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Screenwriter and novelist, Sarah Lotz's 'hilarious, heartbreaking first novel', Pompidou Posse, published first in South Africa in 2008 by Penguin Books SA will now be available 'to a world-wide audience, newly edited and with an all new cover' thanks to Hodder & Stoughton. 
Scheduled to be published next month, here is a synopsis: 

Paris is eternal. Art is love. Friendship is forever. Except when it isn't.

You're seventeen. One night, more or less by accident, you set fire to a garden shed. Naturally, you pack up and run off to Paris, certain you can make enough money off your art to get by. You're young, you're talented, you're full of life, and you have your best friend in all the world by your side.

What could possibly go wrong? 


Indeed, what could? Pompidou Posse, is set in the late 80s and has been described as 'loosely autobiographical'. As Mandy J Watson writes in her review of the SA edition: 
First edition cover. Published in 2008 by
Penguin Books SA
'What makes the book even more fascinating is that it is only a somewhat fictonalised tale as much of the story is a (from what I've heard often lighter) retelling of the experiences Lotz and a friend shared as homeless people in Paris in the 80s, after they fled England.'
The book sounds amazing and I can't wait to read it. And here's a link to an excerpt of the first edition BooksLiveSA published a couple years ago. Also, here's Sarah Lotz sharing her feelings about her first novel with Rob Boffard:
'I was terrified. My first novel, POMPIDOU POSSE, was published in South Africa the first time around (Hodder is kindly re-releasing it this year). Far from being a global bestseller, it sold about twelve copies and gave me a taste of what it's like to fail as a writer - in this game, when you often need a thick skin, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing!'
20:26 No Comments
Last year, I showcased ten new releases to look forward to in 2015. Since then, the UK and US covers of Nnedi Okorafor's The Book of Phoenix were revealed and there are a few more books to add to that list. Here's to another great year of reading.



Day Four by Sarah Lotz
May 2015

Sarah Lotz returns with the chilling follow-up to The Three. In Day Four, four days into a five day singles cruise on the Gulf of Mexico, the ageing ship Beautiful Dreamer stops dead in the water. With no electricity and no cellular signals, the passengers and crew have no way to call for help. But everyone is certain that rescue teams will come looking for them soon. All they have to do is wait. That is, until the toilets stop working and the food begins to run out. When the body of a woman is discovered in her cabin the passengers start to panic. There's a murderer on board the Beautiful Dreamer ... and maybe something worse.








101 Detectives by Ivan Vladislavić
June 2015

What kind of Detective am I? Eardrum or typanum? Gullet or aesophagus? Pussy or pudena? A Detective needs a language almost as much as a language needs a Detective.

In this new collection of stories, award-winning author Ivan Vladislavić invites readers to do some detective work of their own. Each story can be read as just that - a story - or you can dig a little deeper. Take a closer look, examine the artefact from all angles, and consider the clues and patterns concealed within.

Whether skewering extreme marketing techniques or construction dystopian parallel universes; whether mounting a mother's loss or tracing a translator's on-stage breakdown,  Vladislavić's pitch-perfect inquisitions will make you question your own language - how it defines you, and how it undoes you.


Confession of the Lioness by Mia Couto (Translated by David Brookshaw)
July 2015

Mia Couto's latest novel is a dark, poetic mystery about the women of the remote village of Kulumani and the lioness that hunt them.

Told through two haunting, interwoven diaries, Mia Couto’s Confession of the Lioness (A confissão da leoa) reveals the mysterious world of Kulumani, an isolated village in Mozambique whose traditions and beliefs are threatened when ghostlike lionesses begin hunting the women who live there.

Mariamar, a woman whose sister was killed in a lioness attack, finds her life thrown into chaos when the outsider Archangel Bullseye, the marksman hired to kill the lionesses, arrives at the request of the village elders. Mariamar’s father imprisons her in her home, where she relives painful memories of past abuse and hopes to be rescued by Archangel. Meanwhile, Archangel tracks the lionesses in the wilderness, but when he begins to suspect there is more to them than meets the eye, he starts to lose control of his hands. The hunt grows more dangerous, until it’s no safer inside Kulumani than outside it. As the men of Kulumani feel increasingly threatened by the outsider, the forces of modernity upon their traditional culture, and the danger of their animal predators closing in, it becomes clear the lionesses might not be real lionesses at all but spirits conjured by the ancient witchcraft of the women themselves.

