Talk of the Town by award-winning writer Fred Khumalo comprises short stories he wrote over many years. In this vibrant collection Khumalo explores identity and belonging through tales about African foreign nationals in South Africa, xenophobia, South Africans abroad, exiled comrades during apartheid, and past and current township life. At times hilarious and at times gut-wrenching, this is a collection that will move you.

It's a story of forbidden love. A young woman named Thab’sile Ngcobo from a famous wealthy family in Durban finds herself falling in love with a township guy who lives on a hand to mouth budget. His name is Mphathi Samson Mhlongo. He crossed his path with Thabi Ngcobo during a disciplinary hearing. He worked as a cleaner in a cleaning company that was owned by Thabi. It was love at first sight for both of them. They fortunately did not waste time, they threw themselves right in the deep of their uneasy relationship. Thabi’s parents had already arranged someone else from another affluent family to marry her. The story unfolds in an unexpected way. Part 2 is about their lives as a married couple. Thabi’s life takes a turn as she is now disowned by her father. She gets to learn the hardships of township life and the struggles they go through as a casted out couple. How they raise their children and their day to day lives. Part 2 is a window that allows access to their somewhat challenged life. The story takes a turn when their illegally adopted daughter is diagnosed with a gruesome illness that nearly claims her life. Their daughter’s sickness invites temptations, as they cannot afford her medicals bills. Thabi and Mphathi’s love is again tested. Will it survive this time around?

An ancient fallen angel is discovered. All hell is about to break loose.

In the year 2233, a mysterious pulsating energy source from Antarctica leads to the discovery of a chained fallen angel deep in the icy trenches of the earth. Micah, a Commander with the Europe, Middle East & Africa Search and Rescue, is feared dead after he plummets down a shaft during this exploratory mission. Lydia refuses to believe that he’s gone and launches her own risky mission with his teammates to retrieve what might be left of the man she loves.

In secret, another dark alliance gathers with their own evil agenda. Demonic entities noticed the discovery of the fallen angel too and plan to use his powers to access an ancient, sealed scroll. Their goal is to reverse Revelation prophecies and bring about their own terrifying version of the apocalypse.

Lydia finds herself in the middle of a treacherous race and an ancient battle that spans back to Day Six of Creation.

Will she find Micah alive? And will they be able to save the world from this supernatural onslaught? Only time will tell if all will be lost in the great divide between good and evil.

Also known as "The Lost Love Of Akbar Manzil ".

Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for eclectic misfits, seeking solely to disappear into the mansion’s dark corridors. Except for Sana. Unlike the others, she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects—and to the door at its end, locked for decades.

Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time and a worn diary that whispers of a dark past: the long-forgotten story of a young woman named Meena, who died there tragically a hundred years ago. Watching Sana from the room’s shadows is a besotted, grieving djinn, an invisible spirit who has haunted the mansion since her mysterious death. Obsessed with Meena’s story, and unaware of the creature that follows her, Sana digs into the past like fingers into a wound, dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone living and dead at Akbar Manzil. Sublime, heart-wrenching, and lyrically stunning, The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a haunting, a love story, and a mystery, all twined beautifully into one young girl’s search for belonging.

A new collection of short stories by one of South Africa’s most original writers, A Little Light is a timely and sensitive evocation of places, bodies, politics, regrets and hope, all revealed in tightly controlled and beautifully lit stories.

Mohlele’s daring writing is on full display with the publication of this volume.

Drawing on the true history of ‘Farini’s Friendly Zulus’, a group of men who were taken to Britain and then to America as performing curiosities, the novel opens in 1885 in wintry New York City.

The protagonist, Mpiyezintombi, simply called Em-Pee by the English-speakers, loses more than his name in this far-off foreign country; he is seen as little more than a freak-show act – though he is not kept in a cage like the beautiful Dinka Princess, with her gold-painted papier-mâché crown and fur cape. For EmPee, it is love at first sight, but the caged woman is not free to love anyone back: she is the property of Monsieur Duval, proprietor of Duval Ethnological Expositions.

And so begins one of Zakes Mda’s most striking stories, one that depicts terrible historical injustices and indignities, while at the same time celebrating the vigour and ingenuity of the creative spirit, and the transformative power of love.

In an already-great pantheon of Mda love stories and classic gems, this may be his most powerful work yet.

The Near North is a vivid account of life in Johannesburg in times of crisis.

