"Writing for (Artaud) wasn't a means of modifying or falsifying experience through the medium of language, it was the chace to communicate directly with his sense of outrage. It was a form of primal anarchy. If we all communicated without the selective process of language identifying with thought, the world would be reinvented."
"Madness is the perogative term that capitalism applies to vision."
"Literature died when it became a saleable commoditiy."
Jeremy Reed, Chasing Black Rainbows: a novel based on the life of Artaud, Peter Owen, 1994
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Friday, 26 September 2008
Creating magic through poetry
Gary Cummiskey is one of the featured poets at the 12th Poetry Africa International Poetry Festival in Durban which runs from September 29 to October 4. Janet van Eeden asked him a few questions about writing and publishing.
Is your desire to write a need to change history, or make a mark on the world in some way?
The first thing I ever wrote was a short story about Mary, Queen of Scots, and after I had written it I felt I had achieved some major accomplishment. There is a definite sense of magic involved in the creative process. And yes, also probably a wish to leave a mark on the world. I have always been struck by some lines by the South African poet Wopko Jensma, from his poem spanner in the what?works, which read: i hope to leave some evidence/that i inhabited this world/that i sensed my situation/that i created something/out of my situation..
You have also become a publisher and have been remarkably resilient in the fickle world of South African literature. How did Dye Hard Press start?
I started up Dye Hard Press in 1994. Like a lot of poets, I was frustrated back then by the lack of publishing outlets. There were only New Coin, New Contrast, Slug News and Staffrider, which was on its last legs. I wanted to start up a literary journal but was initially put off by the financial outlay needed. Gus Ferguson’s maverick Slug News was a good example. It wasn’t printed but photocopied, and he laid it out himself in his lunch hour. So I realised I could produce one myself, cheaply. It was doomed from the start. I didn’t know the first thing about publishing and nobody knew me. So I figured a solution might be to publish a small collection of my work, and distribute it for free. I put together a collection: The Secret Hour. Roy Blumenthal suggested that I create an imprint name too and so I created Dye Hard Press. I then published Alan Finlay’s collection, Burning Aloes, and things continued from there. Sun Belly Press published a small pamphlet of my poems back in 1996, called City, and that same year Gus Ferguson published my collection When Apollinaire Died. Apart from that, all my other collections have been published through Dye Hard Press.
Do you see yourself as a poet or a publisher?
I see myself as a poet-writer first and a publisher second. Last year, at the Cape Town Book Fair, two people expressed surprise that I was a writer. I admit it was of some concern that my work as a publisher was apparently eclipsing my work as a poet. I might stop publishing at any moment, but I would never stop writing.
What sorts of work do you publish?
Dye Hard Press has to date published mainly poetry, and recently Kobus Moolman’s play Full Circle. Through my literary journal Green Dragon I also publish short fiction and creative non-fiction.
What is the future for poetry in South Africa? Is it relevant at all to the majority of people or is it only ever in the foreground at events such as Poetry Africa?
The future of poetry in South Africa is a challenge, to put it mildly. Throughout the world poetry is becoming a marginalised genre, but even more so in South Africa. Yet when I started up Dye Hard Press in the nineties there was an intense creative energy around and people were interested in the poetry we put out.
But that has changed. There is a fair amount of interest, particularly among the youth, in spoken word, hip-hop-type poetry. In one way this is a good thing. It’s certainly supporting the concept of spoken word poetry. At the same time, a lot of the poetry is becoming standardised, unoriginal and predictable.
But events such as Poetry Africa really help.
Schools should teach more contemporary local poetry and then people will not grow up thinking poetry is something that they cannot relate to. Book readers should make a point of reading contemporary South African poetry too or subscribe to a literary journal.
What are your personal ambitions as a poet, writer and publisher?
I want to explore more genres in my writing. I’ve started writing short fiction and there is also a novel floating around in my head. I also want to publish fiction through Dye Hard Press.
(First published in The Witness, September 26, 2008)
Is your desire to write a need to change history, or make a mark on the world in some way?
The first thing I ever wrote was a short story about Mary, Queen of Scots, and after I had written it I felt I had achieved some major accomplishment. There is a definite sense of magic involved in the creative process. And yes, also probably a wish to leave a mark on the world. I have always been struck by some lines by the South African poet Wopko Jensma, from his poem spanner in the what?works, which read: i hope to leave some evidence/that i inhabited this world/that i sensed my situation/that i created something/out of my situation..
You have also become a publisher and have been remarkably resilient in the fickle world of South African literature. How did Dye Hard Press start?
I started up Dye Hard Press in 1994. Like a lot of poets, I was frustrated back then by the lack of publishing outlets. There were only New Coin, New Contrast, Slug News and Staffrider, which was on its last legs. I wanted to start up a literary journal but was initially put off by the financial outlay needed. Gus Ferguson’s maverick Slug News was a good example. It wasn’t printed but photocopied, and he laid it out himself in his lunch hour. So I realised I could produce one myself, cheaply. It was doomed from the start. I didn’t know the first thing about publishing and nobody knew me. So I figured a solution might be to publish a small collection of my work, and distribute it for free. I put together a collection: The Secret Hour. Roy Blumenthal suggested that I create an imprint name too and so I created Dye Hard Press. I then published Alan Finlay’s collection, Burning Aloes, and things continued from there. Sun Belly Press published a small pamphlet of my poems back in 1996, called City, and that same year Gus Ferguson published my collection When Apollinaire Died. Apart from that, all my other collections have been published through Dye Hard Press.
Do you see yourself as a poet or a publisher?
I see myself as a poet-writer first and a publisher second. Last year, at the Cape Town Book Fair, two people expressed surprise that I was a writer. I admit it was of some concern that my work as a publisher was apparently eclipsing my work as a poet. I might stop publishing at any moment, but I would never stop writing.
What sorts of work do you publish?
Dye Hard Press has to date published mainly poetry, and recently Kobus Moolman’s play Full Circle. Through my literary journal Green Dragon I also publish short fiction and creative non-fiction.
What is the future for poetry in South Africa? Is it relevant at all to the majority of people or is it only ever in the foreground at events such as Poetry Africa?
The future of poetry in South Africa is a challenge, to put it mildly. Throughout the world poetry is becoming a marginalised genre, but even more so in South Africa. Yet when I started up Dye Hard Press in the nineties there was an intense creative energy around and people were interested in the poetry we put out.
But that has changed. There is a fair amount of interest, particularly among the youth, in spoken word, hip-hop-type poetry. In one way this is a good thing. It’s certainly supporting the concept of spoken word poetry. At the same time, a lot of the poetry is becoming standardised, unoriginal and predictable.
