape Town with her husband and two daughters.

Publication date: September 2026

ISBN: 978-1-0492-1512-9

Karina Author, Book, Event

In the Wild Garden of Grief with Malika Lueen Ndlovu and Marcelle Sprong

This gathering facilitated by Malika Lueen Ndlovu is part of the ongoing series ‘In the Wild Garden of Grief’. The latest iteration of the unfolding grief-tending creative practice is inspired and informed by Malika’s book Griefseed – published in February 2025. Participants receive a signed copy when booking to be part of this deeply immersive, site-specific gathering.

Saturday, 22 August 2026, 11AM-4PM, Hout Bay, booking details above.

Karina Author, Book, Prize

Persverklaring: Kortlyste vir Netwerk24 KykNET Rapport Boekpryse bekend

Nuwe toetreders skuur skouers met vorige wenners en benoemdes op die kortlyste vir vanjaar se Netwerk24 kykNET Rapport Boekpryse. 

Dié pryse, wat tans altesaam R1,4 miljoen beloop, word jaarliks toegeken vir Afrikaanse boeke en resensies wat in die voorafgaande kalenderjaar verskyn het. Vyf boekpryse is op die spel: ’n fiksieprys (vir romans), ’n niefiksieprys, die Breyten Breytenbach-prys vir digkuns, die Herman Binge-prys vir ’n werk met filmpotensiaal en die Jan Rabie-Rapportprys vir debuut- en tweede prosawerke. Twee resensiepryse word toegeken.

Twee voormalige wenners van die fiksieprys, Willem Anker en Gerda Taljaard, is vanjaar weer in dié kategorie benoem. Die niefiksiekortlys pryk ook met twee voormalige wenners: Dana Snyman en Marita van der Vyver, wat voorheen die filmprys gewen het.

In ’n uitsonderlike prestasie is PP Fourie soos in 2024 weer benoem vir sowel die filmprys as die Jan Rabie-Rapportprys vir debuut- en tweede werke.

Vanjaar se kortlyste is, in alfabetiese orde volgens skrywer:

FIKSIE

  • Patmos, Willem Anker (Queillerie)
  • Binnerym van bloed, Antjie Krog (Penguin Books)
  • Die grafdigter, Gerda Taljaard (Penguin Random House)

NIEFIKSIE

  • Wie de hel is Johnny Joubert?, Dana Snyman (Tafelberg)
  • My jaar van vrees en vryheid, Marita van der Vyver (Human & Rousseau)
  • Spanje: Reise in ’n palimpses, André Pretorius(Naledi)

BREYTEN BREYTENBACH-PRYS VIR DIGKUNS

  • Ek’t Act, Klara du Plessis (Karavan Press)
  • Kolam, Fourie Botha (Protea)
  • vloei/stof, Gilbert Gibson (Protea)

JAN RABIE-RAPPORTPRYS VIR DEBUUT- EN TWEEDE PROSAWERKE

  • Op pad na ’n klooster in die sneeu, Johannes de Villiers (Human & Rousseau)
  • Die dood van Rachel April, PP Fourie (Queillerie)
  • ’n Jaar in my lewe, Louis Pretorius (LAPA Uitgewers)

HERMAN BINGE-PRYS VIR FILM

  • Die dood van Rachel April, PP Fourie (Queillerie)
  • Klein konings, Theo Kemp (Protea)
  • Ontvoer, Constant van der Merwe (Queillerie)

Altesaam 68 inskrywings is ontvang vir die vyf pryse wat ten doel het om erkenning te gee aan Afrikaanse skrywers en hulle aan te spoor om gehalteskryfwerk in hul moedertaal te lewer.

“Daar was groot wins vir Afrikaans in 2025,” sê die sameroeper van die pryse, Hettie Scholtz. “Die kruin van vanjaar se inskrywings het getuig van genre-tergende, waagmoedige boeke van besonder hoë literêre gehalte. In elkeen van die kategorieë het die skrywers op die kortlyste met uitsonderlike vakmanskap ritme en kadens uit die taal getoor en dit vernuftig verruim.

“By die digkuns was dit veral opvallend hoe aandagtig daar met taal omgegaan is. ’n Verrassing was ook die vars bries van diaspora-letterkunde  wat verder bewys lewer dat Afrikaans ’n lewendige  taal is wat kan deelneem aan die kontemporêre gesprek in die Suid-Afrikaanse en wêreldletterkunde.”

Die individuele prysgeld beloop R350 000 elk vir die roman- en niefiksieprys onderskeidelik, R200 000 elk vir die Breyten Breytenbach-prys, die Herman Binge-prys en die Jan Rabie-Rapportprys, en R50 000 elk vir die resensiepryse vir fiksie en niefiksie onderskeidelik. Die kortlyste vir die resensiepryse word binnekort aangekondig.

Die wenners word op 26 September 2026 bekend gemaak tydens ’n funksie by die Mount Nelson Hotel in Kaapstad.

