May is the month to put local publishing on the radar as Exclusive Books announces it’s Homebru listing of good "Home-Grown" titles for 2007.
"Homebru is really our way, as the country’s largest book retailer, to throw a powerful spotlight onto a cross section of superb, locally-published books and to challenge our reading public to experiment with both ways of writing and perspectives on the world that may fall outside their traditional framework," says Marketing Manager, Jaco Nel. This year’s list blazes a trail with the first-ever inclusion of an African language title, Usomachiza, the Xhosa translation of Paulo Coelho’s iconic The Alchemist. Then there is Michiel Heyns’ highly acclaimed English translation of Agaat, Marlene van Niekerk’s prize-winning novel as well as Die Windvanger, Afrikaans poet Breyten Breytenbach’s first anthology in eight years. Also included is Zakes Mda’s new novel, Cion and top journalist Bongani Madondo’s Hot Type, a rollicking collection of interviews he has done with a diverse range of celebrities such as Danny Glover and the late Brenda Fassie.
A collaboration between Exclusive Books and Jacana Media, the South African organisers of the annual European Union’s Literary Award for a South African best first novel, will also ensure that this year’s winner, Coconut, by 21-year old Kopano Matlwa, a medical student at the University of Cape Town, a coveted inclusion in Homebru.
Last year’s prize was awarded jointly to Gerald Kraak for Ice in the Lungs and Fred Khumalo for Bitches’ Brew.
According to Nel, the annual Homebru initiative has become a powerful driver in the promotion of local publishing since its inception six years ago.
"Publishers are timing their local releases to coincide with Homebru and we are also receiving many more titles for consideration. For example, this year 140 new titles were submitted compared to 110 titles for 2006.
The reading public too, has increasingly responded to local books being more readily and visibly available. This is reflected by an increase of 35% in sales over the promotion period", he said.
The Homebru 2007 selection will available at all Exclusive Books stores from 28 April and will be supported by a comprehensive national programme of in-store events during the whole of May. These will include author appearances as well as book readings and discussions.