But events such as Poetry Africa really help.
Schools should teach more contemporary local poetry and then people will not grow up thinking poetry is something that they cannot relate to. Book readers should make a point of reading contemporary South African poetry too or subscribe to a literary journal.
What are your personal ambitions as a poet, writer and publisher?
I want to explore more genres in my writing. I’ve started writing short fiction and there is also a novel floating around in my head. I also want to publish fiction through Dye Hard Press.
(First published in The Witness, September 26, 2008)
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Stories put to the text
South Africa faces the challenge of boosting a book-reading culture, but because new books are expensive, access to libraries in rural areas is limited and internet penetration is low, the task at times seems overwhelming. However, 80% of South Africans own a mobile phone, and an innovative concept launched in July looks set to bring short fiction to the masses via their handsets...Read more here
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
A short review of Today is their Creator from Pravasan Pillay
The short twenty-five pages of Gary Cummiskey’s poetry collection Today is their Creator are the best I’ve read in a while. The poems in these pages disrupt both the meanings of words and their relation to reality and also, and most crucially, for me at least, the overly precious poetic register that dominates local verse. Cummiskey’s devices (deadpan lines, surreal word combinations, absurd contexts) are admirably cold but the ideas and emotions being piped through these devices are as hot as hell. This is a difficult art to master and Cummiskey, like Burroughs before him, does it exceedingly well. File under essential.
(First published here on www.kaganof.com)
Where else is there to go?
"But principally my theme is one I have explored in my own life and through the personae I have adopted in two previous novels, Isidore and When The Whip Comes Down, which is belief in the poet as one who changes the universe and risks everything by this undertaking. It is not a romantic ideal that the poetry sacrifices his life to madness, it is often the truth. Artaud savaged the status quo through the powers of his imagination, and this novel looks towards the creation of a world in which imagination becomes reality. Where else is there to go?"
Jeremy Reed, Chasing Black Rainbows: a novel based on the life of Artaud, Peter Owen,1994.
Saturday, 20 September 2008
No flash in the pan, this fiction
Review of 100 Papers, Liesl Jobson, Botsotso Publishing, Out of the Wreckage, Allan Kolski Horwitz, Botsotso Publishing, Botsotso 15: Jozi Spoken Word Special Edition
Flash fiction — essentially a very short story, which can range from about 10 lines to four pages — might be regarded as the ideal kind of genre for our rushed, fast-paced times. But it is as ancient as Aesop, and was practised by writers such as Anton Chekhov and Ernest Hemingway.
South African Liesl Jobson has just published her debut volume, 100 Papers, which consists of 100 prose poems and flash fiction pieces. The opening piece in her collection, Shopping List, sets the tone for many of the other stories with its strong sense of the understated, of what is not being said, of unspoken and unresolved tensions.
It also introduces the theme of relationships, motherhood and loneliness, although some of the stories are fairly lighthearted, such as How the Oreo Stole Christmas and Bridgework.
And, not surprisingly, considering Jobson’s career as a bassoonist, many of them feature orchestral musicians, such as Bassoon Lesson, Perfect Timing, Zebra Breath, and She Cannot Love Her Own Air.
Notable flash fiction pieces in the collection are Litter-Bugs, Spider Salad, Bump, Saviour, Cell, My Mother’s Diary, Vessel and Green Socks, White Lies.
But the strongest items are the prose poems, such as Naysayers, A Hundred Times a Day, In the Biscuits, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, The Corner of My Eye, and Under My SAPS Star, though sometimes the distinction between the very short flash fictions and the prose poems are not so clear, such as with Cell — a mere 17 lines and clearly a narrative — and Vessel, which is one-and-a-half pages but reads like a prose poem.
This is a welcomed debut volume. A slight problem is the fact that the strongest pieces are mainly in the second half.
Botsotso editor Allan Kolski Horwitz’s Out of the Wreckage is also a collection of very short fiction, predominantly a series of “dream parables” involving a male character named Abel.
They are surreal tales which the blurb says consist of “the dream-like; the waking fantasy; the reverie; the parable that instructs; the story that informs … the dream that saves the dreamer”.
Like Jobson’s volume, most of the pieces are not longer than three to four pages, and one piece, Excursion, is only 19 lines. Some are more conventional short-story narratives, two of which — Blue and Ashford — appeared in a previous Botsotso anthology of short fiction, Unity in Flight.
The collection starts off promisingly with The President, a powerful, all-too-familiar story of a despot determined to hold onto power while his country goes to ruin.
Despite the dream-like atmosphere throughout the volume, the realities of a contemporary violent society are sometimes not too far away — one of the pieces is called War Time.
While some of the other dream parables are strong — such as Discover, The Dog, Accidents, Out of the Wreckage, The Festival and She Was Taken Captive — the most rewarding pieces are the more conventional stories, such as The Tap Plant, A Faraway Shopping Centre, Four Seasons, Gerhard, Blue, Ashford, Mystery in the Cottage and She Whom I Love.
The concept of the dream narrative is fascinating, but the overall feeling with Out of the Wreckage is that of overkill. If the number of dream parables had been reduced, or if there were more conventional stories to create a balance, the book might have been more effective.
The 15th issue of literary journal Botsotso is a special edition, with about half of its 200 pages selections of material presented at the first Jozi Spoken Word festival, which took place over four days at Wits University last year.
There is commentary from critics such as Anthea Buys and Darryl Accone and papers on Who Makes or Breaks the Canon? by James Ogude and Rosemary Gray, which were originally part of a panel discussion at the festival.
There are poems by Angifi Dladla, Hugh Lewin, Mak Manaka, Ike Mboneni Muila, Siphiwe ka Ngwenya, Peter Horn, Mphutlane wa Bofelo and Dennis Brutus, as well as short fiction by Achmat Dangor, Horwitz and Jobson.
The second section contains new work ranging from short fiction by Zukiswa Wanner, Jean-Francois Kouadio, Hlengiwe Mnguni and Arja Salafranca, to poetry from Alan Finlay, Brent Meersman, Elizabeth Trew and Dave Stevens.
The volume is illustrated throughout with a powerful graphics series called Xnau by Garth Erasmus, which are the result of flame on paper and show mysterious black and white shapes suggesting figures or skeleton-like bones.
In SA, where literary journals are scarce and constantly struggling for survival, it is encouraging to see Botsotso not only still publishing, but also growing stronger and publishing such rewarding, innovative and imaginative work.
