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
Tag Archives: lennon literary
Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia Wins Best International Fiction Award
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
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Siphiwe Ndlovu on winning the 2019 Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize for her debut novel THE THEORY OF FLIGHT!
THE THEORY OF FLIGHT is published by Umuzi, an imprint of Penguin Random House SA.
THE BLESSED GIRL by Angela Makholwa – Audiobook released
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.
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.
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.
The Raft. Fred Strydom
THE RAFT by Fred Strydom
Captivating, compelling, and moving
On Day Zero everyone’s memory is wiped clean. No-one remembers anything, or anyone.
A mysterious and oppressive movement called The Renascence comes to power and forces people to live in isolated communes and to conform to their ideals. As memories of families and past lives start to trickle back, some people begin to question the regime.
Kayle Jenner has questions, and he’s punished just for having them. He escapes from his isolated beach commune when the raft he’s strapped to for punishment breaks free. With help from the enigmatic Gideon, Kayle sets out to find and rescue his son Andy.
Kayle doesn’t find it odd that the people he meets all have memories that help and guide him. Until it becomes clear that some people’s ‘memories’ are not their own.
But Kayle’s are. Kayle definitely remembers Andy. And he’s going to find him.
Published in South Africa by Umuzi, Penguin Random House. Published in the US by Skyhorse Publishing
The Raft. Fred Strydom
THE RAFT by Fred Strydom
Captivating, compelling, and moving
On Day Zero everyone’s memory is wiped clean. No-one remembers anything, or anyone.
A mysterious and oppressive movement called The Renascence comes to power and forces people to live in isolated communes and to conform to their ideals. As memories of families and past lives start to trickle back, some people begin to question the regime.
Kayle Jenner has questions, and he’s punished just for having them. He escapes from his isolated beach commune when the raft he’s strapped to for punishment breaks free. With help from the enigmatic Gideon, Kayle sets out to find and rescue his son Andy.
Kayle doesn’t find it odd that the people he meets all have memories that help and guide him. Until it becomes clear that some people’s ‘memories’ are not their own.
But Kayle’s are. Kayle definitely remembers Andy. And he’s going to find him.
Published in South Africa by Umuzi, Penguin Random House. Published in the US by Skyhorse Publishing
For many people, visiting South African game reserves is all about ticking off the ‘Big Five’. But people rarely think about the other, more enigmatic animals that most of us won’t ever get to see.
In his latest book, THE IMPOSSIBLE FIVE, Justin Fox documents his search for Africa’s five most elusive mammals: the cape mountain leopard, aardvark, pangolin, naturally occurring white lion and riverine rabbit. Each of these creatures are far more spoken about than actually seen, occupying a space somewhere between the physical realm and the stories of public mythology.
In the tale of his humorous and at times frustrating journey, Justin provides compelling insights into wild South Africa and the local game-ranging and natural-science industries.
Buy Justin’s book here.
Carol Campbell’s sumptuous novels ‘n Huis vir Esther and Karretjiemense have been optioned by legendary South African film maker Koos Roets in a co-production arrangement with distinguished theatre director Andre Stolz.
The directors intend to shoot both films back to back. Mr. Roets will direct ‘n Huis vir Esther and act as Director of Photography on Karretjiemense. Mr. Stolz will direct Karretjiemense, and act as production manager on ‘n Huis vir Esther.
Mr. Roets has been a formidable figure in South Africa’s film industry for 51 years, during which he has won an impressive 33 awards, mostly for directing and cinematography. It will be wonderful to see his collaboration with Mr. Stolz, is a well known director, producer and actor. Both men are celebrated for being ‘hands on’ and very passionate about their projects, and have adapted the material themselves.
Author, Carol Campbell is known for crafting heartbreaking stories which are simultaneously poignant and hopeful. She has a masterful ability to inflict and build tension, and to create characters with voices that ‘take hold of you… and never let go.’ Taking her work to screen presents a beautiful challenge for any filmmaker.
The deal for the film rights was negotiated by The Lennon-Ritchie agency on behalf of Penguin Random House South Africa.
The Lennon-Ritchie Agency 
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