Both a riveting mystery and a poignant examination of women’s oppression, Confession of the Lioness explores the confrontation between the modern world and ancient traditions to produce an atmospheric, gripping novel.

Based on true facts and written in atmospheric language, A confissão da leoa skilfully interweaves the enthralling stories of Arcanjo and Mariamar, constantly surprising the reader with unexpected twists and turns.



US covers of Day Four and Confession of the Lioness

14:05 No Comments
Happy New Year!!!! It's only a few days into 2014 and already there are six new releases for the first five months of the year to look forward to. That's pretty amazing! So here we go!!!


In January, there are two new releases. Foreign Gods Inc., by Okey Ndibe, which is published by Soho Press, will be out January 16th. It tells the story of Ike, a New York-based Nigerian cab driver who sets out to steal the statue of an ancient war deity from his home village and sell it to a New York gallery. Ike's plan is fueled by desperation. Despite a degree in economics from a major American college, his strong accent has barred him from the corporate world. Forced to eke out a living as a cab driver, he is unable to manage the emotional and material needs of a temperamental African American bride and a widowed mother demanding financial support. When he turns to gambling, his mounting losses compound his woes. 


And so he travels back to Nigeria to steal the statue, where he has to deal with old friends, family, and a mounting conflict between those in the village who worship the deity, and those who practice Christianity.

A meditation on the dreams, promises and frustrations of the immigrant life in America; the nature and impact of religious conflicts; an examination of the ways in which modern culture creates or heightens infatuation with the 'exotic', including the desire to own strange objects and hanker after ineffable illusions; and an exploration of the shifting nature of memory Foreign Gods is a brilliant work of fiction that illuminates our globally interconnected world like no other.

Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor  is about a splintered family in Kenya—a story of power and deceit, unrequited love, survival and sacrifice. It is published by Knopf and will be released January 28th. 

Odidi Oganda, running for his life, is gunned down in the streets of Nairobi. His grief-stricken sister, Ajany, just returned from Brazil, and their father bring his body back to their crumbling home in the Kenyan drylands, seeking some comfort and peace. But the murder has stirred memories long left untouched and unleashed a series of unexpected events: Odidi and Ajany’s mercurial mother flees in a fit of rage; a young Englishman arrives at the Ogandas’ house, seeking his missing father; a hardened policeman who has borne witness to unspeakable acts reopens a cold case; and an all-seeing Trader with a murky identity plots an overdue revenge. In scenes stretching from the violent upheaval of contemporary Kenya back through a shocking political assassination in 1969 and the Mau Mau uprisings against British colonial rule in the 1950s, we come to learn the secrets held by this parched landscape, buried deep within the shared past of the family and of a conflicted nation.

Here is a spellbinding novel about a brother and sister who have lost their way; about how myths come to pass, history is written, and war stains us forever.


Boy, Snow, Bird will be published February 27th.This is the fifth novel from award-winning author Helen Oyeyemi, who was named in 2013 as one of Granta's best of young British novelists. Boy, Snow, Bird is a deeply moving novel about three women and an unbreakable bond. 

BOY Novak turns twenty and decides to try for a brand-new life. Flax Hill, Massachusetts, isn't exactly a welcoming town, but it does have the virtue of being the last on the bus route she took from New York. Flax Hill is also the hometown of Arturo Whitman - craftsman, widower, and father of Snow.

SNOW is mild-mannered, radiant and deeply cherished - exactly the sort of little girl Boy never was, and Boy is utterly beguiled by her. If Snow displays a certain inscrutability at times, that's simply a characteristic she shares with her father, harmless until Boy gives birth to Snow's sister, Bird. 

When BIRD is born Boy is forced to re-evaluate the image Arturo's family have presented to her, and Boy, Snow and Bird are broken apart. 

Sparkling with wit and vibrancy, Boy, Snow, Bird is a deeply moving novel about three women and the strange connection between them. It confirms Helen Oyeyemi's place as one of the most original and dynamic literary voices of her generation. 

On March 20th, Teju Cole's novella EveryDay is for The Thief will be published by Faber & Faber. First published in 2007 by Nigerian publisher Casava Republic, it will now be available outside of Nigeria. 

