Don’t miss these wonderful poets at Books on the Bay this coming weekend!
Shari Daya will be reading from her forthcoming debut collection, Land | Lines!
Full programme:
Short and Sweet, and wonderfully successful
The third Karavan Press Literary Festival: Short & Sweet took place at the Fish Hoek Public Library on 9 March 2024. This year, we worked in cooperation with the Blown Away by Books and Friends of the Fish Hoek Library, and focused entirely on the SHORT STORY!
It was difficult to predict how a whole day of short story events, including a workshop, would be received, but we need not have worried. I cannot thank all those who attended enough for their incredible support. The short story is alive and well in our literary community. It was so heartening to see.
I am immensely grateful to all the participating Authors – you are all so talented and inspiring. Listening to you made me fall in love with the short story all over again. Thank you for writing and being part of the Karavan Press journey. What an adventure we are having!
A special thank you to Rachel Zadok of Short Story Day Africa for everything she has done for the short story in South Africa, on the continent and beyond. Her FLOW Workshop showed us how creativity flows in our veins, connecting and empowering us to tell our stories. Also, a huge thank you to Joanne Hichens of Short.Sharp.Stories. The two of you are champions of the short story in South Africa. Deepest gratitude for all the love and energy that you devote to this fascinating form of storytelling!
Photo gallery by Kerry Hammerton, who is working on her first short story collection and compiling an anthology of flashes!
And – of course! – THANK YOU to the Friends of the Fish Hoek Library, especially Debi Hawkins, without whom none of this would have been possible. Thank you for all your amazing support in organising and hosting this day of literary fun!
To all the Readers who took our books home: THANK YOU! And happy reading!
SHORT & SWEET: KARAVAN PRESS LITERARY FESTIVAL 2024
The third Karavan Press Literary Festival will take place in cooperation with the BLOWN AWAY BY BOOKS Festival at the Fish Hoek Public Library on 9 March 2024. This year’s edition of the festival focuses entirely on the SHORT STORY!
ALL EVENTS FREE
09:00-11:00
SHORT FICTION & NON-FICTION WORKSHOP
Short Story Day Africa’s Rachel Zadok presents the FLOW WORKSHOP. All welcome. Please register here: FLOW WORKSHOP.
12:00-13:15
CRAFTING THE DEBUT SHORT STORY COLLECTION
Short story authors talk to Karina Szczurek about the process of compiling their first collection: Kerry Hammerton, Sally Partridge, Kharys Laue, Michael Boyd, Werner Pretorius, Paul Morris, Anna Hug.
14:00-15:15
THE SHORT STORY LOVE AFFAIR
In the famous words of Lorrie Moore, “A short story is a love affair, a novel is a marriage.” Authors with published short story collection to their name discuss their passion for the genre with Joanne Hichens (Short.Sharp.Stories): Diane Awerbuck (Inside your body there are flowers), Frankie Murrey (Everyone Dies), Dawn Garisch (What Remains), Byron Loker (New Swell), Lester Walbrugh (Let It Fall Where It Will), Karen Jennings (Away from the Dead), Alex Latimer (Love Stories for Ghosts).
16:00-17:15
CELEBRATING TIGER & CAPTIVE
Authors and editors of two new workshopped short story anthologies celebrate their work: Tiger contributors Caitlin Spring, Kerry Hammerton, Gail Gilbride, Lucienne Argent, Anita Shapiro, Desiree-Anne Martin, Michelle Meyer and Anna Hug as well as the Captive editors, Helen Moffett and Rachel Zadok, discuss the first Karavan Stories anthology and the eighth Short Story Day Africa anthology with Karina Szczurek.
All welcome!
Karavan Press at the Cape Flats Book Festival 2023
The Cape Flats Book Festival will be taking place on 4 and 5 November this year, and I cannot encourage you enough to attend this wonderful festival. Last year was the first time Karavan Press participated and we had an amazing time. We are so happy to have been invited back and can’t wait!
