In an international first, Saïd Business School has appointed Athol Williams, South Africa’s distinguished poet living in exile in the UK, to the role of School Poet Laureate. Athol is an applied philosopher and poet. He holds seven degrees, including a doctorate from Oxford University. He is the recipient of numerous literary, academic and public service awards including two Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Awards and the Mayor’s Medal for Extraordinary Bravery from the City of Cape Town. Athol has been in exile since 2021 after exposing state capture in South Africa. End & Beginning, proudly published by Karavan Press in 2025, was his seventh book of poetry.
We are thrilled to announce that the English Academy of Southern Africa has selected The Algebra of Insignificance by Stephen Symons as the winner of the Olive Schreiner Prize for Poetry 2026.
Congratulations, Stephen! What a wonderful achievement.
Books on the Bay is taking place in Simon’s Town between 13 and 15 March 2026 this year and we are thrilled to announce that a few Karavan Press authors will be taking part. We hope to see you all there!
An Icelandic volcano has thrown an ash cloud into the atmosphere and, across the world, planes have stopped flying. Karina Szczurek is in conversation with Elleke Boehmer about how her characters respond to a catastrophically changing environment.
Critically acclaimed author Karen Jennings tells Karina Szczurek about the inspiration behind her latest book, set in the eighteenth century on the Cape’s northern frontier, its mix of genres, and the real-life father and son at the heart of it.
His musical career was destroyed by the security police: this is the story of how he built back his life, brick by brick. Legendary musician Roger Lucey, combines storytelling, memoir and song in this moving account of building his own house in the mountains of the Breede River Valley.
Mortality forms a thematic throughline in both Consuelo’s first novel, The Good Cemetery Guide (2005), and Lucienne’s debut collection of non-fiction essays, Except for Breath: Reflections on Image and Memory (2025). The authors’ mutual curiosity about death – and what it might teach us about love and longing – is differently explored in their respective genres. While Consuelo tells the story of a funeral director who leads a double life alongside the recently departed, Lucienne considers the ways art and literature have pictured and described ‘the only possible ending’.
Consuelo is a writer working across fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her debut novel, The Good Cemetery Guide, was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the Olive Schreiner Award, and was recently reissued by Karavan Press.
Lucienne is a curatorial researcher and writer. She has contributed to leading local and international art publications and journals, and her essay collection, Except for Breath: Reflections on Image and Memory, was published by Karavan Press in 2025.
Consuelo and Lucienne live in Cape Town.
WEDNESDAY, 28 January 2026, 10:30AM – MEADOWRIDGE LIBRARY HALL
WEDNESDAY, 18 March 2026, 10:00AM – PINELANDS LIBRARY COMMITEE ROOM
Twenty new titles, several prize nominations, three wins, a big move and an abundance of stories to tell – that in a nutshell was 2025. And what a ride it has been; again! No wonder my body is telling me to rest. And I am about to, but before I put my keyboard away for a month of restoring my well-being, I would like to celebrate the highlights of the publishing year that is coming to an end …
PRIZE NOMINATIONS
Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings longlisted for the Women’s Prize
Land | Lines by Shari Daya and Good Hope by Nick Clelland shortlisted for the HSS Awards
In Silence My Heart Speaks by Thobeka Yose, Good Hope by Nick Clelland and Who Looks Inside by Anna Stroud longlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards
Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings shortlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards
Who Looks Inside shortlisted for the UJ Debut Prize
The JDL Award for Poetry: honourable mention given to Land | Lines by Shari Daya
Good Hope by Nick Clelland shortlisted for the SALA Novel Award
A Collection of Gaps by Frankie Murrey and Lone Wolf Living by Werner Pretorius shortlisted for The Book Lounge’s Book of the Year Award
WINS
Who Looks Inside by Anna Stroud won the HSS Award for Best Fiction Emerging Author
Love Stories for Ghosts by Alex Latimer won the HSS Award for Best Fiction Short Stories
Karavan Press won the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa for In Silence My Heart Speaks by Thobeka Yose
IN OTHER GOOD NEWS
Mannequin Pictures optioned Good Hope by Nick Clelland
Ice Shock by Elleke Boehmer has been picked up by Valley Press and will be published in the UK next year
NEW TITLES OF 2025
Among these is our first boox (the book that is a box) – Frankie Murrey’s stunning new collection of short stories which we published in a limited, special edition – as a box containing stories and other treasures: A Collection of Gaps.
Ek’t Act by Klara du Plessis, a collection of exquisite poetry, is our first book written in Afrikaans and English.
And I am thrilled that we are continuing with two story projects: IN OTHER STORIES edited by Kerry Hammerton, now in its second year, and KARAVAN STORIES Workshop & Anthology, now in its third year, are both thriving.
ALL ABOUT PHILIPPI
One of the greatest honours for Stephen Symons and me this year was to assist Andrew Brown with the publication of this incredible book: All About Philippi
Towards the end of 2024, Andrew visited iThemba Labantu Primary School in the crime-stricken area of Philippi, Cape Town, to talk to the Grade 7 learners about creative writing. To welcome him, the learners prepared short pieces on how they experienced life as a child growing up amidst poverty and violence. These are their unedited writings. At their request, some names have been changed and some withheld. This publication is distributed for free and aims to highlight the extraordinary trauma that our youth are exposed to every day, and their resilience and determination to express themselves nonetheless.
Andrew will be speaking about this remarkable book at the Cape Flats Book Festival 2026. Not to be missed! You can get a free copy of All About Philippiat The Book Lounge.
INDEED BOOKS
Recognising a need for a carefully curated platform where self-published authors can find a home, Kerry Hammerton and I started INDEED BOOKS. Our first three titles:
COFFEE WITH KARAVAN PRESS
A new tradition began at Casa Karavan this year: I hosted five Coffees with Karavan Press – Saturday mornings when readers and writers gathered at my home to chat about their books, the publishing journey and their favourite reads. I loved every one of these mornings and will continue hosting them in 2026.
THE BIG MOVE
Karavan Press had to change distributors this year and we are thrilled that we have now successfully moved to our new distribution partner – BOOKSITE.
All Karavan Press and Indeed Books titles can be ordered by booksellers via Booksite now. Together, we also continue bringing the titles we assist in distributing in South Africa to our local readers.
It has been an astounding year. Despite and because of its many challenges, Karavan Press was forced to grow and restructure and find new ways of being in the world. Not all of it went smoothly, and I have dropped many balls in the process and could not deliver on all my promises this year, but I am not giving up – and I hope that some waits are worth it.
I would like to thank EVERYONE who makes Karavan Press possible – the journey so far has surpassed all my expectations and my wildest dreams. I would like to especially thank the authors who have been waiting patiently for me to deliver on my promises. (The good thing about having to put my keyboard away is that I can finally tackle the pile of manuscripts that has been waiting to be read for a very looooooong time …)
It is time for rest, for Festive Season and holiday reading, and for another amazing year for Karavan Press, Indeed Books and our Friends!
karavanpress.com 