Karina Author, Book

SECRETS: Karavan Stories 2025

SECRETS is the result of the Karavan Stories Workshop & Anthology project, now in its third year.

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 you are holding in your hands took shape.
We chose the theme for the anthology – secrets – within the group. Contributors could work with it 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 ‘secrets’ in wonderfully intriguing ways, inviting us to turn the pages with curiosity, anticipation and, occasionally, with a sinking feeling of dread.
I would like to thank all contributing authors for embarking on this journey with Karavan Press: your stories confirm something about local authors that has never really been a secret – you rock! A big thank you to Monique Cleghorn and Stephen Symons for the stunning design of our anthology. To our readers: enjoy!

Karina M. Szczurek
Cape Town, December 2025

Contributors: Lucienne Argent, Zubayr Charles, Christine Coates, Máire Fisher, Nina Geraghty, Rob Glenister, Merle Levin, Michelle A. Meyer, Firdose Moonda, Helen Nevin, Joëlle Searle, Jana van Niekerk

ISBN: 978-1-0492-2960-7

Publication date: December 2025

Karina Author, Book, Event

Poetry Evening next to the fireplace with Sarah Frost, Chantal Stewart and Lucienne Argent

Background photo fragment: Joël de Vriend | Unsplash

Dear Poetry Lovers,

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

We look forward to seeing you on the 31st!

Karina Author, Book, Event

Self-portrait of a Guava launched at Kalk Bay Books

We launched Lucienne Argent‘s debut poetry collection, Self-portrait of a Guava, at Kalk Bay Books last night. How lovely to welcome this fresh, beautiful new voice into the local book community! Lucienne was in conversations with Finuala Dowling, her mentor of many years. Thank you both for a wonderful evening of poetic celebrations!

And thank you to everyone who miraculously managed to get through the gridlocked traffic to join us for the occasion. It was a magical evening.

Thank you to Kalk Bay Books for hosting the event, and to John Maytham for the wine!

Karina Author, Book

Karavan Press title: Self-portrait of a Guava by Lucienne Argent

Self-portrait of a Guava

Lucienne Argent

Is it a special occasion?
Do you deserve a treat?
Stew me on the stove.
Drain my pips out with a sieve.
Mix me with some whipped cream.
Add granadilla or just juice.
It’s me that you have waited for.
It’s me, I am your treat.
It’s me that you have waited for,
a guava-pink mousse.

“It’s magnificent—quirky, original, young, funny, touching.” FINUALA DOWLING

Author photograph: Sam Wells

LUCIENNE ARGENT is a Cape Town-based writer, artist, and counsellor. In her previous lives, she worked in historical research and online education. She has poems published in the Sol Plaatje European Union Anthology, Stanzas, Think of a Poem and on the AVBOB Poetry website. She also has a short story in Karavan Press’s Tiger anthology. Self-portrait of a Guava is her first poetry collection. She writes about everyday things, like mugs, rocks, fruit, babies, and colonoscopies.

Publisher: Karavan Press

Publication date: December 2024

ISBN: 978-1-0672224-5-1

Karina Author

Author: Lucienne Argent

LUCIENNE ARGENT is a Cape Town-based writer, artist, and counsellor. In her previous lives, she worked in historical research and online education. She has poems published in the Sol Plaatje European Union Anthology, Stanzas, Think of a Poem and on the AVBOB Poetry website. She also has a short story in Karavan Press’s Tiger anthology. Self-portrait of a Guava is her first poetry collection. She writes about everyday things, like mugs, rocks, fruit, babies, and colonoscopies.

Author photograph: Sam Wells

Karina Book

TIGER: Karavan Stories 2023

Tiger is the result of the inaugural Karavan Stories Workshop & Anthology project. 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 you are holding in your hands took shape.
The theme was inspired by a news story that dominated the headlines early this year: an eight-year-old tigress named Sheba escaped from a private farm in Gauteng and in the following days attacked a man and killed a few domestic animals before she was shot by officials. As it was impossible to safely contain and capture the wild feline in the area where she was eventually found, the decision was taken to euthanise her. Sheba’s death renewed debates around the injustice and cruelty inflicted on exotic animals held in captivity.
Touched by Sheba’s story, we chose her kind to inspire Tiger. 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 run wild. The stories which emerged interpret ‘tiger’ as the unknown, untamed or foreign in our lives – what we fear and what we long for, sometimes simultaneously. The authors play with phrases like ‘tiger mom’ and ‘when tigers smoked’ – the evocative Korean equivalent of ‘once upon a time’ – as well as wrestle with ideas, states and emotions which refuse to be captured in words. In their stories, they retrieve familiar fables and fairy tales to interpret the complexities of the present and speculate about the future …

Contributors: Lucienne Argent, ChatGPT, Gail Gilbride, Kerry Hammerton, Anna Hug, Desiree-Anne Martin, Karen Martin, Michelle A. Meyer, Warren Jeremy Rourke, Anita Shapiro, Caitlin Spring, Alexandra Wood

ISBN: 978-1-7764726-0-4

Publication date: December 2023

I would like to thank all contributing authors for embarking on this journey with Karavan Press: like the creature that inspired them, your stories purr, claw and pounce. A big thank you to Monique Cleghorn for the exquisite design of our anthology.
To our readers: enjoy!
Karina M. Szczurek
Cape Town, 2023