(First published in The Weekender September 20, 2008)
Flash fiction — essentially a very short story, which can range from about 10 lines to four pages — might be regarded as the ideal kind of genre for our rushed, fast-paced times. But it is as ancient as Aesop, and was practised by writers such as Anton Chekhov and Ernest Hemingway.
South African Liesl Jobson has just published her debut volume, 100 Papers, which consists of 100 prose poems and flash fiction pieces. The opening piece in her collection, Shopping List, sets the tone for many of the other stories with its strong sense of the understated, of what is not being said, of unspoken and unresolved tensions.
It also introduces the theme of relationships, motherhood and loneliness, although some of the stories are fairly lighthearted, such as How the Oreo Stole Christmas and Bridgework.
And, not surprisingly, considering Jobson’s career as a bassoonist, many of them feature orchestral musicians, such as Bassoon Lesson, Perfect Timing, Zebra Breath, and She Cannot Love Her Own Air.
Notable flash fiction pieces in the collection are Litter-Bugs, Spider Salad, Bump, Saviour, Cell, My Mother’s Diary, Vessel and Green Socks, White Lies.
But the strongest items are the prose poems, such as Naysayers, A Hundred Times a Day, In the Biscuits, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, The Corner of My Eye, and Under My SAPS Star, though sometimes the distinction between the very short flash fictions and the prose poems are not so clear, such as with Cell — a mere 17 lines and clearly a narrative — and Vessel, which is one-and-a-half pages but reads like a prose poem.
This is a welcomed debut volume. A slight problem is the fact that the strongest pieces are mainly in the second half.
Botsotso editor Allan Kolski Horwitz’s Out of the Wreckage is also a collection of very short fiction, predominantly a series of “dream parables” involving a male character named Abel.
They are surreal tales which the blurb says consist of “the dream-like; the waking fantasy; the reverie; the parable that instructs; the story that informs … the dream that saves the dreamer”.
Like Jobson’s volume, most of the pieces are not longer than three to four pages, and one piece, Excursion, is only 19 lines. Some are more conventional short-story narratives, two of which — Blue and Ashford — appeared in a previous Botsotso anthology of short fiction, Unity in Flight.
The collection starts off promisingly with The President, a powerful, all-too-familiar story of a despot determined to hold onto power while his country goes to ruin.
Despite the dream-like atmosphere throughout the volume, the realities of a contemporary violent society are sometimes not too far away — one of the pieces is called War Time.
While some of the other dream parables are strong — such as Discover, The Dog, Accidents, Out of the Wreckage, The Festival and She Was Taken Captive — the most rewarding pieces are the more conventional stories, such as The Tap Plant, A Faraway Shopping Centre, Four Seasons, Gerhard, Blue, Ashford, Mystery in the Cottage and She Whom I Love.
The concept of the dream narrative is fascinating, but the overall feeling with Out of the Wreckage is that of overkill. If the number of dream parables had been reduced, or if there were more conventional stories to create a balance, the book might have been more effective.
The 15th issue of literary journal Botsotso is a special edition, with about half of its 200 pages selections of material presented at the first Jozi Spoken Word festival, which took place over four days at Wits University last year.
There is commentary from critics such as Anthea Buys and Darryl Accone and papers on Who Makes or Breaks the Canon? by James Ogude and Rosemary Gray, which were originally part of a panel discussion at the festival.
There are poems by Angifi Dladla, Hugh Lewin, Mak Manaka, Ike Mboneni Muila, Siphiwe ka Ngwenya, Peter Horn, Mphutlane wa Bofelo and Dennis Brutus, as well as short fiction by Achmat Dangor, Horwitz and Jobson.
The second section contains new work ranging from short fiction by Zukiswa Wanner, Jean-Francois Kouadio, Hlengiwe Mnguni and Arja Salafranca, to poetry from Alan Finlay, Brent Meersman, Elizabeth Trew and Dave Stevens.
The volume is illustrated throughout with a powerful graphics series called Xnau by Garth Erasmus, which are the result of flame on paper and show mysterious black and white shapes suggesting figures or skeleton-like bones.
In SA, where literary journals are scarce and constantly struggling for survival, it is encouraging to see Botsotso not only still publishing, but also growing stronger and publishing such rewarding, innovative and imaginative work.
(First published in The Weekender September 20, 2008)
Monday, 08 September 2008
Poetry Africa International Festival 2008
29 September to 4 October promises to be a stirring week of words, rhymes, performance and ideas, as the 12th Poetry Africa international poetry festival ignites Durban with over twenty poets from around South Africa , Africa , and the world. Hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Centre for Creative Arts, Poetry Africa's intensive week-long programme kicks off with a pre-festival showcase of Durban poets at The Workshop Shopping Centre's Amphitheatre on 28 September at 11h00. The showcase forms part of the Imagine Africa initiative which seeks to create platforms for challenging stereotypical ideas of Africa and imagining a better continent. The week encompasses introductory performances by the full lineup of participating poets at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre on opening night 29 September, and will thereafter feature 5 poets every evening, through to 3 October, before the rousing Festival Finale at the BAT Centre on 4 October.
The as-always diverse selection of poetic voices, styles, forms, and cultures includes the finely-tuned verse of teacher, photojournalist and activist Kole Ade-Odutola ( Nigeria ). Ade-Odutola's celebrated second collection of poetry The Poet Bled is dedicated to Ken Saro Wiwa, the author and environmental activist who was killed in 1995 by the Nigerian military junta. The lineup from Africa also includes Angolan Nástio Mosquito, a provocative artist, performer, and poet whose often satirical work will be accompanied by South African musicians. Kenyan Bantu Mwaura's laconic poetry is principally concerned with examining the African continent, its politics, its history and its place in the international arena. Nassuf Djailani, from the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte , is the author of two poetry collections rich in humor and tenderness. The multi-talented Rogério Manjate ( Mozambique ) recently won the Best Short Film Award at the 29th Durban International Film Festival and looks set to again wow Durban audiences with his distinct and humane voice. Legendary Zimbabwean musician Thomas Mapfumo – whose music is now banned in Zimbabwe – has been making his captivating Chimurenga music for over thirty years. His incendiary songs, patterned on ancient mbira rhythms and injected with a contemporary sensibility, are particularly relevant given the current political impasse to the north of our borders. Mapfumo will be supported by the guitarist and two mbira players from his group Blacks Unlimited. Mapfumo will also perform in special post-festival events in Johannesburg organised by African Synergy Book Café.
The as always strong South African presence this year includes Megan Hall, winner of the 2008 Ingrid Jonker Prize for her debut collection Fourth Child. Hall is a poet of startlingly vividness and – somewhat paradoxically – control and will launch Fourth Child, published by Modjaji Books, during the festival. Other launches include: Invitation To A Voyage (Protea Book House) edited by respected scholar and poet Stephen Gray. The collection features French-language poetry of the Indian Ocean African islands and is a wonderful introduction to the lesser-known but rich literature of the region. Prolific independent publishers Botsotso launch an amazing five new publications including one by top Durban poet Mphutlane wa Bofelo. UKZN Press will launch the second collection of Mxolisi Nyezwa entitled, New Country . Nyezwa is also a participant this year and has long been an acclaimed in local poetry circles for his powerful and difficult-to-classify lyrical poems. The festival this year offers an emphasis on performance and the spoken word, reflecting the growing diversity of poetic expression.
Sisters Tereska and Laverne Muishond call themselves !Bushwomen and infuse their poetry with song and dance to create a stage performance that is filled with energy and passion. Jitsvinger (a.k.a Quintin Goliath) is one of South Africa`s fastest rising hip-hop artists and delivers his conscious rhymes in an urgent and unique meter. Joining the Poetry Africa lineup this year is the trailblazing South African hip hop crew Godessa, comprising E.J. von Lyrik, Burnie, and Shameema Williams, whose poetry and music combination makes them some of the most relevant voices in the country.
Anton Krueger is an award-winning playwright and poet and brings to Poetry Africa his humanistic yet slightly view-askance verse. Andrea Dondolo, renowned for her role in the award-winning sitcom Stokvel , is also a skilled praise singer who is bound to captivate Durban audiences. Mak Manaka's sensitive and lucid poetry has seen him become a sought after performer at local and international events. Powerful, fresh and blessed with an enviable stage presence, poet and musician Ntsiki Mazwai also goes by her clan name, MaMiya. Her style of fusing her inspirational poems with beats resulted in the immensely popular single “Uwrongo”. Independent press hero Gary Cummiskey is the founder and editor of Dye Hard Press, which specialises in publishing South African poetry, and in his own poetry, spread over numerous collections, shows a deft hand at balancing the avant garde and the poetic.
Masoja Msiza is the brains behind the popular Lentswe Poetry Project on SABC 2 and his poetry focuses, in a non-didactic manner, on social concerns. Rounding up the South African component is the poetry collective Basadzi Voices, which comprises Shameeyaa neo waMolefe, Phomelelo Mamampi Machika, Busi Gqulu and Xoli Vilakazi. Basadzi Voices through their projects – which include a successful poetry anthology published in 2006 by UKZN Press – aim to represent the many voices, often silenced, of young women across South Africa . A special component of the festival is the Durban Poetry Showcase, which takes place at the Festival Finale at the BAT Centre. This platform showcases the collaborative talents of poets from leading poetry collectives in the city, including: Live Poets Society, Keen Artists, Nowadayz Poets, Poets Corner, and Pour a Tree.
The international presence at Poetry Africa includes the evocative, finessed verse of Dutch poet Marjolijn van Heemstra and American Carlos Gomez, a leading voice at the forefront of the oral poetry movement who has been described by critics as a “truth-telling visionary” and a “lyrical prophet”. Gomez also co-starred in Spike Lee's hit film Inside Man alongside Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, while his first poetry album was named Spoken Word Album of the Year at the 2006 Los Angeles Music Awards .
The festival also includes special readings that will commemorate the life, work and struggle of Mahmoud Darwish, the respected and celebrated Palestinian poet who died in August this year. The readings form part of an internationally coordinated effort to honour this great artist and man. Saturday, 4 October sees a full day of activities at the BAT Centre, which includes poetry workshops, open mic opportunities, the Durban SlamJam with Sakhile Shabalala, Lexikon, Ngonyama, and American slammers, Kesed Ragin and Tahani Salah, all culminating with the Festival Finale on Saturday night.
Apart from the evening performances at the Sneddon and the BAT, a packed daily programme includes performances, seminars, workshops, poetry competitions, and school roadshows.
The full programme of activities, plus participant bios and photos, is available on http://www.cca.ukzn.ac.za/Enquiries to 031-2602506
The as-always diverse selection of poetic voices, styles, forms, and cultures includes the finely-tuned verse of teacher, photojournalist and activist Kole Ade-Odutola ( Nigeria ). Ade-Odutola's celebrated second collection of poetry The Poet Bled is dedicated to Ken Saro Wiwa, the author and environmental activist who was killed in 1995 by the Nigerian military junta. The lineup from Africa also includes Angolan Nástio Mosquito, a provocative artist, performer, and poet whose often satirical work will be accompanied by South African musicians. Kenyan Bantu Mwaura's laconic poetry is principally concerned with examining the African continent, its politics, its history and its place in the international arena. Nassuf Djailani, from the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte , is the author of two poetry collections rich in humor and tenderness. The multi-talented Rogério Manjate ( Mozambique ) recently won the Best Short Film Award at the 29th Durban International Film Festival and looks set to again wow Durban audiences with his distinct and humane voice. Legendary Zimbabwean musician Thomas Mapfumo – whose music is now banned in Zimbabwe – has been making his captivating Chimurenga music for over thirty years. His incendiary songs, patterned on ancient mbira rhythms and injected with a contemporary sensibility, are particularly relevant given the current political impasse to the north of our borders. Mapfumo will be supported by the guitarist and two mbira players from his group Blacks Unlimited. Mapfumo will also perform in special post-festival events in Johannesburg organised by African Synergy Book Café.
The as always strong South African presence this year includes Megan Hall, winner of the 2008 Ingrid Jonker Prize for her debut collection Fourth Child. Hall is a poet of startlingly vividness and – somewhat paradoxically – control and will launch Fourth Child, published by Modjaji Books, during the festival. Other launches include: Invitation To A Voyage (Protea Book House) edited by respected scholar and poet Stephen Gray. The collection features French-language poetry of the Indian Ocean African islands and is a wonderful introduction to the lesser-known but rich literature of the region. Prolific independent publishers Botsotso launch an amazing five new publications including one by top Durban poet Mphutlane wa Bofelo. UKZN Press will launch the second collection of Mxolisi Nyezwa entitled, New Country . Nyezwa is also a participant this year and has long been an acclaimed in local poetry circles for his powerful and difficult-to-classify lyrical poems. The festival this year offers an emphasis on performance and the spoken word, reflecting the growing diversity of poetic expression.
Sisters Tereska and Laverne Muishond call themselves !Bushwomen and infuse their poetry with song and dance to create a stage performance that is filled with energy and passion. Jitsvinger (a.k.a Quintin Goliath) is one of South Africa`s fastest rising hip-hop artists and delivers his conscious rhymes in an urgent and unique meter. Joining the Poetry Africa lineup this year is the trailblazing South African hip hop crew Godessa, comprising E.J. von Lyrik, Burnie, and Shameema Williams, whose poetry and music combination makes them some of the most relevant voices in the country.
