The Karavan is heading to Richmond this week where we will be participating in the BookBedonnerd Literary Festival, taking place between 29 and 31 October 2026, one of the highlights of the literary calendar every year.
Catch the following Karavan Press and Indeed Books authors at the festival:
Thursday 29th October – Day 1
09:30 STEPHEN SYMONS – SATRLORN
Friday 30th October – Day 2
10:00 ANGIE BUTLER – THE SHADOW OF ELSEWHERE
15:00 GAIL GILBRIDE – AN UNSUITABLE WOMAN
15:40 TRACY GOING – THE POWER OF WRITING & STORYTELLING
16:45 ROGER LUCEY – HOW TO BUILD A HOUSE IN THE MOUNTAINS
Saturday 31st October – Day 3
10:00 SHERYL & SANDY JAMES – UNBRIDLING
We will also be running three writing workshops at the Vetmuis Plaaskombuis, every morning between 8 and 9AM:
Please join us for another Blown Away by Books event at the Fish Hoek Library on 18 April 2026, at 9.30AM – this year celebrating Secrets, the latest Karavan Stories anthology (2025) and the stories that have flown into and from the project. Secrets contributors Lucienne Argent, Christine Coates, Máire Fisher, Michelle A. Meyer, Helen Nevin, Joëlle Searle and Jana van Niekerk will be in conversation with Karina M. Szczurek about the anthology and their other writings. Now in its fourth year, the Karavan Stories project has gathered a wonderful community of writers who have continued writing and collaborating together. Come and be inspired by their remarkable stories, those already written and those in the making!
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.
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.
Please join us for an evening of poetry next to the fireplace with Sarah Frost, Chantal Stewart and Lucienne Argent.
Sarah, who recently published her second collection of poetry with Karavan Press – River Fugue – is based in Durban, but she is visiting Cape Town towards the end of the month, and we are using this wonderful opportunity to spend an evening in her company. Together with Chantal Stewart, author of the award-winning novel The Veil of Maya who will be publishing her debut poetry collection with Karavan Press later this year, Let’s Be Legends, and Lucienne Argent, whose debut, Self-Portrait of a Guava, has been warming reader’s hearts since its publication in December last year, Sarah will be in conversation with Karina M. Szczurek, and all three poets will read from their collections. We will have a lovely fire, snacks and wine will be served, and books will be on sale. Not to be missed!
Limited space. Please RSVP as soon as possible to avoid disappointment: RSVP
The Open Book Workshop Week is nearly upon us again and it promises to be another round of amazing literary engagements. Karavan Press is participating throughout the week. Please join us!
The literary festival season continues and we are delighted to announce that the following Karavan Press authors will be participating in the Kingsmead Book Fair this year:
09:30-10:00 DOT TO DOT | The Book Room
Meet the Freckolions and the Spots who are bitterly arguing over Face’s vast landscape. Then one day an alien craft descends on Face and sends the Freckolions and Spots into panic! SA actress Lisa Trudoux introduces her first charming and quirky children’s book Dot To Dot which teaches kids the invaluable lessons of self-love and kindness towards others in the most enchanting way.
09:30-10:30 WRITING OUR PAIN: Contending with traumatic narratives | Chapel
Sewela Langeni (Making Friends with Feelings) provides a safe space for Jeffrey Rakabe (Led by Shepherds) and Thobeka Yose (In Silence My Heart Speaks) to chat about transferring pain to the page.
11:00-12:00 PRETTY PROTAGONISTS: Crafting heroines with humanity | Mackenzie 1
Amy Heydenrych (Chasing Marian) examines the creation of the powerful women at the centre of the works of Zukiswa Wanner (Love Marry Kill), Michelle Kekana (The Fragile Mental Health of Strong Women) and Qarnita Loxton (What’s Wrong with June?).
12:30-13:30 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: People and place in historical fiction | Lange Hall
Penny Haw (Follow Me To Africa: A Novel), Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (The Creation of Half-Broken People) and Louisa Treger (The Paris Muse) discuss facets of historical fiction – beyond the period in which it’s set – that really matter with Michael Boyd (Weight of Shade).
12:30-13:30 Life is the greatest teacher: Writing from experience | Music Centre
Merle Levin (World According to Merle: Memoir of a Deliciously Daring Granny), Costa Ayiotis (Matriarchs, Meze and the Evil Eye: A Memoir) and Glenn Orsmond (Crash and Burn: A CEO’s Crazy Adventures in the SA Airline Industry) tell Karina Szczurek (Karavan Press) about their weird uncles and the strange lady from the office.
14:30-15:30 LITERARY FITION VERSUS GENRE FICTION: What makes a book ‘literary’? | Chapel
Peter-Adrian Altini (Salt Water Pool Boy) and Charl-Pierre Naudé (The Equality of Shadows) discuss style and complexity with Craig Higginson (The Ghost of Sam Webster).
16:00-17:00 Navigating our life stories: Lessons learned and unlearned | Lange Hall
Khaya Dlanga (Life is Like That Sometimes) and Gavin Evans (Son of a Preacher Man) tell Anna Stroud (Who Looks Inside) about what they have learned while writing about themselves.
16:00-17:00 Stretching the imagination: Pushing boundaries in storytelling | Mackenzie 3
Onke Mazibuko (Canary) follows Nick Clelland (Good Hope), Siya Khumalo (The Queer Book of Revelation) and Sam Wilson (The First Murder on Mars) into the detailed, fresh worlds of their books.
16:00-17:00 Publish or perish: Women in the publishing industry | Chapel
Queen bees Karina Szczurek (Karavan Press), Melinda Ferguson (Melinda Ferguson Books) and Zukiswa Wanner (Paivapo Publishing) underline the importance of curating stories from a feminine perspective with Sewela Langeni (Book Circle Capital).
The FLF is just around the corner and we are looking forward to another unforgettable bookish experience. Please join the following Karavan Press authors and Friends for a series of exciting events and workshops throughout the festival weekend:
