Tag Archives: lennon literary

Writer Matthew MacDevette’s THE TILTED PENTAGRAM to be published in South Africa by brand-new publisher

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THE TILTED PENTAGRAM by Matthew MacDevette, pitched as a fast-paced and absorbing alternative history for lovers of A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA, and DIVERGENT, will be the debut title of new South African publisher, Mirari Press.

Mirari CEO Marius du Plessis says: “I’m thrilled to launch Mirari with such a fantastic book. THE TILTED PENTAGRAM is the Press’ vision made manifest: irreverent, layered, cunning, dark and emphatically un-put-downable. I can’t wait for readers to explore this world. THE TILTED PENTAGRAM will blow readers away.” 

Set in a world where Europe is ruled by the Church, THE TILTED PENTAGRAM follows a young woman hunted for witchcraft as she tries to find out the origin of her family’s dark powers.

When second year Dresden University student Nell Blythe is accused of witchcraft, there is more at issue than a legal battle. For one, she’s guilty. Well, not guilty, exactly: she hasn’t the faintest idea about spells and has no idea where her abilities come from. But with her dead mother the most infamous witch in the Holy Roman Empire, fighting back can only end at the stake.

Nell flees and is taken in by a group of heretics agitating for a second Reformation, but they are not the most dangerous company she has to keep. A powerful stranger with abilities like hers offers her a bargain: pieces of her mother’s lost journal in exchange for completing five rituals that will reveal the origin and dark purpose of her powers. Desperate to discover more about the mother she never knew, she agrees.

But as the lessons turn violent and her mother’s writing grows ever more disturbing, she must choose between keeping her hands free of blood and uncovering the secrets her mother died for.

Matthew MacDevette studied in Stellenbosch, Cape Town, and Oxford before settling in the Netherlands with his wife and baby daughter, and two terrible/wonderful cats. He spends most of his time on international development projects that try to make the best use of foreign aid in sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest writing novels that have nothing to do with that. Matthew is drawn to dark stories told with hope and humour, and can often be found trying to convince people to listen to The Offspring and watch Lord of the Rings movie marathons. The novel will also be published in Armenian translation.

The deal was negotiated by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie of The Lennon-Ritchie Agency.

For more information, email info@lennonliterary.com.

Writer Sven Axelrad’s next two novels to Penguin Random House SA

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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

Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu’s new novel to be published in North America by House of Anansi Press

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North American book rights to Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu’s fourth novel, a work of literary fiction using gothic tropes and titled THE CREATION OF HALF-BROKEN PEOPLE, have been won by House of Anansi Press. Anansi is a fiercely independent publisher based in Toronto who has published stellar names like Matt Cohen, Michael Ondaatje, Northrop Frye, Austin Clarke, Harold Sonny Ladoo, Daphne Marlatt, Roch Carrier, and Margaret Atwood (who also worked for the press as an editor).

Editor Shivaun Hearne acquired the book, saying: “I loved it right away. I was particularly taken by the way Siphiwe weaves the threads of a complex colonial history into the present through the ancestors inhabiting the visions of an anonymous woman. The sort of madness-inflected narrative sparked by this intangible inheritance reminds me of Jean Rhys, yes, but also of writers from my native Jamaica, such as Erna Brodber (also a Windham-Campbell Prize winner, and an author I’ve worked with) and Michelle Cliff. This is the sort of book I want to press on friends as soon as I’ve read it!”

Ndlovu’s THE CREATION OF HALF-BROKEN PEOPLE tells the tale of a nameless woman plagued by visions of various women. She works for the Good Foundation and its museum, a place filled with artefacts from the family’s various explorations in Africa, the family Good’s members all being descendants of Captain John Good, of KING SOLOMON’S MINES fame.

The novel explores how the continent’s past continues to haunt its present and examines the collusion of colonialism, patriarchy and capitalism in creating and normalising a certain kind of womanhood. Literary sleuths will find the book in conversation with Charlotte Bronte’s JANE EYRE, Daphne du Maurier’s REBECCA, and Toni Morrison’s BELOVED.

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

Chinenye Emezie’s GLASS HOUSE to be published in North America & in French Translation

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Chinenye Emezie’s Nigerian drama GLASS HOUSE is to be published in North America in both English and French by one of Canada’s leading independent trade publishers, Dundurn Press.

Initially published by Penguin Random House South Africa, GLASS HOUSE tells the riveting story of Udonwa and her family, who are at war under the tyranny of a monster dad. At age twelve, Udonwa has a peculiar love of her father, who favours her but beats his wife and his other children. She sees his good side: after all, he tells her that she, named ‘the peaceful child’, is the one most likely to become a doctor in the family. But luck doesn’t last forever. When her newly married eldest sister suddenly takes her from their family compound, a sinister picture emerges that shakes her life to the core. No longer the person she thought she was, Udonwa launches into a period of extreme change, and parts of her life spiral into chaos as she finds herself torn between her love for her father and an underlying need to free herself. This vivid family saga is engrossing, deeply unsettling and finally uplifting.

Chinenye Emezie studied Creative Writing at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and has a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration. Her short stories and essays have appeared in anthologies and literary journals including AFRICA BOOK CLUB, KALAHARI REVIEW, BOOKLOVERS HANGOUT and OPINION NIGERIA. Chinenye is a 2013 winner of the Africa Book Club Short Story Competition and an alumna of the Hedgebrook/Vortext Women Writers’ Workshop, Whidbey Island, USA. Her award-winning short story ‘Glass House’ is recurring study material at the Centre for Theatre and Performance, department of Dramatic Arts, University of the Witwatersrand. GLASS HOUSE is her first novel.

Rights were sold by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie of The Lennon-Ritchie Agency on behalf of Penguin Random House South Africa. For more information, email info@lennonliterary.com.

GOLDDIGGERS Longlisted for International Dublin Literary Award

3 March 2020

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Congratulations! Sue Nyathi’s THE GOLDDIGGERS has been longlisted for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award!

The shortlist will be announced on 2nd April 2020.

Read more about THE GOLDDIGGERS here

Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia Wins Best International Fiction Award

27 February 2020

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Congratulations to Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia! She has been awarded the Best International Fiction Book Award at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2019 for THE SON OF THE HOUSE.

His Excellency, HH Sultan bin Muhammad Al Quasimi presented the award, which includes a prize of 50,000 AED.

THE SON OF THE HOUSE is published by Penguin Random House in South Africa and due for release by Dundurn Press in the USA in October

Read more here

THE THEORY OF FLIGHT by Siphiwe Ndlovu WINS the 2019 Sunday Times Prize for Fiction

1 October 2019

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HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Siphiwe Ndlovu on winning the 2019 Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize for her debut novel THE THEORY OF FLIGHT! 

#STLitAwards2019

THE THEORY OF FLIGHT is published by Umuzi, an imprint of Penguin Random House SA.

THE BLESSED GIRL by Angela Makholwa – Audiobook released

1 October 2019

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To coincide with the UK publication of THE BLESSED GIRL by Angela Makholwa, the US audiobook has been released.

Have a listen here: http://bit.ly/BlessGirlAudio.

And have a read here: http://bit.ly/BlessGirlPanMac

When you are accustomed to the finer things in life – designer shoes, champagne, VIP lounges, exotic holidays abroad, a luxury penthouse, expensive wheels – what independent young woman in her right mind would want to let them go?

‘In The Blessed Girl, Angela Makholwa has yet again given us a deceptively simple yet layered narrative, in which the plot is as memorable as the characters are unforgettable. Bravo.’ – ZUKISWA WANNER

THE BLESSED GIRL is published by Picador Africa and by Bloomsbury UK.

28 June 2019

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Claire Robertson’s 2014 Sunday Times Fiction Prize winner to be made into a film.

Visionary film-maker Erica Brumage has optioned film rights in the sweeping, gloriously told literary historical novel THE SPIRAL HOUSE by Claire Robertson.

Katrijn van der Caab, freed slave and wigmaker’s apprentice, travels with her eccentric employer from Cape Town to Vogelzang, a remote farm where a hairless girl needs their services. The year is 1794, it is the age of enlightenment, and on Vogelzang the master is conducting strange experiments in human breeding and classification. It is also here that Trijn falls in love.

Brumage says of the book, ‘Claire’s writing is so evocative and her characters so authentic that one can clearly see them inhabiting their era, hear the vivid cadences of their voices and smell and feel the dirt and sweat of their lives… The Spiral House has an originality and vision that demands particular attention’.

On her vision for the adaptation, Brumage says, ‘Claire’s highly original imagining of the origins of race classification which were to become apartheid in the twentieth century is beautifully constructed as it unfolds through the layers of interweaving love stories with richly rounded characters that are human, fallible, sometimes horrific and entirely fascinating. The tensions between them crackle with energy and dramatic promise, and the ebb and flow of the narrative trajectories of the different character pairings create richly dynamic threads against the backgrounds of the social hierarchies and science of the age.  I’m really excited by the performance potential that exists for the cast of actors that we find for these roles.’

THE SPIRAL HOUSE, won the 2014Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize and a South African Literary Award, and was shortlisted for the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize. Robertson has two other novels, THE MAGISTRATE OF GOWER, shortlisted for the 2016Sunday Times Fiction Prize, and UNDER GLASS currently long-listed for the 2019 Sunday Times Fiction Prize.

All three books are published by Umuzi, the literary imprint of Penguin Random House.

The acquisition was negotiated by the Lennon-Ritchie Agency.

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Fiona Snyckers’s new literary novel LACUNA is a searing, exhilarating and moving response to JM Coetzee’s Booker Prize winning novel DISGRACE.

Lucy Lurie is struggling through PTSD following a gang rape at her father’s farmhouse. The Lucy of Coetzee’s fiction is a passive, peaceful creature, almost entirely lacking in agency. She is the lacuna in Coetzee’s novel—the missing piece of the puzzle.

The Lucy Lurie of Fiona Snyckers’ imagination is no one’s lacuna. Her attempts to claw back her life, and her voice after being gang raped may be messy and misguided, but she won’t be silenced. Her rape is not a metaphor. This is her story.

‘A powerful and brilliant critique of both JM Coetzee’s DISGRACE and contemporary South Africa … Fiona Snyckers makes the reader ponder deeply one minute and laugh loudly the next. A must read.’ Zukiswa Wanner.

‘This book is going to be one of those books we all recognise as one of the most important and best recent novels.’ Eusebius McKaiser, outspoken South African intellectual and broadcaster.

In an interview with Polity SA, Snyckers was asked whether a male writer has the authority to write about a female rape survivor, as Coetzee did in DISGRACE.

‘That is a very difficult question and it’s something that I really wrestled with in this book,’ Snyckers said. ‘I started off thinking, no, what gives you the right as a male writer to talk about such an intimate female experience in this way. But in the end I couldn’t stick to it, I had to come down on the side of, anybody can tell any story. I can’t say, “you can only tell this story and you can only tell that story”. ‘But if you are going to tell a story, you must be prepared for criticism, and you must be prepared for somebody to set up a counter-narrative to your story.’

The book is published in South Africa by Pan Macmillan, click here to enquire about available rights.