Anton Krueger is an award-winning playwright and poet and brings to Poetry Africa his humanistic yet slightly view-askance verse. Andrea Dondolo, renowned for her role in the award-winning sitcom Stokvel , is also a skilled praise singer who is bound to captivate Durban audiences. Mak Manaka's sensitive and lucid poetry has seen him become a sought after performer at local and international events. Powerful, fresh and blessed with an enviable stage presence, poet and musician Ntsiki Mazwai also goes by her clan name, MaMiya. Her style of fusing her inspirational poems with beats resulted in the immensely popular single “Uwrongo”. Independent press hero Gary Cummiskey is the founder and editor of Dye Hard Press, which specialises in publishing South African poetry, and in his own poetry, spread over numerous collections, shows a deft hand at balancing the avant garde and the poetic.
Masoja Msiza is the brains behind the popular Lentswe Poetry Project on SABC 2 and his poetry focuses, in a non-didactic manner, on social concerns. Rounding up the South African component is the poetry collective Basadzi Voices, which comprises Shameeyaa neo waMolefe, Phomelelo Mamampi Machika, Busi Gqulu and Xoli Vilakazi. Basadzi Voices through their projects – which include a successful poetry anthology published in 2006 by UKZN Press – aim to represent the many voices, often silenced, of young women across South Africa . A special component of the festival is the Durban Poetry Showcase, which takes place at the Festival Finale at the BAT Centre. This platform showcases the collaborative talents of poets from leading poetry collectives in the city, including: Live Poets Society, Keen Artists, Nowadayz Poets, Poets Corner, and Pour a Tree.
The international presence at Poetry Africa includes the evocative, finessed verse of Dutch poet Marjolijn van Heemstra and American Carlos Gomez, a leading voice at the forefront of the oral poetry movement who has been described by critics as a “truth-telling visionary” and a “lyrical prophet”. Gomez also co-starred in Spike Lee's hit film Inside Man alongside Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, while his first poetry album was named Spoken Word Album of the Year at the 2006 Los Angeles Music Awards .
The festival also includes special readings that will commemorate the life, work and struggle of Mahmoud Darwish, the respected and celebrated Palestinian poet who died in August this year. The readings form part of an internationally coordinated effort to honour this great artist and man. Saturday, 4 October sees a full day of activities at the BAT Centre, which includes poetry workshops, open mic opportunities, the Durban SlamJam with Sakhile Shabalala, Lexikon, Ngonyama, and American slammers, Kesed Ragin and Tahani Salah, all culminating with the Festival Finale on Saturday night.
Apart from the evening performances at the Sneddon and the BAT, a packed daily programme includes performances, seminars, workshops, poetry competitions, and school roadshows.
The full programme of activities, plus participant bios and photos, is available on http://www.cca.ukzn.ac.za/Enquiries to 031-2602506
Saturday, 06 September 2008
Tuesday, 02 September 2008
Sunday, 31 August 2008
No brand-puppet poet
Producing poetry that is infused with a sense of social and political commitment may seem like a throw-back to the apartheid era for some, but for poet, editor, publisher and community activist Vonani Bila, the urgent need for poets — and all writers — to address social injustice remains as strong as ever.
Bila, whose fourth poetry collection, Handsome Jita, was recently published by University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, was born in 1972 at Shirley Village in the Elim area of Limpopo, into a family of eight children.
He says his parents instilled in him an appreciation of music and narrative.
“My father was a gifted singer and composer,” says Bila. “He even used to play the timbila (a finger harp that is associated with the Vatsonga, Vacopi and Machangani of Mozambique, where the Bilas originally come from).
“My mother didn’t attend any formal schooling, but she’s indisputably a living historian with an astute and impeccable memory of family and social history. My mother tells intelligent and humorous tales to her grandchildren with great passion. It is from her that I inherited the narrative command evident in my poetry.”
But he is deeply aware of the conditions of poverty and injustice into which he was born. His great-grandfather fought in the Second World War but, “like most blacks who served in the army, he got virtually nothing, except that his name got engraved on the walls of Elim Hospital”.
“My father died after working at Elim Hospital for almost 30 years, earning a paltry R300 a month at the time of his death.”
Bila went to Lemana High School, one of the reputable public schools in Elim, he says, but he had to walk 14km to get there.
He was 21 when his first poem was published. At the time, Bila was a student at Tivumbeni College of Education, where he earned the reputation of being a public poet. His involvement at the time with nongovernmental organisations such as the Akanani Rural Development Association sharpened his political views.
“It motivated me to want to join Umkhonto weSizwe in 1989. I took my passport, but when my father died, I couldn’t proceed with my plans. I guess a certain anger that is in my poetry is that of a guerrilla who fires with poetry rather than with an AK47.”
His first collection of poems, No Free Sleeping, with Donald Parenzee and Alan Finlay, was published in 1998 by Botsotso. He was impressed with the way in which Botsotso got him involved in the production, and this inspired him to start up his own poetry publishing venture, the Timbila Poetry Project, which has published collections by poets such as Goodenough Mashego, Makhosazana Xaba and Mbongeni Khumalo.
Bila has also published two of his own titles — In the Name of Amandla and Magicstan Fires — as well as an annual poetry journal, Timbila. He has also released a CD of his poetry, Dahl Street, Pietersburg.
Bila emphasises the value of the spoken word, and of the benefits of being able to listen to poetry. “If a poet can project their poetry well through their voice on CD and on stage, then they can easily communicate the feeling of the poem to a large number of people who wouldn’t necessarily have access to the book, given that poetry books are not widely distributed in shops.
Bila, whose fourth poetry collection, Handsome Jita, was recently published by University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, was born in 1972 at Shirley Village in the Elim area of Limpopo, into a family of eight children.
He says his parents instilled in him an appreciation of music and narrative.
“My father was a gifted singer and composer,” says Bila. “He even used to play the timbila (a finger harp that is associated with the Vatsonga, Vacopi and Machangani of Mozambique, where the Bilas originally come from).
“My mother didn’t attend any formal schooling, but she’s indisputably a living historian with an astute and impeccable memory of family and social history. My mother tells intelligent and humorous tales to her grandchildren with great passion. It is from her that I inherited the narrative command evident in my poetry.”
But he is deeply aware of the conditions of poverty and injustice into which he was born. His great-grandfather fought in the Second World War but, “like most blacks who served in the army, he got virtually nothing, except that his name got engraved on the walls of Elim Hospital”.
