The Cape Flats Book Festival 2026 is just around the corner and it is the perfect start to the literary festival calendar of the new year. A few Karavan Press and Indeed Books authors feature on the wonderful programme that has something to offer for every literary desire. We can’t wait for these two days of bookish encounters. Please join us!
SATURDAY, 31 January 2026
10:45-11:25
13:30-14:10
14:25-15:05
15:20-16:00
SUNDAY, 1 February 2026
12:45-13:25
13:40-14:20
PATHWAYS TO PUBLISHING with Hani du Toit, Liezel Snyman and Karina Szczurek
Twenty new titles, several prize nominations, three wins, a big move and an abundance of stories to tell – that in a nutshell was 2025. And what a ride it has been; again! No wonder my body is telling me to rest. And I am about to, but before I put my keyboard away for a month of restoring my well-being, I would like to celebrate the highlights of the publishing year that is coming to an end …
PRIZE NOMINATIONS
Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings longlisted for the Women’s Prize
Land | Lines by Shari Daya and Good Hope by Nick Clelland shortlisted for the HSS Awards
In Silence My Heart Speaks by Thobeka Yose, Good Hope by Nick Clelland and Who Looks Inside by Anna Stroud longlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards
Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings shortlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards
Who Looks Inside shortlisted for the UJ Debut Prize
The JDL Award for Poetry: honourable mention given to Land | Lines by Shari Daya
Good Hope by Nick Clelland shortlisted for the SALA Novel Award
A Collection of Gaps by Frankie Murrey and Lone Wolf Living by Werner Pretorius shortlisted for The Book Lounge’s Book of the Year Award
WINS
Who Looks Inside by Anna Stroud won the HSS Award for Best Fiction Emerging Author
Love Stories for Ghosts by Alex Latimer won the HSS Award for Best Fiction Short Stories
Karavan Press won the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Book Factory Prize for Publishing in Africa for In Silence My Heart Speaks by Thobeka Yose
IN OTHER GOOD NEWS
Mannequin Pictures optioned Good Hope by Nick Clelland
Ice Shock by Elleke Boehmer has been picked up by Valley Press and will be published in the UK next year
NEW TITLES OF 2025
Among these is our first boox (the book that is a box) – Frankie Murrey’s stunning new collection of short stories which we published in a limited, special edition – as a box containing stories and other treasures: A Collection of Gaps.
Ek’t Act by Klara du Plessis, a collection of exquisite poetry, is our first book written in Afrikaans and English.
And I am thrilled that we are continuing with two story projects: IN OTHER STORIES edited by Kerry Hammerton, now in its second year, and KARAVAN STORIES Workshop & Anthology, now in its third year, are both thriving.
ALL ABOUT PHILIPPI
One of the greatest honours for Stephen Symons and me this year was to assist Andrew Brown with the publication of this incredible book: All About Philippi
Towards the end of 2024, Andrew visited iThemba Labantu Primary School in the crime-stricken area of Philippi, Cape Town, to talk to the Grade 7 learners about creative writing. To welcome him, the learners prepared short pieces on how they experienced life as a child growing up amidst poverty and violence. These are their unedited writings. At their request, some names have been changed and some withheld. This publication is distributed for free and aims to highlight the extraordinary trauma that our youth are exposed to every day, and their resilience and determination to express themselves nonetheless.
Andrew will be speaking about this remarkable book at the Cape Flats Book Festival 2026. Not to be missed! You can get a free copy of All About Philippiat The Book Lounge.
INDEED BOOKS
Recognising a need for a carefully curated platform where self-published authors can find a home, Kerry Hammerton and I started INDEED BOOKS. Our first three titles:
COFFEE WITH KARAVAN PRESS
A new tradition began at Casa Karavan this year: I hosted five Coffees with Karavan Press – Saturday mornings when readers and writers gathered at my home to chat about their books, the publishing journey and their favourite reads. I loved every one of these mornings and will continue hosting them in 2026.
THE BIG MOVE
Karavan Press had to change distributors this year and we are thrilled that we have now successfully moved to our new distribution partner – BOOKSITE.
All Karavan Press and Indeed Books titles can be ordered by booksellers via Booksite now. Together, we also continue bringing the titles we assist in distributing in South Africa to our local readers.
It has been an astounding year. Despite and because of its many challenges, Karavan Press was forced to grow and restructure and find new ways of being in the world. Not all of it went smoothly, and I have dropped many balls in the process and could not deliver on all my promises this year, but I am not giving up – and I hope that some waits are worth it.
