This September Sun wins Best First Published Book at ZBPA Awards

Bryony Rheam's mystery/romance novel This September Sun has won the Best First Published Book of the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Awards held during this year's Zimbabwe International Book Fair. The awards are open to any book published in Zimbabwe in the previous year.

More information about the book, including an extract and online sales outlets, can be found through book2look at http://b2l.bz/y7teCR

An article about the award and about the presence of 'amaBooks at the Cape Town Book Fair can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4722393&id=55793766546

'amaBooks at the Jozi Book Fair

'amaBooks will also have a stand at the Jozi Book Fair, which takes place at Museum Africa in Newtown on 7 to 9 August. If you are in or around Johannesburg, please come and have a look at the books we have in stock.

The overall purpose of the Jozi Book Fair is to promote of a culture of reading and writing, and to provide a public and visible platform where three key social partners can come together. These social partners are:

• readers in the form of the general public and specific constituencies with this broad public,
• writers and authors, in particular emerging new writers, and
• publishers – in particular small and emerging publishers

The creation of a common meeting space for all the partners is seen as crucial in strengthening small publishers, creating a market for writers, and in creating an opportunity for readers to speak to authors and publishers about the kinds of stories they are interested in. The JBF project’s overall purpose is therefore to create an ongoing cycle in which each of the parties reinforce each other and create a strong reading and writing culture

Jozi Book Fair offers several platforms for writers, publishers, agents, translators and press to engage, debate, discuss and plan new projects.It offers small and progressive publishers a forum to showcase their publications and activities, network, as well as the opportunity to develop alternative approaches and strategies.

Information about Jozi Book Fair can be found at www.jozibookfair.org.za

'amaBooks at the Cape Town Book Fair

Jane Morris and Brian Jones of 'amaBooks are both, courtesy of the Goethe Institute and the British Council respectively, to be at this year's Cape Town Book Fair, which takes place at the Cape Town International Conference Centre from 30 July to 3 August. The Cape Town Book Fair is the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, with over 220 exhibitors drawn from 31 countries.

Anyone interested in Zimbabwe literature is welcome to come to the stall G5, which 'amaBooks is sharing with other independent African publishers.

For more information about the Cape Town Book fair, visit www.capetownbookfair.com

An article about 'amaBooks and the Cape Town Fair from Bulawayo's Sunday News can be see at http://www.sundaynews.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=6732&cat=3

Interview with Bryony Rheam in The Standard

Bryony Rheam's interview with Ambrose Musiyiwa about her novel This September Sun appeared in last week's The Standard newspaper.

The interview can be found at http://www.thestandard.co.zw/entertainment/25483-this-september-sun-a-work-of-fiction--rheam.html

John Eppel's Jasmine a Guardian Poem of the Week

John Eppel was featured in the UK's Guardian on 12 July, with his poem Jasmine chosen as their 'Poem of the Week'.

The poem first appeared in his 1995 collection Sonata for Matabeleland and was subsequently published in our collection Selected Poems: 1965-1995. Selected Poems was our first publication, all proceeds from which went towards the charity Childline Zimbabwe.

The newspaper article also discusses John's work and his collaboration with Julius Chingono, which is to result in the publication later this year by 'amaBooks of Together, a collection of short stories and poems by the two writers.

The article about Jasmine and John Eppel's poetry can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/jul/12/jasmine-john-eppel-poetry

Christopher Mlalazi in Los Angeles

Villa Aurora & Eso Won Bookstore present

an evening of stories, poetry & music with

2010 Feuchtwanger Fellow Christopher Mlalazi, Zimbabwe

fellow Zimbabwean writer and editor Emmanuel Sigauke

& Judicanti Responsura

7PM on Saturday, July 31, 2010 at Eso Won Bookstore

4331 Degnan Boulevard, Los Angeles 90008

Villa Aurora’s 2010 Feuchtwanger Fellow, Zimbabwean writer Christopher Mlalazi’s two books, Dancing with Life (2008, amaBooks), a collection of short stories, Many Rivers (2009, Lion Press, Ltd., UK), a novel, and his latest play Election Day (2010), deal with the social and political disintegration of his native Zimbabwe. In 2008 he was co-awarded the OXFAM NOVIP PEN Freedom of Expression Award at the Hague, which he received with Raisedon Baya for their play The Crocodile of Zambezi. The Crocodile of Zambezi (2008), a satire of the Mugabe regime set in a fictional country along the Zambezi River, was officially banned and members of its cast and crew were harassed and beaten by state agents. Christopher Mlalazi’s work has received numerous honors and awards, including the ‘2009 Best First Published Creative Work, National Arts Merit Award in Zimbabwe’ for Dancing with Life: Tales from the Township, which also received a NOMA Award for Publishing in Africa Honourable Mention(UK) in 2009; Many Rivers was shortlisted for the 2010 National Arts Merit Award for Most Outstanding Book of Fiction. He has also published poetry in several international anthologies. Mr. Mlalazi has just completed a new novel in his residency at Villa Aurora.

The above is an extract from Emmanuel Sigauke's Wealth of Ideas website. Please click on the title of this post for the complete article. Emmanuel is a Zimbabwean academic and writer based in California.

The photo is of Chris, Bheki Dube and Jane Morris at the Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo in 2006.