The programme is packed with literary goodness. The venue – West End Primary School – is great. Books will be on sale. Parking and delicious food are available at the school throughout the weekend. The atmosphere is celebratory. And we have heard that Oaky will be there. You do not want to miss it!
This is what we are doing:
4 November
5 November
For more details see:
Cape Flats Book Festival
Hope to see you all there!
Festival of Poetry – 4 November 2023
Earlier this year, the McGregor Poetry Festival announced a hiatus for a year. The organisers are taking a well-deserved break. The Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Collective and the Rosebank Writers’ Circle decided to step into the breach and organised a once-off event to celebrate poetry at a day-long poetry festival here in Cape Town. Please join us for these exciting poetry panels, taking place at two venues, the Bertha House and Youngblood-Africa, on 4 November 2023.
Events are free! Books will be on sale throughout the day.
Hope to see all poetry lovers there!
Open Book Festival 2023 – Bestsellers
Five of our books are among the fifteen bestselling books at Open Book Festival 2023!
Everyone Dies by Frankie Murrey (Karavan Press)
Glass Tower by Sarah Isaacs (Holland House Books, locally distributed by Karavan Press)
The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown (Karavan Press)
Inside your body there are flowers by Diane Awerbuck (Karavan Press)
Striving for Social Equity edited by Joy Watson and Ogochukwu Nzewi (Karavan Press)
Thank you to all who bought a book!
Karavan Press and Friends at Open Book Festival 2023
In their latest newsletter, The Book Lounge, wrote the following about Karavan Press:
Karavan Press is a small publishing house owned and run by Karina Szczurek, seriously punching above its weight. We are so grateful to Karina for publishing so many wonderful books that we thought we should shine a light on some of the books she is responsible for that will be featured at Open Book Festival:
Everyone Dies by Frankie Murrey ~ An exquisite debut collection of stories – I will be cajoling Frankie on to the stage to talk about Everyone Dies. – Mervyn
A Crowded Lonely Walk by Sipho Banda ~ In this riveting poetry collection, Sipho Banda delves into the daily happenings of the ubiquitous but anonymous working class, and restores dignity to those whose lived experiences so often go overlooked. – Belinda
Glass Tower by Sarah Isaacs ~ Glass Tower is the winner of the inaugural Island Prize for debut fiction from Africa.
Inside your body there are flowers by Diane Awerbuck ~ an incredibly versatile writer who returns to the genre for which she is best known – the short story – in this new collection which is nothing short of superb.
The Bitterness of Olives is set in Gaza and Israel and is Andrew’s finest novel. Empathetic, thought provoking, beautifully written with the pace of a thriller. – Mervyn
Striving for Social Equity edited by Joy Watson and Ogochuku Nzewi ~ an invaluable gathering of voices touching on the very real challenges facing South Africans today.
What Remains by Dawn Garisch ~ new collection of stories from one of our best-loved writers that deals with relationships, ageing and so much more.
Karina will be participating in a discussion about the future of publishing.
The Book Lounge
We are immensely grateful for the encouragement and support! And this is how we will be “punching” at Open Book Festival 2023:
Open Book Festival 2023 Programme
Watch out for Karavan Press authors and Friends (we are lucky distribution partners for Glass Tower by Sarah Isaacs and Cat Therapy by Gail Gilbride):
Book your tickets here:
Open Book Festival – Webtickets
Lethokuhle Msimang at the Durban International Book Fair, 9-13 August 2023
The Durban International Book Fair is taking place between 9 and 13 August, and Lethokuhle Msimang will be returning to her hometown to speak about The Frightened.
9 August:
12:00-13:00 | Lethokuhle Msimang The Frightened (Alan Paton Stage)
16:00-17:00 | Black women in the arts: challenging the notion of subservience, with Gcina Mhlophe, LethokuhleMsimang and Mbali Malimela (Phyllis Naidoo Stage)
Click here for the full programme: DIBF 2023
karavanpress.com 