A book launch and a birthday! Come and celebrate the latest SHORT STORY DAY AFRICA anthology, Captive: New Short Fiction from Africa, and Helen Moffett’s birthday at Salon Hecate at the stunning Noordhoek Art Point Gallery on 2 September, 17:30 for 18:00. An unforgettable party guaranteed!
Wonderful advice by Cathy Park Kelly, author of Boiling a Frog Slowly:
I only went to the monthly literary event, a conversation between author James Whyle, author of We Two from Heaven, and John Maytham, a local radio personality, at our local library because I had to.
I’m on the Friends of Fish Hoek Library committee and we were on duty one recent wintery Saturday morning.
The blurb of the book had done the opposite of grab me – words on the back like ‘palimpsest’ and ‘four-part fugue’ had convinced me it was not my kind of book. It sounded like hard work to read, and too ‘literary’ to enjoy.
But the interview with the author, James Whyle, by resonant-voiced and insightful John Maytham, convinced me otherwise. Whyle’s responses to the questions were sometimes rambling, sometimes off-beat, but always candid and thought-provoking. And so I bought the book.
Continue reading: “The one thing that will sell your story …”
It is time for the Prince Albert Leefees again (29-31 August 2025) and we are delighted that Andrew Robert Wilson features on the programme with his debut novel, The Fourth Boy, which is partly set in Prince Albert and the surroundings.
He will be in conversation with Karina M. Szczurek on Saturday, 30 August, 9:00-9:40AM.
Full festival programme:
Our first book event with the wonderful Pippa Smith of The Book Revue will be taking place next Wednesday at 11.30AM in the Christchurch Constantia Hall and will feature Frankie Murrey with her second collection of stories, A Collection of Gaps, published in a limited box edition. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Open Book Festival. You don’t want to miss this special celebration!
We are delighted to announce that the SA Book Awards 2025 Adult Fiction Shortlist includes The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown! Congratulations, Andrew, and all other shortlisted authors!
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
SA Book Awards celebrates 25 years by announcing the 2025 Shortlist
This year marks the 25th annual SA Book Awards, powered by NielsenIQ BookData and supported by PASA and SA Booksellers Association. The awards strive to celebrate books written and published in South Africa, as voted for by South African booksellers and last year recognised authors Deon Meyer, André de Ruyter and Zandile Ndhlovu.
Booksellers have voted in their hundreds for their favourite titles in three categories from a longlist of bestselling titles published in South Africa and written by South African authors, as measured by NielsenIQ BookScan South Africa in 2024.
We are delighted to share the shortlisted titles as chosen by booksellers below:
Fiction Prize
A Short Life – Nicky Greenwall
Spud: The Reunion – John van de Ruit
The Bitterness of Olives – Andrew Brown
The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil – Shubnum Khan
The Tea Merchant – Jackie Phamotse
Non–Fiction Prize
Capitec: Stalking Giants – T.J. Strydom
Disciple: Walking with God – Rorisang Thandekiso & Nkhensani Manabe
Exit Wounds: A Story of Love, Loss and Occasional Wars – Peter Godwin
How Did We Get Here? – Mpoomy Ledwaba
Zapiro Annual 2024: Have I Got GNUs For You – Zapiro
Children’s Prize
Cook–off at Gogo’s Spaza:(Disaster at Gogo’s Spaza 2) – Salamina Mosese, illustrated by Vian Oelofsen
Into the Uncut Grass – Trevor Noah, illustrated by Sabina Hahn
My First South African Animals – Van den Berg
Springboekie – Fanie Viljoen, illustrated by Elsabe Ebersohn
The Speedy Six Olympics – Roslynne Toerien, illustrated by Julie Smith–Belton
Each category winner will be awarded R5,000.00 and the overall winner, receiving the highest number of votes, will be presented with R20,000.00.
This year, to celebrate the 25–year Anniversary of the SA Book Awards we also asked booksellers to vote for their favourite title from the list of previous Overall Winners.
Celebrating 25 Years: Favourite previous winner shortlist:
Born a Crime – Trevor Noah (2017 and 2020)
How many ways to say Hello? – Refiloe Moahloli (2021)
Leo – Deon Meyer (2024)
Manage your Money – Sam Beckbessinger (2019)
Recipes for Love and Murder – Sally Andrew (2016)
Spud – John van de Ruit (2006)
The President’s Keeper – Jacques Pauw (2018)
On winning last year’s Fiction and Overall Prize for Leo, Deon Meyer said: “I am deeply honoured and grateful to receive the two awards bestowed by the South African booksellers. This recognition means the world to me, and I extend my heartfelt thanks to the association’s members who have supported my journey as an author over the past thirty years. Their acknowledgment inspires me to keep telling stories that connect and resonate.”