Die keurpanele vir die boekpryse was: Fiksie: Deborah Steinmair, Jean Meiring, Ryan Pedro en Beer Adriaanse; Niefiksie: Frederik de Jager, Marga Stoffer, Kerneels Breytenbach en Kirby van der Merwe; Breyten Breytenbach-prys vir digkuns: Louise Viljoen, Johan Myburg, Ronelda Kamfer en Alfred Schaffer; Herman Binge-filmprys: Beer Adriaanse, Wikus du Toit en Kerneels Breytenbach; Jan Rabie-Rapportprys vir debuut- en tweede prosawerke: Andries Bezuidenhout, Mercy Kannemeyer en Danie Marais.

Karina Book

CLAWS Lucky Draw 2026 – win a Karavan Press book hamper and other stunning prizes

Karavan Press has been supporting the CLAWS (Clanwilliam Animal Welfare Society) Lucky Draw for the past four years and we are very happy to contribute once again to the wonderful prizes you can win in the CLAWS Luck Draw 2026.

🐾 IT’S FOR A GOOD CLAWS! 🐾

Support the incredible work of the Clanwilliam Animal Welfare Society (CLAWS) and stand a chance to win some amazing local prizes while helping animals in need throughout our community.

🎁 Lucky Draw Prizes Include:

✨ Gravity Adventures – Micro Adventure for 2
💰 Value: R1 100

✨ Oudrif – 2 Nights for 2
💰 Value: R8 600

✨ Hoghouse Brewing Company – Beer & Deli Hamper
💰 Value: R1 200

✨ Driehoek Wines – Wine Prize
💰 Value: R500

✨ Karavan Press – Book Hamper
💰 Value: R2 420

✨ John Maytham – Wine of your choosing from his collection
💰 Value: R5 000

🎟️ Tickets are R100 each

💳 How to Enter

Simply EFT your ticket payment to:

Clanwilliam Animal Welfare Society (CLAWS)
FNB
Account Number: 62920085504
Branch Code: 250655
Reference: Your Name and contact number

🐶🐱 Every ticket purchased helps CLAWS continue rescuing, feeding, sterilising and caring for animals in need in the Clanwilliam community.

📢 Please share this post and support by buying a ticket. Every share helps us reach more people, and every ticket sold helps change an animal’s life.

❤️ Because it’s for a good CLAWS.

NPO 262-101

🙏 Many thanks for your support.

Entries close on 7 September. 

For more details, see:

CLAWS Lucky Draw

CLAWS

OUDRIF

Karina Author, Book, Literary Award, Prize

Shari Daya’s and Lucienne Argent’s debut collections shortlisted for the Ingrid Jonker Prize 2026

The shortlist for the Ingrid Jonker Prize 2026 has been announced and we are thrilled that Shari Daya’s Land | Lines and Lucienne Argent’s Self-Portrait of a Guava have been nominated. Congratulations to the two of them and all other shortlisted poets!

The shortlist for 2026:

Lucienne Argent, Self-Portrait of a Guava (Karavan Press)

Shari Daya, Land | Lines  (Karavan Press)

Zeenit Saban-Jacobs, Inside an Eyeball (Botsotso Publishing)

Siphokazi Jonas, Weeping Becomes a River (Penguin)

Frank Meintjies, A Place to Night In (Botsotso Publishing)

Sarah Uheida, Not This Tender (Dryad Press)

LitNet

Karina Author, Book, Event

Love Books launch of 185: The Janine van Wyk Story as told to Firdose Moonda

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) is taking place in Morocco this year and Banyana Banyana are playing their first match in the competition against Tanzania tonight. South Africa won the Cup only once – in 2022. One of the women who lifted the trophy that year was Janine van Wyk. In 185: The Janine van Wyk Story as told to Firdose Moonda, you can read all about the successful campaign and Janine’s path to record-breaking glory as well as the incredible background story of South Africa’s women footballers’ quest to compete on the African continent and beyond, and to be counted among the best! Janine and Firdose will be in Johannesburg to celebrate the launch of the book – fittingly during the women’s month of August – and we hope to see you all at Love Books on 11 August for the occasion. Janine and Firdose will be in conversation with speaker, broadcaster and host of The Enhanced Pod, Leigh-Ann Paulick. Not to be missed!

Karina Author, Book

Karavan Press title: Nothing Is Lost by Kerry Hammerton

‘I watch the writer through this prism of water, the way she gobbles food, always rushing out the door. She sits and writes and types and talks to people through a screen. I have seen her weep, and lie down in the middle of the day, too tired to hold her head up. But always her words ring bright. I’m fine. I’m okay. Just busy, you know how it is.’

from underwater orchard

‘… an absorbing, exhilarating collection … this is Kerry Hammerton writing at the height of her powers.’ – Finuala Dowling

KERRY HAMMERTON lives in Cape Town, South Africa and has an MA in Creative Writing from Rhodes University. She has published poetry and prose in various South African and international literary journals and anthologies. Nothing is Lost is Kerry’s fifth poetry collection. Kerry is the editor of In Other Stories, first published in 2024, a series of anthologies of flash fiction and creative non-fiction published by Karavan Press. She facilitates her own creative writing workshops, and has also partnered with various literary festivals and organisations to deliver creative writing seminars. Kerry is a freelance lecturer and supervisor with the Rhodes University School of Languages and Literature on their Master’s in Creative Writing programme.

Find her at www.kerryhammerton.com

Publisher: Karavan Press

Distributor: Booksite

Publication date: July 2026

ISBN: 978-1-0671781-5-4