I would like to thank EVERYONE who makes Karavan Press possible – the journey so far has surpassed all my expectations and my wildest dreams. I would like to especially thank the authors who have been waiting patiently for me to deliver on my promises. (The good thing about having to put my keyboard away is that I can finally tackle the pile of manuscripts that has been waiting to be read for a very looooooong time …)
It is time for rest, for Festive Season and holiday reading, and for another amazing year for Karavan Press, Indeed Books and our Friends!
The latest issue of the JRB is out and it includes Barbara Boswell’s review of Ice Shock by Elleke Boehmer; a poem by Dawn Garisch from her latest collection, The Consulting Room; a story by Werner Pretorius from his debut collection, Lone Wolf Living; and so much more! Happy reading!
Looking for fabulous reads during the festive season for yourself and your loved-reading-ones? Here is a great guide: The Book Lounge’s FESTIVE READING GUIDE
The following Karavan Press & Friends titles feature:
You are invited to the fifth and last Coffee with Karavan Press this year where you can chat to me, Karina, founder and publisher of Karavan Press, and likeminded writers and readers over a cup of coffee – or tea, of course – about anything related to book-writing-editing-publishing-reading. Karavan Press’s home will be open, and I will be ready to answer your questions and discuss your projects.
No need to RSVP. Just ring the bell between 10AM and 12PM on Saturday, 13 December 2025. Coffee and tea will be served. Karavan Press books will be on sale at great prices. Lat minute Christmas shopping made easy … 🙂
SECRETS is the result of the Karavan Stories Workshop & Anthology project, now in its third year.
All the contributors gathered for a writing workshop at the end of April. Together, we discussed the intricacies of the short story, went through several writing exercises, decided on a theme for our anthology and began exploring ideas for individual stories. In the following months, we kept in touch, drafting and redrafting, until the book you are holding in your hands took shape. We chose the theme for the anthology – secrets – within the group. Contributors could work with it in any way they wished, either reimagine it, see it as a springboard or a metaphor, or let their imaginations soar. The stories which emerged interpret ‘secrets’ in wonderfully intriguing ways, inviting us to turn the pages with curiosity, anticipation and, occasionally, with a sinking feeling of dread. I would like to thank all contributing authors for embarking on this journey with Karavan Press: your stories confirm something about local authors that has never really been a secret – you rock! A big thank you to Monique Cleghorn and Stephen Symons for the stunning design of our anthology. To our readers: enjoy!
Karina M. Szczurek Cape Town, December 2025
Contributors: Lucienne Argent, Zubayr Charles, Christine Coates, Máire Fisher, Nina Geraghty, Rob Glenister, Merle Levin, Michelle A. Meyer, Firdose Moonda, Helen Nevin, Joëlle Searle, Jana van Niekerk
Shouldn’t everyone have such a nightwithout thoughtswithout wordsonly taste and touch and smelland the light behind closed eyesslightly redslightly yellow?
‘In Let’s Be Legends, Chantal Stewart leads the reader into her intimate life and asks us to bear witness to her love of the land and family, nature and the night sky, and to her connection to a foreign city and to loves. She also shows us the comfort of a mature love, getting married and building a home with that love. At the centre of this collection is the curious poet who asks us to pay attention to the small things – the tortoise, a field mouse, red dust, the smell of paraffin, pink toenails, eggshells, a child’s kite; and to big issues – gender-based violence, war, refugees and displacement. Her call is for you to feel life. You also have to admire a poet who uses the word paraphernalia and makes it sing.’—KERRY HAMMERTON
CHANTAL STEWART is a medical doctor and has worked in an academic hospital for most of her life. Her first love has always been writing and she completed an MA in Creative Writing at UCT. Her debut novel, The Veil of Maya, was published in 2022 and was joint winner of the NIHSS Award for Best Novel in the Fiction Category (2023) and the UCT Book Award (2024). She has also published poems and short stories in Women Flashing (2006), Writing the Self (2008), Twist (2006) and Stanzas (2021, 2024). She facilitates writing workshops and retreats for beginner and experienced writers. Let’s Be Legends is her first collection of poems.
CHANTAL STEWART is a medical doctor and has worked in an academic hospital for most of her life. Her first love has always been writing and she completed an MA in Creative Writing at UCT. Her debut novel, The Veil of Maya, was published in 2022 and was joint winner of the NIHSS Award for Best Novel in the Fiction Category (2023) and the UCT Book Award (2024). She has also published poems and short stories in Women Flashing (2006), Writing the Self (2008), Twist (2006) and Stanzas (2021, 2024). She facilitates writing workshops and retreats for beginner and experienced writers. Let’s Be Legends is her first collection of poems.
Lucienne Bestall, author of Except for Breath, will be the guest speaker at the opening of a group exhibition at Glen Carlou this Sunday, 30 November 2025, at 11AM:
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