Karina Author, Book, Prize

Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction

The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist has been announced and we are thrilled to share the news that Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings is among the sixteen nominated titles.

The full list in alphabetical order by author surname is:

  • Good Girl by Aria Aber (published by Bloomsbury Publishing)
  • The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (published by Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton, Hachette)
  • Somewhere Else by Jenni Daiches (published by Scotland Street Press)
  • Amma by Saraid de Silva (published by Weatherglass Books)
  • Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings (published by Holland House Books)
  • All Fours by Miranda July (published by Canongate Books)
  • The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami (published by Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)
  • The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji (published by 4th Estate, HarperCollins)
  • Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (published by 4th Estate, HarperCollins)
  • Nesting by Roisín O’Donnell (published by Scribner, Simon & Schuster)
  • A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike (published by Fig Tree, Penguin General, Penguin Random House)
  • Birding by Rose Ruane (published by Corsair, Little, Brown Book Group, Hachette)
  • The Artist by Lucy Steeds (published by John Murray, John Murray Press, Hachette)
  • Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (published by Viking, Penguin General, Penguin Random House)
  • The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (published by Viking, Penguin General, Penguin Random House)
  • Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis (published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Publishing Group, Hachette)

Congratulations, Karen and all other longlisted authors!

Karina Author, Book, Event, Literary Award, Prize

Celebrating ‘What Remains’ by Dawn Garisch

Last year was a remarkable year for Karavan Press in all kinds of ways, but specifically in terms of literary awards. Karavan Press authors won five major awards, two of which recognised What Remains by Dawn Garisch. The story collection won the HSS Award for Best Fiction Short Stories and SALA’s Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award in 2024. In order to celebrate this wonderful achievement, we will be relaunching the collection at Exclusive Books Cavendish on Wednesday, 29 January, 5.30 for 6PM. Dawn will be in conversation with Mathapelo Mofokeng. Please join us for the celebration!

To RSVP, click here: Exclusive Books Cavendish

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, 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, Literary Awards, Prize

The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize

The shortlists of the 2024 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been announced today and The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown features on the Fiction Prize shortlist.

Fiction Prize Criteria

The winner should be a novel of rare imagination and style, evocative, textured and a tale so compelling as to become an enduring landmark of contemporary fiction.

Judges:

Siphiwo Mahala
Dr Alma-Nelisha Cele
Michele Magwood

CHAIR OF JUDGES SIPHIWO MAHALA SAYS:

The judging panel approached the books entered for this year’s Fiction Prize with a keen interest to delve into a world of the unknown. In turn, we were introduced to a kaleidoscopic array of writing from both the seasoned and emerging writers alike. The result was a pleasantly edifying and exhilarating experience, as reading these novels was embarking on a journey punctuated with diverse themes, surprising and experimental narrative styles and boundless imagery. The wide range of settings, encompassing familiar and unfamiliar locations, bears testament to the universality of our stories and illustrate that our narratives transcend the realist preoccupations with the present moment. These five shortlisted novels, each in its own unique way, represent masterful works of rare, unfettered and powerful imagination. 

Here is the fiction shortlist in order of the author’s surname:

  • Buried Treasure by Sven Axelrad (Umuzi)
  • The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown (Karavan Press)
  • The Egg Dilemma by Morabo Morojele (Jacana)
  • The Institute for Creative Dying by Jarred Thompson (Picador Africa)
  • Mirage by David Ralph Viviers (Umuzi)

The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown (Karavan Press)
Written before the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip on October 7, Brown’s latest novel is set against the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A retired detective in Tel Aviv and Palestinian doctor in Gaza with a shared past, must resolve their differences to investigate a murder. 
Judges said: A harrowing account of a moment of strife, beautifully told. The author, endowed with vivid imagination coupled with acumen and erudition, deftly immerses the reader in a brutal and bewildering landscape. A wholly sublime narrative, this novel is contemporaneous, daring, complex and aesthetically pleasing.

Read the full press release here: Sunday Times

Karina Author, Book, Prize

Slaughterhouse by Melissa Sussens shortlisted for the Ingrid Jonker Prize

The following collections of poetry were selected by the judges to be on the shortlist of the Ingrid Jonker Prize 2024 – in alphabetical order:

  • Sarah Lubala – A History of Disappearance
  • Irya EM Maharaj – Earth Circuit
  • Sizakele Nkosi – unGrand Malume
  • Caitlin Stobie – Thin Slices
  • Melissa Sussens – Slaughterhouse

Congratulations to all shortlisted poets! A special note of appreciation to Melissa Sussens – thank you for publishing your stunning debut collection with Karavan Press!

Karina Author, Prize

Lethokuhle Msimang receives the Comparative Literature Master Academic Achievement Award from Dartmouth College

Congratulations, Lethu!

The prize is annually awarded to one MA student who best embodies the academic values that the Program in Comparative Literature particularly cherishes: original and critical thinking; commitment to learning; respect for, and interest in, the work of others. A monetary award and a diploma recognize both collegiality and intellectual excellence. In May, after the students’ final presentations, a committee composed of the Chair, the Graduate Director, and the instructors of COLT 100, COLT 101 and COLT 103 decide to whom to bestow this award.

Karina Prize

Great poetry news!

The shortlists of The 2024 Isele Prizes have been announced and the Poetry list features Melissa Sussens (Slaughterhouse, Karavan Press, 2022) and Kharys Ateh Laue (who has co-authored a collection of stories with Caitlin Stobie that Karavan Press will be publishing later this year). You can read their stunning poems here:

Instead Of Measuring My Life In Productivity | Melissa Sussens

Elegy | Kharys Ateh Laue

And: the winners of New Contrast‘s 2023 National Poetry Prize have been announced:

(Kerry published her latest collection of poetry, afterwards, with Karavan Press and Keith was the winner of the Short.Sharp.Stories competition last year and featured in Fluid: The Freedom to Be.)

All three winning poems will be featured in the upcoming issue of New Contrast at the end of April.

The 2023 judges were Sindiswa Busuku, Nondwe Mpuma and Sarah Lubala.

The National Poetry Prize sponsor is Bruce Jack Wines.

Congratulations to all!

Karina Author, Book, Prize

THE OTHER ME by JOY WATSON shortlisted for the UJ Debut Prize

Announcement of the UJ Prize Shortlists (Debut Prize and Main Prize) for Works Published in 2022

The University of Johannesburg Prize (UJ Prize) for South African Writing is delighted to announce the shortlist for books published in 2022. The UJ Prize opened for submissions on 25 October 2022 and closed on 31 January 2023.

We received a record number of entries this year, and a panel comprised of seven judges considered the submissions. Following a rigorous adjudication process, the judges have shortlisted the following books in the respective categories:

Debut Prize

  • Boy on the Run (novel) by Welcome Mandla Lishivha
  • The Other Me (novel) by Joy Watson
  • Things My Mother Left Me (novel) by Pulane Mpondo

Main Prize

  • An Angel’s Demise (novel) by Sue Nyathi
  • Greyheart (poetry) by Lesego Rampolokeng
  • How to be a Revolutionary (novel) by C.A. Davids

The panel of judges drawn from three different universities around South Africa, selected these six titles out of more than 100 entries. “The overwhelming response to the prize is indicative of the growth and diversity of South African writing,” said Professor Ronit Frenkel, Chairperson of judges and Head of the English Department at the University of Johannesburg.

The final results will be announced on 14 September 2023.

Congratulations, Joy, and all other shortlisted writers!