The BEAT Editor’s novel part of anniversary print run

A novel by The BEAT editor Johnny Masilela is among 100 books to go into a special print run as part of the 25th anniversary of Cape Town publisher Kwela Books.

The Kwela Books imprint is part of the broader NB Publishers, which handles work ranging from fiction to non-fiction, across the 11 official languages.

Kwela Books said in a statement the publisher is celebrating a quarter century of publishing books “from Africa for Africa”.

The campaign runs from March to November.

The special print run means Masilela’s novel, “We Shall Not Weep”, should go into its fifth edition, after a successful four print runs after the book was prescribed as a set work for Grades
10 and 11 in previous editions.

The novel is also on the list at the University of Vienna’s faculty of African studies.

NB Publishers publicist, Helené Prinsloo, said “We Shall Not Weep” was billed to feature as one of the Kwela Books novels “along with other accomplished authors” in November, meaning the
latter books would be exposed to the pre-Christmas gifts market.

Kwela Books said in a statement the anniversary programme will be rolled out on a monthly basis, in collaboration with local booksellers, with the titles grouped according to author, genre or
theme.

“The Kwela Library, promoting 100 titles and 70 authors, is an eclectic list of established and new voices,” the statement added.

— The BEAT