The Good Cemetery Guide by Consuelo Roland is back in print! Join us for a talk about the new Karavan Press edition of this remarkable novel, and about writing and publishing in general. It will be fun!
An evening of poetry at the Oude Leeskamer
Please join us for an unforgettable evening of poetry and conversation at the beautiful Oude Leeskamer in Stellenbosch on Thursday, 20 February 2025, at 6PM.
Cape Flats Book Festival 2025
The first book festival of 2025 is just around the corner – Cape Flats Book Festival – and we are delighted to announce the following events featuring Karavan Press authors:
SATURDAY, 1 February, 10:45-11:25 | IN OTHER STORIES
SATURDAY, 1 February, 11:40-12:20 | STORYTELLING FOR CHILDREN
SATURDAY, 1 February, 12:35-13:15 | COURAGEOUS SURVIVORS: OVERCOMING A TRAUMATIC PAST
SATURDAY, 1 February, 15:20-16:00 | TRIBUTE TO POET IN EXILE: ATHOL WILLIAMS
Lester Walbrugh will also be at the Festival, speaking about the book he co-wrote with Karin Kortje – not to be missed!
SUNDAY, 2 February, 12:45-13:25 | DIE HELE STORIE / THE WHOLE STORY
For details about other events, please see:
Cape Flats Book Festival
Please join us for these two days of literary wonder!
TEMPERATURE: Karavan Stories 2024
Temperature is the result of the Karavan Stories Workshop & Anthology project, now in its second year.
Love keeps the cold out better than a cloak.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
All the contributors gathered for a writing workshop at the end of April. Together, we discussed the intricacies of the short story, went through several writing exercises, decided on a theme for our anthology and began exploring ideas for individual stories. In the following months, we kept in touch, drafting and redrafting, until the book took shape.
The theme – temperature – was inspired by global and intimate, personal developments. Climate change continues to dominate our weather and news cycles. Heated international debates require cool and collected thinking for the sake of all our futures around the world. It has been an exceptionally difficult year for many – what allows us to survive, and thrive, is the warmth and kindness of our connections. Temperature is testimony to this simple truth.
Contributors could work with the theme in any way they wished, either reimagine it, see it as a springboard or a metaphor, or let their imaginations soar. The stories which emerged interpret ‘temperature’ in the most innovative ways, but they have one thing in common: hot off the press, they inspire reflections on interdependence – between individuals, communities and continents, as well as between humanity and our environment.
I would like to thank all contributing authors for embarking on this journey with Karavan Press: your stories are a cooling balm for a scorching reality. A big thank you to Monique Cleghorn for the exquisite design of our anthology. To our readers: enjoy!
Karina M. Szczurek
Cape Town, December 2024
Contributors: Sue Brown, Christine Coates, Gail Gilbride, Kerry Hammerton, Karen Horn, Karin Lijnes, Ciaran R. Maidwell, Firdose Moonda, Consuelo Roland, Anne Schlebusch, Joëlle Searle, Philisiwe Twijnstra, Alexandra Wood
Cover artwork: Hannes Meiring
Publisher: Karavan Press
Publication date: December 2024
ISBN: 978-1-0672224-3-7
The book will be available in all good bookshops in the new year. Please contact Karavan Press directly if you would like to get copies of the book earlier.
Festival of Poetry 2024: 9 November at Bertha House
Please join us for the second day of this year’s Festival of Poetry at Bertha House on Saturday, 9 November, between 11AM and 3.30PM. Looking forward to seeing you there!
11:00 – 11:45
12:00 – 12:45
13:15 – 14:30
14:45 – 15:30
Karavan Press at Madibaland @ BookBedonnerd Literary Festival, Richmond Book Town
The Karavan is hitting the road and celebrating all things literary in the wonderful Book Town of Richmond at the end of October/beginning of November. It is time for Madibaland @ BookBedonnerd Literary Festival again and we hope to see many of your there.
Karavan Press titles on the programme:
THURSDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2024
| 08h00 – 08h55 | COFFEE & WRITING WORKSHOP WITH KARINA M. SZCZUREK |
| 12h10 – 12h35 | Michael Boyd, The Weight of Shade |
| 12h35 – 13h00 | Thobeka Yose, In Silence my Heart Speaks |
FRIDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2024
| 08h00 – 08h55 | COFFEE & WRITING WORKSHOP WITH KARINA M. SZCZUREK |
SATURDAY, 2 NOVEMBER 2024
| 14h00 – 14h30 | C. J. Driver, Dayspring |
| 14h30 – 15h00 | Gail Gilbride, Cat Therapy |
To see the exciting list of all participants, click here: Authors
For the full programme, click here: BookBedonnerd Literary Festival
The Smell of Blood & Other Stories by Caitlin Stobie and Kharys Ateh Laue launched at EB Cavendish
We launched The Smell Of Blood & Other Stories by Caitlin Stobie & Kharys Ateh Laue at Exclusive Books Cavendish last night. We spoke about storytelling in general and the short story in particular, about the creative process involved in collaborating on a collection of this nature, and the challenges and joys of writing about intimacy, sexuality, violence and coming of age in a country as complex and fascinating as South Africa of the eighties and nineties.
Thank you to the authors (you are remarkable!) and to everyone who shared this special moment with us (so great to engage).
A special thank you to Linda and the EB Cavendish team. Thank you for all your kind words and for championing our stories. We are deeply grateful for the support.
The Smell of Blood to be launched at Exclusive Books Cavendish
Caitlin and Kharys will be in conversation with Karina M. Szczurek.
RSVP online: Exclusive Books Cavendish – The Smell of Blood
Franschhoek Literary Festival 2024: A personal reflection by Karina M. Szczurek
“She doesn’t want to be. She is,” Thobeka Yose said in response to a woman who attended “Signs of a struggle”, one of the Saturday sessions of this year’s edition of the Franschhoek Literary Festival, which spanned the weekend of 17 to 19 May. That was the moment when our tears spilled over after an already emotionally charged discussion between Yose and Sara-Jayne Makwala-King, whose remarkable insights and empathy held us throughout the session. The woman in the audience spoke about a grandchild who is transgender. She was asking Yose how to deal with the reality of this fact that she was struggling to understand. “Love your grandchild,” Yose said …
Continue reading: LitNet
Until next year!
Karavan Press at the HSS Awards 2024
The National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) announced the winners of the 9th Annual Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Book, Creative Collection, and Digital Contribution Awards last night.
It gives me great pleasure to share the news that Dawn Garisch won the HSS Award for Best Fiction Short Stories for her collection, What Remains. And Frankie Murrey won the HSS Award for Best Emerging Author in the Fiction Category for her debut, Everyone Dies.
Congratulations,
Dawn and Frankie!
FLUID: The Freedom to Be, edited by Joanne Hichens and me won in the Best Fiction Edited Volume category! To say that we are delighted would be the understatement of the year. The Short.Sharp.Stories anthology was published by Tattoo Press and is distributed by Karavan Press. Thank you, Joanne, for inviting me to be part of this wonderful project! It is an honour to call myself your wingwoman.
karavanpress.com 