The local literary circuit has exploded with new names over the past two to three years — Rosie Fiore, Doreen Baingana, Jaco Botha, Russel Brownlee, Henrietta Rose-Innes, Rachelle Greeff, Lebo Mashile, Gabeba Baderoon, Marlize Hobbs, Bothlale Tema. In fact, think of when last you didn’t see a South African title up front in the ”Staff Choice” or ”Hot Pick” section of your local bookstore.
”I can unequivocally say that we are seeing a huge creative drive by new local authors — paralleled by an enthusiastic response from the public,” says Stephen Johnson, MD of Random House. ”Retail sales reflect this. Look at the Top 10 or 20 book charts that come out each month; sometimes up to half will be local.”
Recognition of new (and often young) writers can also be seen in the launch of many publishing house imprints, specifically focusing on emerging voices: Struik’s Oshun, Random House’s Umuzi, Juta’s Double Storey and Picador’s Picador Africa. And then there are the older companies — Jacana, New Africa Books, Kwela and Zebra — which are growing their stable of authors by the week, it sometimes seems.
When the largest literary trade delegation to visit South Africa arrives at the Cape Town Book Fair this year, they’ll be negotiating publishing deals, maybe sourcing film rights, and definitely scouting for hot new titles they can tout back home. Booksellers, agents, publishers and sales directors from Africa, Europe, North and South America will be taking a keen interest in contemporary voices (with commercial prospects, of course).
When it comes to new South African writing, the timing couldn’t be better.
Vanessa Badroodien, director of the fair, reckons it will boost an area of South African publishing that is showing amazing potential. ”It’s an opportunity for publishers to promote their new talent to an extremely large audience. While local support for local authors is growing steadily, an occasion like the book fair takes it a step further, possibly opening doors that may normally take years to unlock.”
But why the sudden growth spurt? Why the proliferation of well-written, well-designed and well-received local books on our shelves?
As far back as 2002, journalist Rachel L Swarns noted in an article in The New York Times that, in post-apartheid South Africa, black writers were looking at issues beyond race, ”seeing a world beyond the simple shades of black and white”. She quotes the late K Sello Duiker as saying, ”We’re normal people with feelings and ambitions and all the drama of trying to live your life. The black writers before me, they had to write about the injustice that was there. I can say what I want. I’m free.”
It’s a sentiment that Random House’s Johnson echoes, albeit from a slightly different perspective. ”The sackcloth-and-ashes writing that we saw during and just after the end of apartheid has given way to a wave of energy and enthusiasm and interest in our own stories. People are no longer satisfied by books from abroad — they want to read about people, places and issues that are familiar to them,” he says.
Acclaimed and award-winning author Zakes Mda says that, for some writers, this presents a problem in itself. ”It was easier to write about the past, that is a fact. Because the past created ready-made stories. There was a very clear line of demarcation between good and evil, you see. Black was good, white was bad. We no longer have that. We have become normal. It’s very painful to become normal,” he says.
But the new breed of young writers have forged ahead. And their books tackle themes ranging from romance to crime to xenophobia to HIV/Aids. They look at personal relationships in a new and non-stereotyped way. They can be deadly serious. They can also be very funny. And they write what people want to read. Which is what savvy publishing houses have been waking up to. Books that speak to a whole new — often younger — audience mean a whole new book-buying market.
Michelle Matthews, publishing manager of Oshun Books, says she thinks ”younger South African readers are interested in the approaches and attitudes of people like themselves. They connect with strong voices, like Lebo Mashile’s. They want to make sense of their world and themselves and will read classic texts like I Write What I Write or controversial new essays like Capitalist Nigger to empower themselves.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean that every young writer with a manuscript is getting published, or that vast amounts of money are being made by those who are. Publishing facts still remain fairly grim in South Africa, and it is estimated that only 1% of all unsolicited manuscripts find their way into print.
Of those that do, not that many sell in the kind of figures that will pay off the mortgage. According to Arabella Koopman, Felicity Nyikadzino Berold and Jenni Bowden from New Africa Books, 1 500 copies of a new work of fiction sold over three months would be average. Other publishers raise this figure to 3 000, but all agree that 10 000 and above means bestseller status. And this doesn’t happen all that often.
Of course, there are exceptions. Non-fiction, DIY, self-help and niche-orientated books often do better. Marianne Thamm’s first work of non-fiction, I Have Life, which she co-wrote with Alison, is still selling eight years after it was released. It has notched up more than 65 000 sales. As far as fiction writing goes, Thamm is extremely optimistic about the future. ”I do believe most publishers are trying to discover and nurture new talent as they know we really need to encourage more South Africans to read. Our young democracy also presents publishers with a challenge to find new voices who can articulate this landscape in a literary fashion,” she says.
Henrietta Rose-Innes, who released her second novel The Rock Alphabet last year, says it is ”a good time to be a young writer in South Africa. There are a lot of new forums — new fiction imprints and also web publishing — that make access easier. But it is also a competitive publishing environment. There is a wealth of material appearing, especially from the creative writing MAs that have sprung up at universities all over the country.”