We wish all the shortlisted authors the warmest of congratulations and the very best of luck! The winners will be announced at a virtual ceremony and on social media on Tuesday 23 September 2025. All are welcome to join the ceremony, for more information email: marketing.book@nielseniq.com
To read our special anniversary article: Celebrating 25 years of South African literature, visit: NielsenIQ
Join Woman Zone Cape Town for their first-ever BOOK SWAP, celebrating the power of stories FOR, BY, and ABOUT Women as part of the Artscape Women’s Humanity Arts Festival!
🗓 Date: Saturday, 16 August 2025
⏰ Time: 13:00 – 15:00
📍 Location: Theatre Foyer Well at Artscape
How it works:
Bring up to 10 books from your collection and swap them out for new reads to take home! Feel free to bring extra books; these will either be added to the WZ Library or donated to a charity supporting women’s literacy and empowerment.
Woman Zone is thrilled to partner with leading publishing houses who will contribute exciting new releases to the swap.
Swap Rules:
Please bring books that are in good, readable condition.
Only books you would personally recommend to others, to ensure quality and enjoyment for all.
Arrive early to get the best picks!
Come for the books, stay for the vibrant festival vibes! Don’t miss this unique opportunity to connect, share stories, and celebrate women’s voices. RSVP today and join the celebration!
There’s this moon in the sky. And I want to say – not now,
moon, I’ve got work to do. But you know the moon. She never
listens. So I sit and watch her for a while. Admire those curves.
Whisper secrets and cigarette smoke love.
— from ‘Letter to the Night’
A COLLECTION OF GAPS
by FRANKIE MURREY
ISBN (Box Edition): 978-1-0370-9173-5
Publication date: 12 August 2025
FRANKIE MURREY worked in the book retail sector for many years before becoming the coordinator of Open Book Festival, which takes place every year in early September in Cape Town. In 2015, her work was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She resigned from Open Book Festival at the end of 2019 and started her own company, FM Project Management. Through this company, she has since been curating or managing creative events and projects that align with her interests. She also returned to Open Book in 2022, a space she’d missed intensely. She won the HSS Award for Best Emerging Author in the Fiction Category for her authorial debut, Everyone Dies, in 2024. A Collection of Gaps is her second volume of stories and will be first published in a special, limited edition as a box containing stories and other treasures.
Salon Hecate | 5 August, Noorhoek Art Point Gallery
We still have cold and wet months ahead, but it feels like winter might be on the wane. That means it’s time for the annual Nurture and Nourish Salon! Which will take place on Tuesday evening, 5 August. And although the way Women’s Month is marketed is problematic, August does turn our thoughts to the human qualities often assigned as “natural” to women — nurturing, co-operation, love in action — and it’s worth celebrating these.
The focus of the Salon will be on poetry: confirmed readers of words of beauty and comfort include poet, photographer, rower and bassonist Liesl Jobson; storyteller, singer and memorist Philippa Kabali-Kagwa; publisher extraordinaire Karina Szczurek; and chronicler of the Deep South, Diane Awerbuck. Fantasy fundi Nerine Dorman will give us a taste of none other than Tolkein’s writings on food, and there’ll be a short story featuring the humble sweet potato and a magical soup.
And yes, there will be homemade soup (vegan)! Paper cups will be provided, but if you remember, please bring your travel mug and a spoon.
This will be a time for warmth and closeness, for beautiful words, tastes and images. We are bitterly mindful of those suffering hunger, thirst and cold at present; this Salon will present a chance to appreciate and give thanks for our many comforts, including those supplied by friends, art, poetry, fynbos and beaches close by; the simple luxuries of boiling a kettle for a hot drink and food in the pantry.
If you are able, it would be much appreciated if you could bring along a tin of food, a jar of jam, spread or peanut butter, or a packet of seasoning or similar to pop into a box to donate to My Father’s House, which feeds two thousand vulnerable and unsheltered adults and children. Visit their website here for more information: https://www.myfathershouse.org.za/
Time: 5.30 for 6, to end at 7pm.
Attendance is free, with soup and wine/juice served. Donations are welcome, but absolutely not obligatory. Vegetarians/vegans are always catered for.
The Sunday Times Literary Awards longlists have been announced and we are delighted that they feature five Karavan Press titles. Congratulations to all longlisted authors!
Thank you to all who make these awards possible!
Mountains of gratitude to Karavan Press authors on the lists:
FICTION
Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings (co-published with Holland House Books)
Who Looks Inside by Anna Stroud
Good Hope by Nick Clelland
NON-FICTION
In Silence My Heart Speaks by Thobeka Yose
Dayspring by C. J. Driver (co-published with uHlanga Press)
For all details, see: Sunday Times Literary Awards
karavanpress.com 