“My father died after working at Elim Hospital for almost 30 years, earning a paltry R300 a month at the time of his death.”
Bila went to Lemana High School, one of the reputable public schools in Elim, he says, but he had to walk 14km to get there.
He was 21 when his first poem was published. At the time, Bila was a student at Tivumbeni College of Education, where he earned the reputation of being a public poet. His involvement at the time with nongovernmental organisations such as the Akanani Rural Development Association sharpened his political views.
“It motivated me to want to join Umkhonto weSizwe in 1989. I took my passport, but when my father died, I couldn’t proceed with my plans. I guess a certain anger that is in my poetry is that of a guerrilla who fires with poetry rather than with an AK47.”
His first collection of poems, No Free Sleeping, with Donald Parenzee and Alan Finlay, was published in 1998 by Botsotso. He was impressed with the way in which Botsotso got him involved in the production, and this inspired him to start up his own poetry publishing venture, the Timbila Poetry Project, which has published collections by poets such as Goodenough Mashego, Makhosazana Xaba and Mbongeni Khumalo.
Bila has also published two of his own titles — In the Name of Amandla and Magicstan Fires — as well as an annual poetry journal, Timbila. He has also released a CD of his poetry, Dahl Street, Pietersburg.
Bila emphasises the value of the spoken word, and of the benefits of being able to listen to poetry. “If a poet can project their poetry well through their voice on CD and on stage, then they can easily communicate the feeling of the poem to a large number of people who wouldn’t necessarily have access to the book, given that poetry books are not widely distributed in shops.
“But SA needs books as much as we need CDs, printed T-shirts and posters bearing poems. When we explore new technology such as the internet, we must always remember there are millions of South Africans who don’t have access to that medium.
“SA’s illiteracy levels are shocking and for that reason, we will always need books.”
But despite this emphasis on the need to reach a wide audience, Bila does not see himself as a public poet.
“SA’s illiteracy levels are shocking and for that reason, we will always need books.”
But despite this emphasis on the need to reach a wide audience, Bila does not see himself as a public poet.
“I am a poet who comments on life around and about me,” he says. “Yes, I confront the reader with stories of shame, degradation, retrenched workers, prostitutes in substandard conditions, the unemployed and beggars — these are stories few dare to tell with honesty, love and compassion. Instead they sensationalise them and further dehumanise these people.
“This sordid reality I feel nobody, especially poets, should be ignoring. Of course, there is a price one can pay heavily for raising such embarrassing questions of the government’s failure to take care of the poor.
“Where I come from, poverty hits you straight in the face and you wonder what changes (Jacob) Zuma or (Thabo) Mbeki or the African National Congress (ANC) will effect to improve the lives of the poor. All I see is politicians accumulating wealth, buying farms, sitting on several companies as directors, fixing tenders for their relatives.
“I comment on all these matters, not because it’s sexy to do so, nor because every angry young poet feels the ANC has sold out. I do so because I am a patriot. I care about finding the roots of social and political problems we are facing.
“Poetry is not a hobby for me. It’s a lifelong commitment, and I can only be true to myself when I express that which I believe in, without being a propagandist.”
Apart from disappointment over the government’s lack of service delivery, Bila is also troubled by the fact that the spectre of apartheid has not yet disappeared and that incidents of racist attacks are rife in SA’s rural areas.
“I am antiracist,” he says. “I come from a province rife with racism. White farmers chop off a farm worker’s head, throw him into a river, and say he was bitten by a crocodile. They mistake black people for dogs and baboons.”
His poetry has won him recognition overseas and he has been invited to countries such as Belgium, Sweden, Holland and Brazil. But one particular overseas trip was harrowing: last year, when arriving at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Kenya to attend the World Economic Summit, he was detained for three hours for allegedly travelling on an out-of-date passport.
“It was a nasty experience,” he says, but also points to a lack of solidarity among writers in SA.
“If poets were organised, they would have spoken out against the Kenyan government’s trampling on my rights. But a writer could die in prison without other writers saying a word.”
Bila is encouraged that Keorapetse “Willie” Kgositsile is now SA’s poet laureate and hopes there will now be some dynamism in the country’s literary development.
He also says poetry would be better known if schools were studying local poets.
“Most schools exclude poetry. What is commonplace in the school and varsity arena are proponents of British and American modernism such as TS Eliot.
“With the exception of black consciousness-inspired poetry of the ’70s, those who teach poetry
pretend there’s a desert between 1980 and now.”
Bila, however, takes a critical view of work being produced by younger South African poets.
“They slam, and in their slam jam there’s little poetry. They mimic some of the worst US thugs and choose to ignore rich and unusual voices. To generalise is not fair, but those who appear to have become celebrities, whether (that status is) self-constructed or acquired, are worshipped by the youth because their faces are visible on TV and from time to time they are invited to perform at government and corporate functions.
“Some poets are happy to be commissioned to write about brands and labels; I’m not such a clown. They demand to perform at government functions, and they are paid good money. You’ll hear so and so was in Cuba, attending a writers’ conference. How they get there is through connections.”
But thankfully for South African poetry, Bila is no performing puppet and nobody’s clown.
First published in The Weekender 12 January, 2008
“This sordid reality I feel nobody, especially poets, should be ignoring. Of course, there is a price one can pay heavily for raising such embarrassing questions of the government’s failure to take care of the poor.
“Where I come from, poverty hits you straight in the face and you wonder what changes (Jacob) Zuma or (Thabo) Mbeki or the African National Congress (ANC) will effect to improve the lives of the poor. All I see is politicians accumulating wealth, buying farms, sitting on several companies as directors, fixing tenders for their relatives.
“I comment on all these matters, not because it’s sexy to do so, nor because every angry young poet feels the ANC has sold out. I do so because I am a patriot. I care about finding the roots of social and political problems we are facing.
“Poetry is not a hobby for me. It’s a lifelong commitment, and I can only be true to myself when I express that which I believe in, without being a propagandist.”
Apart from disappointment over the government’s lack of service delivery, Bila is also troubled by the fact that the spectre of apartheid has not yet disappeared and that incidents of racist attacks are rife in SA’s rural areas.
“I am antiracist,” he says. “I come from a province rife with racism. White farmers chop off a farm worker’s head, throw him into a river, and say he was bitten by a crocodile. They mistake black people for dogs and baboons.”
His poetry has won him recognition overseas and he has been invited to countries such as Belgium, Sweden, Holland and Brazil. But one particular overseas trip was harrowing: last year, when arriving at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Kenya to attend the World Economic Summit, he was detained for three hours for allegedly travelling on an out-of-date passport.