Yet most authors agree that marketing of local books could be a lot more energetic, especially when it comes to young authors. ”Imagine a travelling road show with Niq Mhlongo reading from Dog Eat Dog at campuses and schools? There are many ways of getting young South Africans to read, and I don’t think publishers are exploring this. What about book readings at music concerts?” asks Thamm.
Academic Rudi MR Venter poses a similar viewpoint in an essay on the respected Afrikaans literary website Litnet.co.za. ”Why are Afrikaans writers (and especially the younger ones) not marketed in such a way that they are more familiar to the younger generation? The extent to which Afrikaans musicians (and their record companies) are involved in the promotion of their public image should serve as an example to writers (and publishers). Perhaps we need a Voëlvry Tour for the Afrikaans book in order to create competitive icons and cult figures. It is, after all, going so well with Afrikaans music because it is made visible through a variety of channels and platforms.”
Of course, going through a publishing house is not the only route for new writers. Self-publishing is a viable option, one that is growing through programmes such as the Community Publishing Project (CPP), a partnership between the Centre for the Book, Nasou Via Afrika and NB Publishers, which was started in 2001.
Colleen Higgs, programme manager of the project and author of A Rough Guide to Small-Scale and Self-Publishing, says the aim of the project is to stimulate self-publishing or cooperative publishing as an empowering possibility for writers and writing groups. The CPP has provided grants for 11 self-published books, the latest being Impepho Yomphefumlo, a collection of poems in isiXhosa by Monde Ngonyama of the Swii Arts Amendment in Uitenhage, and Namolelang Basadi, a collection of stories about violence against women in sePedi by EM Magakoa of Daveyton.
Ngonyama says of self-publishing: ”The bread I bake at home is no less important than the bread I buy off the shelf. Given the apathy of publishing literary works in African languages in particular, anyone undermining the self-publishing route would be denying a slice of bread to the hoping, hungry, weeping child.”
Higgs says: ”The country is full of writers and writers’ groups, many of whom are engaged in some kind of publishing of their own. There is the Xhosa writers’ group, Bhala, a national group that has local branches in most towns and communities where Xhosa speakers live — that is, all over the Eastern Cape, parts of the Western Cape and in Gauteng. The Afrikaanse Skrywers-vereniging is a national organisation with local groups. And there are many, many more. We provide an alternative for new writers and writing groups who may not have mainstream appeal or, for any other reason, may be seen as a commercial risk by mainstream publishers.”
Of course, to be published one has to write something first. Writing has been described as one of the loneliest jobs ever, and writing without support of any kind makes it that much harder. Here is where courses like the creative writing master’s degree provide ”a banister for young writers to hold on to”, as Stephen Watson, head of the English department at the University of Cape Town and director of the university’s Centre for Creative Writing, says. ”The master’s course can provide strong supervision and is also good for a young writer’s morale. They’re in an ethos in which writing, and the pursuit of good writing, is taken seriously.”
While Watson is adamant that he is not in the business of publishing books, and that the master’s course is not a publishing ticket, there is no doubt that the programme has been a phenomenal success; at least three to four writers have been published each year since the course started in the mid-1990s. These writers, both Afrikaans and English, are at the forefront of the new wave of writing and publishing in South Africa.
Anne Schuster, author and writing coach, agrees that support for and among writers is imperative for developing new voices. ”Forming small groups to support each other, to write together and to give feedback on writing is one of the best ways to keep your writing going and to improve your writing,” she says.
Support is imperative. At this point, the book-buying market in South Africa is disappointingly small: about 500 000 people. New authors need feedback and have to network around contemporary writing issues — and the literary paddling pool is still small compared to international standards. But it is strong, it is exciting and it is undoubtedly growing. And the Cape Town Book Fair will provide some pleasant surprises.
Bestsellers dominate the line-up
Alexander McCall Smith, Zakes Mda, William Mervyn Gumede, Max du Preez, Gcina Mhlope and Richard Kunzmann are among the list of prominent literary figures who will take part in the first Cape Town Book Fair, a joint venture between the Publishers Association of South Africa (Pasa) and the Frankfurt Book Fair. The authors will form part of a programme that includes book signings, book launches, panel debates, readings and seminars.
Vanessa Badroodien, director of the fair, has announced that several trade delegations will be investigating the South African market during the book fair.
Dudley Schroeder, chairperson of the fair and executive director of Pasa, said it was significant that the Frankfurt Book Fair should choose to be partnered with the fair. ”The Frankfurt fair is the biggest in the world … their partnership with the Cape Town Book Fair marks their first joint venture, which means they have seen the huge potential of our fair.”
The fair will offer South African and African publishers the chance to sell publishing rights and the programme promises a lively and eclectic range of literary events. Performances by spoken-word artists such as Lebo Mashile, readings by the likes of children’s writer Niki Daly and debates on issues of copyright, plagiarism and language and gender in literature will all be a part of the mix.
The fair runs from June 17 to 20 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. For more information, call (021) 422 5004 or go to www.capetownbookfair.com.