Karina Uncategorized

16 Days of Activism

As we mark the start of the international campaign, 16 Days of Activism, an initiative opposing violence against women and children, we would like to share a remarkable novel with local readers: The Memory of the Air by Caroline Lamarche.

Published in English translation by Héloïse Press in the UK in 2022, the autobiographical novel is a sophisticated and introspective narrative about a toxic relationship. As the narrator shares with us her memories of a past relationship, we discover the small details hidden behind psychological abuse until we are led to witness and understand a major traumatic event in her life.

The Memory of the Air was the book that put Héloïse Press on the literary map for me. Exquisitely written, profound and deeply empowering, the text itself is testimony to survival, and the possibility of beauty after trauma. It is a book that brings understanding and solace. It is an honour to be able to share it now with South African readers.

The headlines in my inbox this morning were devastating, as always, when we confront GBV:

16 Days of Activism: How the state continues to fail women

The story: Monday marks the start of the international campaign, 16 Days of Activism, an initiative opposing violence against women and children. 

The stats: In the first quarter of the current financial year, 93 women were killed, 212 were victims of attempted murder, and 704 reported being raped.

What’s more: An in-depth probe by the Public Protector found that the justice and social development departments, as well as the police, did not put adequate measures in place to effectively protect victims of gender-based violence.

Where so many institutions fail us, literature often offers a space for comprehension, empathy and healing. Sharing stories helps us to make sense of the unspeakable, to reimagine a future beyond hurt.

Please read Dawn Garisch’s review of: The Memory of the Air by Caroline Lamarche. Dawn’s novel, Breaking Milk, was published by Héloïse Press in the UK.

‘Héloïse Press champions world-wide female talent. Héloïse’s careful selection of books gives voice to emerging and well-established female writers from home and abroad. With a focus on intimate, visceral and powerful narratives, Héloïse Press brings together women’s stories and literary sophistication.’ — Aina Marti, Founder

In this respect, Karavan Press shares a common vision with Héloïse Press and it is a privilege to be giving a platform to the stories we are passionate about.

Last year, at the time of 16 Days of Activism, we launched a new edition of Tracy Going‘s powerful memoir, Brutal Legacy. We will continue publishing stories that expose and challenge GBV, and that empower survivors.

Thank you to all the authors, for the stories you tell, for your courage and inspiration, and for allowing us all to envisage a different future!

Karina Author, Book, Review

Dawn Garisch reviews The Memory of the Air by Caroline Lamarche

Words are never sufficient, there comes a time when the body naturally takes over, so to speak. (73)

In the introduction, British academic Dr Dominique Versini describes Belgian author Caroline Lamarche’s book as semi-autobiographical. She alerts us that the text concerns rape, and commends Lamarche for her contribution to the subject.

So we enter the story knowing that this specific form of violence will be / has been committed. By whom? Where? How? This replicates the chronic uncertainty many women experience, aware of the prevalence of rape, and that it is frequently committed by someone familiar.

In the opening chapter, the protagonist dreams of a dead woman lying in a gully. This dream body compels the author, in tandem with the reader, to make the regular and dangerous descent, visiting her and what she stands for in order to care for her and to understand her. She is both dead and alive, both old and young, she is dead yet no longer disempowered.

The rest of the book is the slow uncovering of the story within the story.

Early on, we meet the last man she loved, whom she calls Man-fore (man before what? is a question that haunts the reading); much of the book dwells on the complexities of this relationship as the story spirals in towards several disparate yet related events and their aftermath. This exploration includes how one might recount the story of trauma, and to whom; how that story is received, interpreted, and then used for or against the person describing what happened. Both the police and someone close to her use details of her narrative against her; the reader might also find themselves weighing up the contributing factors in her account − even as the protagonist makes herself extremely vulnerable in the telling − thereby deciding how and where our empathy might land.

Writing is a form of witnessing; through this practice, the writer might uncover the depths of their own experience, thus supporting her quest for meaning and for finding some resolution. A reader, following the author’s process, could also come to a new understanding.

Lamarche’s book did that for me. Her skill in using understatement and stream of consciousness, together with evocative images, has left me with much to ponder after a powerful emotive experience, despite her relatively unemotive language. I am reminded of Annie Ernaux’s work.

The final scene in the book makes an analogy that is shocking and perceptive, expanding our understanding of the author’s narrative. As a writer, reader, and woman, I found this book original, compelling and thought-provoking.

The Memory of the Air by Caroline Lamarche (Héloïse Press)

Karina Author, Book, Distribution

Karavan Press is the local distribution partner for THE MEMORY OF THE AIR by Caroline Lamarche (Héloïse Press)

THE MEMORY OF THE AIR

CAROLINE LAMARCHE

From the winner of the Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle

English PEN Award

The autobiographical The Memory of the Air is a sophisticated and introspective narrative about a toxic relationship. As the narrator shares with us her memories of a past relationship, we discover the small details hidden behind psychological abuse until we are led to witness and understand a major traumatic event in her life.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

“As a writer, reader, and woman, I found this book original, compelling and thought-provoking.” Dawn Garisch, author

“A nuanced, beguiling, haunting and deep exploration of the impact of male violence. A beautifully written portrait of a woman trying to reclaim selfhood through storytelling. I haven’t read anything else quite like it. It will stay with me.” Marisa Bate, journalist

“Like a spider, Manfore is a predator who has her trapped in his web, but the narrator is also like the spider, a beautiful woman who has spun a web and who sits at the centre of her story.” Shara Kronmal, Necessary Fiction

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Caroline Lamarche (Liège, 1955) is one of the most important contemporary Belgian authors. She studied Romance Studies at the University of Liège. Her debut novel Le jour du chien (Minuit, 1996) received the Prix Rossel. She is the author of fourteen novels and six short story collections, including Nous sommes à la lisière (Gallimard, 2019) which received the prestigious Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Katherine Gregor is a full-time literary translator from Italian and French. She was on the Premio Straga Jury in 2020. Her translation credits include Stefanis Auci’s The Florios of Sicily (HarperVia), MarionBrunet’s Summer of Reckoning (Bitter Lemon), Donato Carrisi’s Into the Labyrinth (Little, Brown), and Sylvain Tesson’s Berenzina (Europa Editions).