“It was a nasty experience,” he says, but also points to a lack of solidarity among writers in SA.
“If poets were organised, they would have spoken out against the Kenyan government’s trampling on my rights. But a writer could die in prison without other writers saying a word.”
Bila is encouraged that Keorapetse “Willie” Kgositsile is now SA’s poet laureate and hopes there will now be some dynamism in the country’s literary development.
He also says poetry would be better known if schools were studying local poets.
“Most schools exclude poetry. What is commonplace in the school and varsity arena are proponents of British and American modernism such as TS Eliot.
“With the exception of black consciousness-inspired poetry of the ’70s, those who teach poetry
pretend there’s a desert between 1980 and now.”
Bila, however, takes a critical view of work being produced by younger South African poets.
“They slam, and in their slam jam there’s little poetry. They mimic some of the worst US thugs and choose to ignore rich and unusual voices. To generalise is not fair, but those who appear to have become celebrities, whether (that status is) self-constructed or acquired, are worshipped by the youth because their faces are visible on TV and from time to time they are invited to perform at government and corporate functions.
“Some poets are happy to be commissioned to write about brands and labels; I’m not such a clown. They demand to perform at government functions, and they are paid good money. You’ll hear so and so was in Cuba, attending a writers’ conference. How they get there is through connections.”
But thankfully for South African poetry, Bila is no performing puppet and nobody’s clown.
First published in The Weekender 12 January, 2008
Friday, 29 August 2008
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Aryan Kaganof's Velvet - Helge Janssen
It is utterly impossible to view this short film and not be affected.
Art/film does not come more cutting edge than this.
But it is absolutely impossible to take Kaganof at face value. To do so is to get entangled in a web of personal likes and dislikes, revealing ones own psychological imperfections, and this serves no purpose whatsoever.
Never more so as in this 11 minute film.
The challenge then, if one feels up to it, is to empty one’s head of all psychological baggage, step into a clear space of NOW, and view what we are being shown in a state of heightened and relaxed alertness. (Tolle)
On an evolutionary scale I’d say that is a pretty high order.
Having said that, and even so, the emotion and the intellect are prodded to a point where they run amok, and the situation becomes an exercise in crisis management. Perhaps I am a ‘poetic epileptic’ for if I were an epileptic, these words and images would have had the same effect as a strobe.
And the words, the words, the words, hammering, hammering.....‘dirty girl’....not least of them by Gary Cummiskey.....drilling...the cut-up flashes of phrases coming furiously......all the while ‘emptying one out’, pausing just long enough to allow the viewer a foothold, then shooting off again, stripping stripping, stripping......becoming as naked as.....
....the visuals of Taylor Rain large, unabashed.....
....but Kaganof is not about to use the word ‘physical’ (introductory information) lightly, and herein lies the very reason why this film is not pornographic: a very pretty woman is exploring her lower orifices without apology, without taint, without trying to stimulate the viewer, she herself is not ‘self pleasuring’, she is matter-of-fact, controlled: she becomes at once her own 'doctor', a researcher and a pioneer....
As such Rain/Kaganof/Cummiskey together stab right into the heart of the matter: where’s the taboo?
This review originally appeared on KZNSA Gallery.
Art/film does not come more cutting edge than this.
But it is absolutely impossible to take Kaganof at face value. To do so is to get entangled in a web of personal likes and dislikes, revealing ones own psychological imperfections, and this serves no purpose whatsoever.
Never more so as in this 11 minute film.
The challenge then, if one feels up to it, is to empty one’s head of all psychological baggage, step into a clear space of NOW, and view what we are being shown in a state of heightened and relaxed alertness. (Tolle)
On an evolutionary scale I’d say that is a pretty high order.
Having said that, and even so, the emotion and the intellect are prodded to a point where they run amok, and the situation becomes an exercise in crisis management. Perhaps I am a ‘poetic epileptic’ for if I were an epileptic, these words and images would have had the same effect as a strobe.
And the words, the words, the words, hammering, hammering.....‘dirty girl’....not least of them by Gary Cummiskey.....drilling...the cut-up flashes of phrases coming furiously......all the while ‘emptying one out’, pausing just long enough to allow the viewer a foothold, then shooting off again, stripping stripping, stripping......becoming as naked as.....
....the visuals of Taylor Rain large, unabashed.....
....but Kaganof is not about to use the word ‘physical’ (introductory information) lightly, and herein lies the very reason why this film is not pornographic: a very pretty woman is exploring her lower orifices without apology, without taint, without trying to stimulate the viewer, she herself is not ‘self pleasuring’, she is matter-of-fact, controlled: she becomes at once her own 'doctor', a researcher and a pioneer....
As such Rain/Kaganof/Cummiskey together stab right into the heart of the matter: where’s the taboo?
This review originally appeared on KZNSA Gallery.
Friday, 08 August 2008
The distribution dilemma: how can small publishers sell books and reach their audience?
Probably one of the most difficult, and yet crucial, aspects of the publication process for all publishers – but particularly small publishers – is distribution. It is also worth considering what is precisely meant by distribution – does it mean simply ensuring the publication is adequately represented in bookstores, or does it mean ensuring the publication reaches its intended audience?
When distributing to bookstores, some small publishers may choose to deal directly with the bookstores rather than using a distribution agent. This approach may well be common in the case of a new publisher. However, certain bookstores – particularly the larger retail chains – may be reluctant to deal directly with small publishers. Purchasing managers are often extremely busy and, perhaps with reason, may be sceptical about dealing with a small publisher who may not – and probably does not – have a formal business infrastructure in place. To put it plainly, they may not wish to deal with what they perceive as being an amateur.
This leads to the issue of administration. Due to the proliferation of fraud, large chain bookstores have become extremely fastidious about controlling their creditors’ departments. Some are no longer willing to process payment purely on receipt of an invoice – in some cases, delivery notes and monthly statements may be required before they are prepared to do so. For a small publisher, this effectively means running the publishing operation as if it were a fulltime business, even though it may be little more than a ‘hobby’.
If a small publisher does have the time, resources and energy to sell directly to bookstores countywide, well and good, but if they haven’t – and it is unlikely they would – the best option is to get a distribution agent. While there are quite a few distribution agents in South Africa, they are not always cheap, and commission fees can range from 12% - 30% of the net selling price of the book (see below), depending on what the agent is prepared to do. For example, the agent may undertake selling, delivery, invoicing and collections, or only some of these functions.
But the overall costs of selling to a bookstore, with or without an agent, is particularly important because it carries equal weight in affecting both the publisher’s profits as well as the willingness of a customer to pay the gross selling price of the book.