From the stony ridges of Langermann Kop in Kensington to the tree-lined avenues of Houghton, we follow the writer through the city's streets, meeting its ghosts and journeying through time and (often circumscribed) space, finding meaning in the everyday and incidental.

At once an echo of Ivan Vladislavić’s award-winning Portrait with Keys and an original work of intense acuity and quiet power, The Near North is both intimate and expansive, ranging from small domestic dramas to great public spectacles.

Wryly playful at times, fiercely serious at others, it is certain to move and delight all who accompany the writer through its pages.

In Eiland in die son​ begin Willemien se stryd om oorlewing – saam met ’n geheimsinnige vreemdeling en ’n jaloerse miljoenêrsvrou – toe haar vliegtuig in ’n tropiese oerwoud neerstort. Hoe kán sy haarself so totaal vergeet in die arms van ’n vreemdeling? Dít terwyl sy op trou staan met Ian, wat óók in die ongeluk was, maar nou nêrens te vinde is nie.

Andrea Smit besluit om haar pa op ’n avontuur te vergesel in Señor die seerower – min wetende dat haar pad op ’n tropiese eiland met dié van ’n aantreklike Spanjaard sal kruis; en dat sy sodoende in allerhande onmoontlike situasies sal beland . . .

In Sluiers van wierook ontspoor Ida Herbst se planne om deel te wees van ’n soektog na water in Saoedi-Arabië se grootste woestyn. Sy moet haar vriendin Ansie opspoor, en die enigste oplossing is om haarself gewilliglik in prins Ibrahim Hazik se kloue te begewe. Boonop ontketen die geheimsinnige Georg ongekende emosies in haar hart.

Die wonderwêreld van Willem Landman gaan onder andere oor Mintaka, een van drie sterre in Orion se gordel. Dis eintlik tweelingsterre, die een ʼn bloureus, die soldaat, en die ander sagter, vriendeliker. Dit speel op die twee broers in die boek: Alex, meestermanipuleerder en sy afwesige broer, Zander.

Alex het vir hom ʼn aansienlike sakeryk uit gekonkel opgebou. Hy het vir hom ʼn vesting op ʼn koppie gebou nadat hy Bella, die Griekwa-vrou aan wie se familie die grond reeds geslagte behoort, bedrieg en die munispaliteit omgekoop het. Van daar bedryf hy sy sake en daarheen laat kom hy sy “agente”. Hy is magsbehep en ʼn sekspes. Hy is ook psigoties, bossies en vermoedelik skisofrenies.

Die karakter wat die kollig steel, is die titelkarakter, Willem Landman – een van Alex se agente. Lesers het hom leer ken as die sukkelende kulkunstenaar in Die formidabele Ling Ho. Willem is ʼn formidabele bullshitter, ’n stiksienige siener wat moontlik, per ongeluk, wel oor sekere gawes beskik, effens kommin, ongeleerd maar vol planne en ʼn oog vir ʼn gaping. Onrus broei in die gemeenskap en dinge word op die spits gedryf wanneer ’n hele paar agente tegelyk by Alex se vesting byeenkom.

Ná Elmien haar verlowing verbreek, stuur haar pa haar vir ʼn wegbreek na ʼn geheimsinnige bestemming om die hartseer van die mislukte verhouding te verwerk.

Vanaf die eerste oomblik word sy betower deur die Wildekus en Sewes Streicher, ʼn man met blou oë en krullerige bruin hare wat sy onweerstaanbaar vind. Daar is 'n sterk aantrekkingskrag tussen hulle, maar daar is iets waarop sy nie haar vinger kan lê nie.

Hoekom kry sy die gevoel dat sy al voorheen hier was? Hoekom voel Sewes en sy ma vir haar so bekend? En hoe pas haar pa by alles in?

Bykans dertig jaar was die verteller veldwagter in Namibie. Hy het ’n obsessie gehad met die wilde, ongetemde Afrika waar ’n mens ongebonde kan lewe. Maar intussen het die wildernisse waarin hy geswerf het, begin verander. As safarigids was hy deel van hierdie verandering. Hy het wilde plekke help toeganklik maak vir mense. Saam met daardie mense het stropers gekom. In Plunderwoestyn word vertel oor die stryd teen stropers in Namibie en is gebaseer op Christiaan Bakkes se lewe.

With Twitter and Elon Musk grabbing the headlines lately, and with all the rage about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Chatgpt chatbot, the time for a virtual reality novel has finally arrived.