South African distribution partner: Karavan Press

Publisher: Héloïse Press

Publication date: October 2022

ISBN: 978-1-7397515-2-4

If you are a bookseller, please contact BOOKSITE to order copies of The Memory of the Air. If you are a reader, please ask your local bookshop to order the book for you via Booksite.

Karina Author, Book, Event, Literary Award, Prize

Celebration!

Please join us at The Book Lounge for a celebration of Andrew Brown’s The Bitterness of Olives, winner of the 2024 Sunday Times Fiction Prize.

The Book Lounge is where the story of the publication of this novel with Karavan Press began (join us for the celebration to hear the details) and where the book was officially launched in October last year. Since its publications, The Bitterness of Olives has been offering its readers a deeply empathetic insight into a turbulent history that continues to tragically unfold in front of our eyes. Earlier this month, the bestselling novel has been recognised with the prestigious Sunday Times Fiction Prize.

The Sunday Times Fiction Prize judges called it a “contemporaneous, daring, complex and aesthetically pleasing novel”.

It will be a great joy to celebrate this exquisite book and its wonderful author at the bookshop where it all started!

We hope to see you all there!

Karina Author, Book, Literary Awards

Dawn Garisch wins the Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award for her collection, What Remains

We are delighted to announce that Dawn Garisch won SALA‘s Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award 2024 for her collection, What Remains! This is the second prestigious award for What Remains. It also won the HSS Award for Best Fiction Short Stories earlier this year. Congratulations Dawn and What Remains!

The Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award is one of the South African Literature Awards (SALA). This year, two other Karavan Press titles featured on the SALA shortlists: Sipho Banda’s A Crowded Lonely Walk was nominated for the Poetry Award, and Diane Awerbuck’s Inside your body there are flowers was also nominated for Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award. Congratulations to all nominated writers and books! And thank you, Dawn, Sipho and Diane for your amazing contributions to short story writing and poetry.

For the full announcement of this year’s SALA winners, please see: “SALA announces 2024 winners” (LitNet)

Karina Author, Book, Literary Awards, Prize

The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown wins the 2024 Sunday Times Fiction Prize

We are thrilled to announce that The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown won the 2024 Sunday Times Fiction Prize. The judges called it a “contemporaneous, daring, complex and aesthetically pleasing novel”. Congratulations, Andrew! And thank you – for writing, for sharing this story with your readers, for publishing it with Karavan Press.

‘Why can you not be friends anymore?’

It was the story of his country, he supposed. Perhaps they could have been friends. Perhaps they were once. The reasons were complex, full of feeling, disappointment, resentment. And, of course, betrayal. This was the Middle East after all.

Avi Dahan, a retired detective mourning his beloved wife in Tel Aviv, and Khalid Mansour, a Palestinian doctor confronting the precarious reality of living in Gaza City, are still reeling from the political fallout that jeopardised their delicate friendship. When a mysterious corpse scarred by history and forbidden love shows up in Khalid’s emergency room, he reaches out to Avi for help. Though the detective is the only one who might be able to assist, he is the last person on earth to agree …

The stage is set for Andrew Brown’s unforgettable new novel, The Bitterness of Olives.

Did it really matter? In the face of chaos, was it important how she had died? That was the guidance he needed from Avi now. He needed to understand that question: did it matter anymore? Was it of any significance, how you died in a war?

ISBN: 978-1-7764581-2-7

Kindle: The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown

ANDREW BROWN is an advocate and a sergeant in the saps reserves and police liaison officer for the Child Protection Unit at Red Cross Children’s Hospital. He is the author of two non-fiction books and five novels, including Coldsleep Lullaby, winner of the Sunday Times Prize for Fiction in 2006, and Refuge, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Literature (Africa Region) in 2009. Street Blues: The Experiences of a Reluctant Policeman was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award the same year. Andrew’s books are published in Germany, the Netherlands and the USA. He has three children and lives in Cape Town.

Karina Author, Book

Karavan Press title: Self-portrait of a Guava by Lucienne Argent

Self-portrait of a Guava

Lucienne Argent

Is it a special occasion?
Do you deserve a treat?
Stew me on the stove.
Drain my pips out with a sieve.
Mix me with some whipped cream.
Add granadilla or just juice.
It’s me that you have waited for.
It’s me, I am your treat.
It’s me that you have waited for,
a guava-pink mousse.

“It’s magnificent—quirky, original, young, funny, touching.” FINUALA DOWLING

Author photograph: Sam Wells

LUCIENNE ARGENT is a Cape Town-based writer, artist, and counsellor. In her previous lives, she worked in historical research and online education. She has poems published in the Sol Plaatje European Union Anthology, Stanzas, Think of a Poem and on the AVBOB Poetry website. She also has a short story in Karavan Press’s Tiger anthology. Self-portrait of a Guava is her first poetry collection. She writes about everyday things, like mugs, rocks, fruit, babies, and colonoscopies.

Publisher: Karavan Press

Publication date: December 2024

ISBN: 978-1-0672224-5-1