For example, you publish a book that costs R20 to produce. As a publisher, you obviously want to make a profit, so you may add on another R20, selling it to the bookstore at R40 (this is without taking authors’ royalties or VAT into consideration).
But to ensure they too make a profit, the bookstore may well want a 40% discount on that price, which would reduce your profit – at a 50 % discount – to zero, and the bookstore will only pay you R20.
You should therefore add on a 100% mark-up, invoicing at a recommended gross selling price (the price at which the book is sold to the public) of R80. The bookstore can then deduct its 50% discount from the R80, and you will be paid R40, which is your net selling price. It is on this amount that a distribution agent will take their commission.
It is most important not to simply add on 50%, because a 50% mark-up will make the price of the book R60. Thus, when the bookstore deducts its 50% discount, you will be paid R30, and not the R40 you require.
It is also interesting to note that, unlike other industries, in the book trade it is the publisher who sets the gross selling price to the public, not the bookstore.
But now comes the burning question – will a customer pay R80 for the book? If customers are willing to, excellent; but if they are not, then it is likely the book will remain on the shelves for a year or so, only to be sold off at about R30 at the next book sale – at a loss to the bookstore. As a publisher, you are then faced with the issue of whether the bookstore will be willing buy more books from you.
This is a scenario that an experienced bookseller would probably take into consideration before buying the book, so immediately, as a publisher, you could be under pressure not to set the gross selling price too high; after all, you don’t want the reputation of a publisher of books that don’t sell. Remember that bookstores are not necessarily ‘lovers of literature’, they are retailers in business to make a profit.
So if you are pressured to reduce the gross selling price – from which as much as a 50% discount may be deducted – your intended profit is also likely to be reduced.
The other distribution option lies in selling directly to the intended audience, usually by mail order. Many literary journals do this by establishing distribution mailing lists based on upfront subscription. By doing this, you can take the costs of distribution and bookstores’ discounts out of the equation, sell the book at a fair profit, and still make it cheaper for the customer than what they would pay in a bookstore.
But mailing lists take time to build and their success depends on a number of factors, such as the regularity of publication. Also it takes time for a new publisher to build credibility and people may be hesitant to subscribe to a new publication from a relatively unknown publisher.
Consumers generally like the reassurance of being able to see products prior to purchase. And the more exposure; the better. I suggest that small publishers, especially new small publishers, regard neither distribution channel – whether through bookstores or directly by mail order – as exclusive routes to reaching an audience. It may be a good idea to try to obtain half distribution through bookstores and half through mail order.
Originally published as Dye Hard Press newsletter 1
When distributing to bookstores, some small publishers may choose to deal directly with the bookstores rather than using a distribution agent. This approach may well be common in the case of a new publisher. However, certain bookstores – particularly the larger retail chains – may be reluctant to deal directly with small publishers. Purchasing managers are often extremely busy and, perhaps with reason, may be sceptical about dealing with a small publisher who may not – and probably does not – have a formal business infrastructure in place. To put it plainly, they may not wish to deal with what they perceive as being an amateur.
This leads to the issue of administration. Due to the proliferation of fraud, large chain bookstores have become extremely fastidious about controlling their creditors’ departments. Some are no longer willing to process payment purely on receipt of an invoice – in some cases, delivery notes and monthly statements may be required before they are prepared to do so. For a small publisher, this effectively means running the publishing operation as if it were a fulltime business, even though it may be little more than a ‘hobby’.
If a small publisher does have the time, resources and energy to sell directly to bookstores countywide, well and good, but if they haven’t – and it is unlikely they would – the best option is to get a distribution agent. While there are quite a few distribution agents in South Africa, they are not always cheap, and commission fees can range from 12% - 30% of the net selling price of the book (see below), depending on what the agent is prepared to do. For example, the agent may undertake selling, delivery, invoicing and collections, or only some of these functions.
But the overall costs of selling to a bookstore, with or without an agent, is particularly important because it carries equal weight in affecting both the publisher’s profits as well as the willingness of a customer to pay the gross selling price of the book.
For example, you publish a book that costs R20 to produce. As a publisher, you obviously want to make a profit, so you may add on another R20, selling it to the bookstore at R40 (this is without taking authors’ royalties or VAT into consideration).
But to ensure they too make a profit, the bookstore may well want a 40% discount on that price, which would reduce your profit – at a 50 % discount – to zero, and the bookstore will only pay you R20.
You should therefore add on a 100% mark-up, invoicing at a recommended gross selling price (the price at which the book is sold to the public) of R80. The bookstore can then deduct its 50% discount from the R80, and you will be paid R40, which is your net selling price. It is on this amount that a distribution agent will take their commission.
It is most important not to simply add on 50%, because a 50% mark-up will make the price of the book R60. Thus, when the bookstore deducts its 50% discount, you will be paid R30, and not the R40 you require.
It is also interesting to note that, unlike other industries, in the book trade it is the publisher who sets the gross selling price to the public, not the bookstore.
But now comes the burning question – will a customer pay R80 for the book? If customers are willing to, excellent; but if they are not, then it is likely the book will remain on the shelves for a year or so, only to be sold off at about R30 at the next book sale – at a loss to the bookstore. As a publisher, you are then faced with the issue of whether the bookstore will be willing buy more books from you.
This is a scenario that an experienced bookseller would probably take into consideration before buying the book, so immediately, as a publisher, you could be under pressure not to set the gross selling price too high; after all, you don’t want the reputation of a publisher of books that don’t sell. Remember that bookstores are not necessarily ‘lovers of literature’, they are retailers in business to make a profit.
So if you are pressured to reduce the gross selling price – from which as much as a 50% discount may be deducted – your intended profit is also likely to be reduced.
The other distribution option lies in selling directly to the intended audience, usually by mail order. Many literary journals do this by establishing distribution mailing lists based on upfront subscription. By doing this, you can take the costs of distribution and bookstores’ discounts out of the equation, sell the book at a fair profit, and still make it cheaper for the customer than what they would pay in a bookstore.
But mailing lists take time to build and their success depends on a number of factors, such as the regularity of publication. Also it takes time for a new publisher to build credibility and people may be hesitant to subscribe to a new publication from a relatively unknown publisher.
Consumers generally like the reassurance of being able to see products prior to purchase. And the more exposure; the better. I suggest that small publishers, especially new small publishers, regard neither distribution channel – whether through bookstores or directly by mail order – as exclusive routes to reaching an audience. It may be a good idea to try to obtain half distribution through bookstores and half through mail order.
Originally published as Dye Hard Press newsletter 1
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