About ten years ago, then still writing as Koos Kombuis, the author started writing a short story on Twitter, tweet by tweet. It soon turned into a novel... a short novel, but a novel nonetheless! It was a challenge because tweets were limited to 140 digits in those days. It took Joe a few years to complete his story, and it attracted a lot of attention at the time.

This ‘micro-novel’ describes an imaginary future society and the role of social media where people are literally living inside virtual reality to the extent that they are unable to distinguish virtual reality from real life. The story unfolds in the now somewhat archaic terminology of 2013, at a time before Mark Zuckerberg announced his plans to create Meta!

‘Twitter Dawn’ is an evocative, humorous and thought-provoking story which fits right into the present-day debate about all things IT and AI!

June has worked hard for her family, but she is starting to feel like the dull accountant trope. She is safe and comfortable and bored. June wants more.

On the eve of the new year, when the radio DJ encourages listeners to make the most of it, June feels like he’s talking to her, and she decides to make a vision board — magazine cutouts, silver glitter and all.

Maybe 2022 is the year that June Cupido reinvents herself.

Sangomas and cops don’t mix. Usually. But this is Joburg, a metropolis that is equal parts flash and shadow, and where not everything can be easily explained.

Ian Jack, a disillusioned former police officer, teams up with Reshma Patel, a colleague from his old life, to investigate a routine housebreaking gone bad. But when they uncover links to a possible animal poaching and trafficking syndicate, things go from complicated to dangerous to downright evil.

Set against the richly textured backdrop of a livewire African city, this fast-paced thriller offers a disturbing contemporary take on justice and morality. To be read with the lights on.

Berdine se lewe in Johannesburg is vir goed verby, en die verbintenis met haar familie en vriende wat sy jare lank verwaarloos het, is aan die herstel.

Haar ouma Bertha se nalatenskap van diensbaarheid en naasteliefde staan voorop vir Berdine en haar droom om ’n kliniek op te rig om die armes gratis te bedien gaan nie om eie eer nie. Dit gebeur nie oornag nie en ten spyte van haar nuutgevonde geloof pak die twyfel en mismoedigheid haar beet. Berdine loop ook ’n pad met Tiekie en haar babadogtertjie en sy kuier weer by Bekkie. Sy leer die vernames van die dorp ken wat hul naaste met onselfsugtige liefde dien.

Dieter Daneel is steeds aan die voorpunt van omtrent elke bedrywigheid en met die naamgee-seremonie, toe die skuiling aan Bertha Human opgedra word ter waardering van haar jare lange diens aan die dorp en sy mense, word die wêreld onderstebo gekeer en Berdine weereens voor ’n keuse gestel.

When a beautiful young woman is found murdered on Cape Town’s Sea Point promenade, investigative journalist and criminal profiler Dr Clare Hart is drawn into the web of a brutal serial killer. As more bodies are discovered, Clare is forced to revisit memories of the horrific rape of her twin sister and the gang ties that bind Cape Town’s crime rings. Are her investigations into human trafficking really linked to the murders or is the killer just playing sick games with her?

Luzuko Goba, a South African studying at Oxford, navigates the worlds of the undocumented, and the people living on the margins of life in Oxford, England. His father, a former political exile, has just died, and Luzuko is weighing up his father’s life of sacrifice and the price they both paid for freedom back home.

This is a book about wayfarers, out of time, and on the wrong side of the UK’s department of immigration. They are the paperless.

Sweeping and soulful, Buntu Siwisa observes the hidden and exceptional modern lives of migrant Africans in England in this beautiful debut.

The SMS said, ‘don’t look for me’. I died right there. MaZwane, please no matter what happens, we can fight until we mutilate each other but do not leave me. Anelisa, I hope you have spoken to her seriously. We are married, we don’t leave each other. We stay for better or for worse, through thick and thin. The three of us do not part ways no matter what caused the misunderstanding. They both look at me attentively, I can’t be more serious than this.

In Die honger hart moet Julia Naude haar peetpa se ongewone voorwaarde behou om die plaas, wat sy saam met die plaasbestuurder geerf het, te beskerm. In Deel van die pakket staan Gita van Duinen op die drumpel van ’n nuwe lewe, maar meer veranderinge le voor. In Verskuilde liefde, keer dr. Edmund Wiese terug uit die buiteland. Hy moet vrede maak met die lee kol wat sy broer, Fanie, agtergelaat het. En drie weke later maak hy ’n onverwagse ontdekking wat sy prioriteite verander.

