Fashioning Modern Africanism

Jacana Media is delighted to announce the publication of a ground breaking South African work by Welcome Mandla Lishivha.  ‘BOY ON THE RUN IS TOUGH AND FRAGILE, TRAGIC AND RESILIENT, AND UTTERLY COMPELLING. WELCOME LISHIVHA HAS BROKEN NEW GROUND IN SOUTH AFRICAN LITERATURE, IN THE VOICE HE FINDS – AND THE STORIES HE TELLS – ABOUT GROWING UP POOR, AND QUEER, AND LOVED, IN A SOUTH AFRICAN TOWNSHIP. IT IS DESTINED TO BE A CLASSIC.’ – MARK GEVISSER Living in Soshanguve as a young boy with an adored and adoring mum, Welcome’s life almost stops when his mum is murdered by her new boyfriend. The upturned chair, his mum’s lifeless face, the blood on the floor, the glasses with the gold detail that Welcome had taken from a precious cupboard, the boyfriend’s body; it was a tableau that was impossible to unsee. But this is only the beginning of a journey which takes Lishivha through school and university, with the help of his remaining family, and allows him to explore South Africa.  Through stud

Sarah Bullen is an author, storyteller and writing coach with a unique brand of humour and heart. She is a former journalist and magazine editor. Her books include Hey Baby! The Hip New Mom's Guide That's All About You and Write your Book in 100 Days! Stop Mucking About & Just Write. In this new installment, Journalist Sarah Bullen and her filmmaker husband Llewellyn seemed like a golden couple, with wildly successful careers. Then Llewellyn realises that what he'd thought were entranced moments were in fact symptoms of a brain tumour. He pursues a shamanic path to fight the cancer and the couple are catapulted into a strange, magical world of ritual and ceremony. Alongside hospitals, surgery and treatments comes another wilder journey of spiritual searching. Then Sarah too falls ill. While in a four-week coma, Sarah travels through near-death and into other realms and worlds. She comes back with a message and a spark to follow which becomes a roadmap to allow her to wr

Miss South Africa Shudufhadzo Musida can now add the title of author to her impressive list of achievements. Musida has written a children’s book –  Shudu Finds Her Magic , published by Jacana Media in six languages and with delightful illustrations by Chantelle and Burgen Thorne – which will be available in bookstores around the country and online towards the end of August.   The book is inspired by Musida’s own childhood and the bullying she experienced when she moved to a new province and a new school.   Musida is a well-known advocate for mental health awareness, and this year launched her online mental health initiative # MindfulMondays  on her Instagram platform @shudufhadzomusida ,  in conjunction with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) and Discovery Vitality. She explains: “The book is aimed at children aged between four and 12 years of age and deals with bullying and the power of friendship. I hope that youngsters will be able to see themselves reflected in

Andile Gaelesiwe is celebrated across SA as the adored host of  Khumbul’ ekhaya   on SABC 1. Yet few know that behind the glamour of her public image, there is a vulnerable girl from Meadowlands, Soweto.  Andile Gaelesiwe grew up in a time of turmoil, not only in SA, but also in her family. This led her to look for her biological father who then betrayed her in the worst possible way. In the late 1990s she took the music industry by storm when her first single   Abuti Yo   was released. "Remembering"  is Andile’s fierce, and at times funny, memoir. It touches on serious issues of rape and patriarchy, but also reveals a woman with a will of steel, music in her soul, and a commitment to living to the full. About the author Andile Gaelesiwe hosts the popular TV shows  Uthando Noxolo  and  Before I Do . Founder of the GBV response NGO, Open Disclosure, she has also been the Amnesty International anti-­sexual violence ambassador. Gaelesiwe has released five albums. BOOK EXTRACT My

Compiled from the best of the two hit e-books  Lockdown  and  Lockdown   Extended,  that Melinda Ferguson launched, back to back during the first four weeks of lockdown, as well as including new essays by the likes of New Frame's Richard Pithouse, Kharnita Mohamed and Carsten Rasch, the work brilliantly tries to make sense of a world held hostage by a virus.  Sentenced to Lockdown, regarded as "non-essential", a group of 40 South African writers get together in a virtual Corona Collective, to pen  The Lockdown Collection.  This historical gem showcases a list of South Africa's most celebrated writers, disruptors and thinkers, including: Sisonke Msimang ( Always Another Country ), Fred Khumalo ( Bitches Brew ), multi-disciplinary poet, Lebo Mashile and Pumla Dineo Gqola ( Rape A South African Nightmare ). There's the comic genius of Ben Trovato ( Durban Poison)  and  Everyday Zulu  Melusi Tshabalala, while the likes of  Khaya Dlanga, Dudu Busani-Dube, Rahla Xenopou