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It is a pleasure to share the cover of the US edition of Conjectures by James Leatt, which has been released by Wipf & Stock Publishers, a publishing house based in Eugene, Oregon, publishing works in theology, biblical studies, history and philosophy.

Conjectures was originally published by Karavan Press in 2021. Click here for more information.

Conjectures by James Leatt, originally published in 2021 by Karavan Press, will be released in the United States following Wipf & Stock’s acquisition of US rights.

Established in 1995, Wipf and Stock Publishers has been publishing books that serve the church and academy under its general imprint, Wipf & Stock. The publishing focus of Wipf & Stock is broad, offering titles in biblical studies, theology, ethics, church history, linguistics, history, classics, philosophy, preaching, and church ministry.

Conjectures is Professor James Leatt’s philosophical reflection on his life and times as he grapples with the realities of parish work in black communities, teaching ethics in a business school under apartheid, managing a university in the dying days of the Nationalist regime, and eventually working in higher education in post-apartheid South Africa.

Weaving strands of his personal life with the questions of theodicy and modernity as well as drawing upon the Western…

For my birthday a few months ago, my husband whisked me off into the city for a surprise night away. We were excited for our adventure. Hotel bedlinen! A chance to sleep late!

After we’d found parking in Long Street (never an easy task), we lugged our bags one block to the hotel entrance and up two flights of stairs to the Reception desk.

‘Booking for Kelly, please: the Beach House.’

The receptionist shook his head: ‘Sorry, you’re at the wrong hotel. This is Daddy Long Legs. You’re looking for Grand Daddy, five blocks down.’

So back down the stairs with our bags we went, and into the bumper to bumper stream of cars to look for parking. Again.

Joel looked over at me: ‘Sorry! You must think I’m an idiot.’

_{It doesn’t have to be a dog eat dog world}

Now if we…

I love questions. Especially open-ended questions that somehow make us rethink what we thought we knew, that entice us to look at ourselves or at life from an unexpected angle.

And when I’m needing answers to questions that jostle restlessly inside me, I go to the page. As my pen shapes each word, as it moves from line to line, I know that eventually, the solutions will begin to form from the ink.

As writers contemplating any sort of creative project, we tend to have lots of queries. All About Writing recently hosted a webinar with me and my publisher, Karavan Press, attended by writers of all levels. The following are some of the questions that we didn’t have time to address online. I’ve picked two common ones that were asked in different ways by many of the attendees.

From Fred: My memoir is so personal that, as Karina…

In the years that I’ve been working on my memoir, there were many moments when I’d slump down after an uninspiring writing session, and question what I was doing. Joel would hug me and say: Let’s talk about your book launch.

Then we’d spend a few pleasant moments talking about where it would be, who would be there and what canapés (or knaps, as Joel calls them) would be served. Because the work as a writer and a memoirist of excavating the past for treasure can be lonely and often grubby, sometimes you have to borrow energy from future possibilities.

And finally, this future dream became a reality. Instead of a book store though, it took place in the cosy The Alma Café (usually a live music venue) surrounded by collections of old tins and music posters. (I would’ve been mightily tempted to break…

From the moment that Karina of Karavan Press arrived in Rosebank, Cape Town with the first batch from the printers, to when a smaller stash arrived at a Putney front door in London, ‘Skipper’ was destined to travel. Here are some moments from her voyage…