After the success of his debut, BURIED TREASURE, Sven Axelrad’s next two novels will be published in South Africa by Penguin Random House.

PRH SA will lead with GOD’S POCKET in May 2024, a story of a young man who moves into an abandoned cabin at the bottom of a quarry (God’s Pocket) to write his first novel, a novel he believes will change his life and save him from having to study accountancy. The quarry, however, isn’t quite as abandoned as it seems.

The delightful GOD’S POCKET is not a sequel to BURIED TREASURE but it does take place in the same fictitious town of Vivo and is narrated in the same darkly humorous and wise voice fans of BURIED TREASURE have come to love. This time, instead of a cemetery and a dog misnamed God, the book offers a fantastic cast of characters, including a fortune teller and her Yorkshire terrier, Johnny Cash and even Henry David Thoreau. GOD’S POCKET considers art, poetry, sex and the motives of monsters. Finally, at its heart, GOD’S POCKET is the story of five very good friends trying to figure out that no-man’s land between being a kid and becoming an adult.

Sven Axelrad takes pride in being a street-writer. His university degree is in commerce, but Sven is proof that you don’t need a master’s in creative writing, a famous mentor or a pedigree of any kind if you read often, widely and well. Son of a translator and a teacher, Sven grew up in love with words. His first creative pursuit was music. Sven played guitar in multiple bands, and performed as a singer-songwriter, with his focus always on the lyrics of his songs. Even now, music underpins each of his novels with structure and cadence. Sven’s first writing professors were the novels of the Latin-American magical realists, the likes of Bolaño, Marquez, Vargas Llosa and Allende. Later he would read Zambra, Murakami, Enriquez, Saramago, Saunders, de Bernières and a thousand others. Each book contained important lessons, even the bad ones.

The deal was negotiated by Fourie Botha of The Lennon-Ritchie Agency. For more information, email info@lennonliterary.com.

PRAISE FOR BURIED TREASURE

‘Part parable, part love story and a pastiche of other genres, Axelrad’s debut is a textured, literary work. Behind the veil of a quirky patchwork of yarns is a complex exploration of the moral universe’ –BUSINESS DAY

‘Jam-packed with quirky, loveable characters, endlessly amusing, even ridiculous incidents, tender and even tantalizingly compelling thought experiments, philosophical ruminations and – above all else – simply exquisite prose’ NEWS24

‘Guided by a tremendous generosity of spirit’ – NEWS24

‘Dark, graphic, clever and funny as hell’ – Paige Nick

‘An astonishing new voice’ – the Good Book Appreciation Society

‘The treasure is what you’d hope to find – a heart’ – VRYE WEEKBLAD

‘I felt like I was in a theatre, watching a new play unfold slowly’ – THE WITNESS

‘Lyrical, dark, bold, inventive’ – THE WITNESS

‘Definitely one of my favourite reads of the year so far in all its dark and quirky weirdness and loveliness’ – CAPE TALK RADIO

‘Equally hilarious and poignant’ – DARK.LIT

‘Charming, humorous and unconventional. A truly refreshing read.’ – ART SMART

‘A tremendous, wonderfully wise, debut’ – therealmrbookiebarns