In die Oos-Kaapse veld maak ’n skrywer haar in sy verbeelding staan: Vir Decima – ’n formidabele swartrenosterkoei. Haar dogter, Tandeka, is dragtig, en die handvol renosters sien uit na die kalf se koms in die lente. Maar vir Decima is daar vrees wat met elke volmaan in haar opwel. Sy kan steeds die gebeure onthou wat haar baie seisoene vantevore wees gelaat het.

Al werkend aan Decima se verhaal, is Eben. Hy vra: Hoe skryf mens oor hierdie dier as gevoelvolle wese? Deel van die storie is die verskillende karakters wat ’n impak op die lot van die renosters het: stropers, hul kliënte, beoefenaars van tradisionele medisyne, ook die bewaarders. En tussendeur is daar Eben se brose ma wat in die land agtergebly het. Soos hy sy weg vind deur die bladsye van sy manuskrip, is dit die stem van Decima wat die suiwerste in sy gedagtes klink.

Eben Venter se boek kombineer outofiksie, fabel, ’n speurverhaal en die wetenskap, en is ’n dringende pleidooi vir die bewaring van een van die wêreld se megaherbivore. Decima is ’n elegiese werk vir baie stemme waarin die skrywer die aard van verlies in sy vele gestaltes besing en besweer.

Edited by Kerry Hammerton, this is an anthology of flash fiction and non-fiction.

Contributors:
Sally Cranswick | Stephen Symons | Werner Labuschagne | Sue Woodward | Karen Jennings | Yvonne Sliep | Siphosethu Siwaphiwe Zazela | Chantal Stewart | Sarah Buchner | Karina M. Szczurek | Máire Fisher | Kerry Hammerton | Stephen Devereux | Cynthia Kistasamy | Lerato Mahlangu | Nontobeko Mtshali | Erica Livingston | Anne Schlebusch | Bonnie Espie | Wentzel Lombard | Mary Grace McGeehan | Colleen Higgs | Gemma Allan | Megan Ross | Charisse Louw

The year is 1986. While most of Duggart’s mentally afflicted inhabitants are scattered in mental hospitals, traditional healers’ quarters and churches’ healing quarters, Dooks , like an uncomfortable number of other mentally ill people, is singing to a different tune . Dooks Digame is in a class of his own. Funny, witty, scary, wise,spooky , weird, creepy, sick, intense, psychic, shrink, dangerous: all these labels have been used to describe Dooks . He has as many labels as he has fans ... and enemies. He is quite simply a special, unique case. While many people fantasise about being rich and famous one day, and occasionally imagine what their lives would be like once they had hit the jackpot, Dooks doesn’t waste his precious time with such wishful thinking. In his dreamy world, he is already a multimillionaire. But who cares about money if it cannot buy one a sound mind?

The Msibis, the Manamelas and the Jiyas are high-flying married couples who belong to the Khula Society, a social club with investment and glitzy benefits.

The wives are smart, successful in their chosen careers and they lead lifestyles to match – jostling for pole position in the ‘Keeping up with the Khumalos’ stakes. The husbands have had their successes and failures, sometimes keeping dubious company and getting to the top of their fields by whatever means necessary.

Beneath the veneer of marital bliss, however, lie many secrets. What will happen to their relationships when a devastating event affects all their lives?

Een middag terwyl Carmi Molenaar, ’n eerstejaarstudent op Potchefstroom, diep ingedagte op haar fiets ry, kruis haar pad met dié van Herman Hattingh. Al het hierdie senior regstudent al die eienskappe van ’n droomman, laat Carmi se verantwoordelikhede min tyd of ruimte vir romanse.

Die lewe deel egter links en regs klappe uit, en Herman is elke keer dáár om te help wanneer Carmi hom nodig het. Maar sal hulle kan leer om mekaar te vertrou?

Drieklawerblaar verweef die verhale van drie karakters: Kate, 'n afgetrede verpleegster, Tinneke, gastehuiseienaar en weduwee, en haar hardkoppige buurman, Abel, 'n wildboer. Op die plaas Doringboomlaagte soek Kate soek na antwoorde: hoe het haar Ierse oumagrootjie hier, in Afrika, beland? Terselfdertyd is Abel gemoeid met sy familiegeskiedenis: watter houvas het die grond waarop Doringboomlaagte nou is op sy voorsate gehad? 'n Roman oor herkoms en grond, en hoe om vrede te maak met die verlede.