A young man decides to visit Nigeria after years of absence. Ahead lies the difficult journey back to the family house and all its memories; meetings with childhood friends and above all, facing up to the paradox of Nigeria, whose present is as burdened by the past as it is facing a new future.

Along the way, our narrator encounters life in Lagos. He is captivated by a woman reading on a danfo; attempts to check his email are frustrated by Yahoo boys; he is charmingly duped buying fuel. He admires the grace of an aunty, bereaved by armed robbers and is inspired by the new malls and cultural venues. The question is: should he stay or should he leave? But before the story can even begin, he has to queue for his visa.

Every Day is for the Thief is a striking portrait of Nigeria in change. Through a series of cinematic portraits of everyday life in Lagos, Teju Cole provides a fresh approach to the returnee experience.

Hodder & Stoughton will first release Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon in April. Then in May Sarah Lotz's The Three will be published. 

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor will be out April 10th. Three strangers, each isolated by his or her own problems: Adaora, the marine biologist. Anthony, the rapper famous throughout Africa. Agu, the troubled soldier. Wandering Bar Beach in Lagos, Nigeria's legendary mega-city, they're more alone that they've ever been before. 

But when something like a meteorite plunges into the ocean and a tidal wave overcomes them, these three people will find themselves bound together in ways never imagined. Together with Ayodele, a visitor from beyond the stars, they must race through Lagos and against time itself in order to save the city, the world ... and themselves. 

'There was no time to flee. No time to turn. No time to shriek. And there was no pain. It was like being thrown into the stars.'


The Three by Sarah Lotz is out May 22nd.

They're here ... The boy. The boy watch the boy watch the dead people oh Lordy there's so many ... They're coming for me now. We're all going soon. All of us. Pastor Len warn them that the boy he's not to --


The last words of Pamela May Donald (1961 -2012)

Black Thursday. The day that will never be forgotten. The day that four passenger planes crash, at almost exactly the same moment, at four different points around the globe. 

There are only four survivors. Three are children, who emerge from the wreckage seemingly unhurt. But they are not unchanged. 

And the fourth is Pamela May Donald, who lives just long enough to record a voice message on her phone. 

A message that will change the world.

The message is a warning.

07:27 No Comments
This post was meant to go up weeks ago, but better late than never I say. Last June, British publisher Hodder & Stoughton announced on its Facebook page that Anne C. Perry, co-editor of Pornokitsch, was appointed Assistant Editor and would "expand the company's activities and acquisitions in the field of SF, fantasy and horror publishing". A year later, there are two African Speculative Fiction books that will be published in 2014. Here's a look at the two future releases to look forward to.


The Three by Sarah Lotz will be published February 2014.

The world is stunned when four commuter planes crash within hours of each other on different continents. Facing global panic, officials are under pressure to find the causes. With terrorist attacks and environmental factors rules out, there doesn't appear to be a correlation between the crashes, except that in three of the four air disasters a child survivor is found in the wreckage.

Dubbed 'The Three' by the international press, the children all exhibit disturbing behavioural problems, presumably caused by the horror they loved through and the unrelenting press attention. This attention becomes more than just intrusive when a rapture cult led by a charismatic evangelical minister insists that the survivors are three of the four harbingers of the apocalypse. The Three are forced to go into hiding, but as the children's behaviour becomes increasingly disturbing, even their guardian begin to question their miraculous survival.


Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor, which I mentioned back in April will be published March 2014.  


A star falls from the sky. A woman rises from the sea. The world will never be the same.

Three strangers, each isolated by his or her own problems: Adaora, the marine biologist. Anothony, the rapper famous throughout Africa. Agu, the troubled soldier. Wandering Bar Beach in Lagos, Nigeria's legendary mega-city, they're more alone that they've ever been before.

But when something like a meteorite plunges into the ocean and a tidal wave overcomes them, these three people will find themselves bound together in ways never imagined. Together with Ayodele, a visitor from beyond the stars, they must race through Lagos and against time itself in order to save the city, the world ... and themselves.

"There was no time to flee. No time to turn. No time to shriek. And there was no pain. It was like being thrown into the stars"

14:39 2 Comments
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Founded in 2011, bookshy represents two things: the young me who was so shy I escaped through books, and the older me whose shelf is always one book shy of being full.

bookshy is a space where I celebrate, promote and recognise contemporary African literature - although sometimes I go back in time to commemorate the greats. It is about the books I love, the books I have read and the books that I am dying to read.

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