Annari van der Merwe started off as children’s editor at Tafelberg before moving on to special book projects, publicity and foreign rights. In 1994, when it became clear that local book and publishing needs were changing, she started Kwela Books for Nasionale Pers. Ten years and about 180 books later, Van der Merwe left NB Publishers — of which Kwela had become part in the meantime — at the end of 2004 to head up Random House’s new local books division, Umuzi.
How did it come about that Random House started a specifically South African imprint, Umuzi?
I’d like to quote Stephen Johnson, MD of Random House in South Africa, in this regard: “A leading force in the South African book market for almost 40 years, Random House has been engaged mainly in distributing the formidable range of books originated by its sister companies overseas, principally those in the United Kingdom. This activity has been complemented in recent years by a select list of prestigious, culturally important and commercially successful titles published by Random House in South Africa. The time is now ripe to build more vigorously on these local publishing foundations.”
It is also true that the Random House Group, despite its well-established and far-reaching international interests, is firmly rooted in individual, autonomous imprints. So it is central to the purpose of Random House to promote and develop indigenous writers and their work through the development of a list of quality, financially viable titles in every country where it has a presence. Since the establishment of Umuzi, an Indian imprint has also been launched in New Delhi.
You have some prestigious authors on your first set of books to come out — an impressive launch. Did you go out and entice them to your imprint?
Not at all. I have worked with or known most of our launch authors for quite some time. Only Fred Khumalo is a relatively new acquaintance, as well as Joanne Hichens. But, then again, Mike Nicol, her co-writer, and I are old friends. One of the most rewarding aspects of publishing is the close bond that often develops between author and publisher. So when it was announced last March that I would be joining Random House in July, it was, I suppose, natural for these writers to follow me. But the allure of Random House as an international company with a good reputation cannot be overestimated.
The South African publishing industry seems to be expanding, with more and more books coming out for the retail market, especially fiction. Do you think the market for homegrown fiction has grown over the past decade or so? (And can you give us any figures in this regard?)
It has most definitely expanded over the past 10, 12 years. There are various contributing factors: the more relaxed atmosphere in the country, the official push to make mainline culture more inclusive and representative, more media coverage of local publications, the lack of pressure to write politically engaged literature, an eagerness among readers to rediscover and make sense of the country by way of fiction — in private and in a non-threatening way, the willingness of publishers to risk on new writers and types of writing. There is a real sense of a growing confidence among many people in the country, and I think a natural outcome of that is an expanding interest in our own stories, people and the places we inhabit.
I do not have any figures at hand, but I remember that a survey was done, probably during the late Eighties, to determine the number of novels that were published annually in South Africa. It was only a handful, whereas short-story collections abounded. This situation has been completely reversed.
Umuzi alone will publish seven top novels this year. The challenge now is to grow the readership and expand book distribution to ensure that this growth can be sustained.