One may presume that South African publishers of children’s books travel to Bologna to acquire international titles for the local market. Increasingly, they are also keen to find export markets and sell rights to their homegrown works. In an import-heavy market where margins are tiny, there is an enduring commitment to publishing local voices, and to getting innovative local books into the hands of the almost 19 million children in South Africa (via libraries, schools, and bookshops), an astonishing majority of whom don’t own a single book themselves. It’s not always an easy thing, hearing the local voice above the proliferation of the international competition, but when you do, it can really pay dividends.
Michelle Cooper, children’s publisher at NB Publishers’ imprints Tafelberg and Human & Rousseau, is focused on local writers and illustrators and endeavors to publish in all 11 South African national languages when possible. “We want to find a balance between content that is uniquely South African yet universally appealing in theme, the artistry of the writing, and the aesthetics of design and production,” she says. “We have published classics in Afrikaans and English that many a South African child remembers, but we have also in the years since our first democratic elections published picture books and young adult novels in all 11 of our official languages.”
Of course, that may not have been possible without the success of the imported list. “It is important for us to expose our readers to the best international writing,” Cooper notes. “We have translated some worthwhile works from the international arena into Afrikaans over the years: from Spot, Dr. Seuss, The Gruffalo, and Pippi Longstocking to Harry Potter and most recently Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor and Wundersmith.”
Andrea Nattrass, publisher at Pan Macmillan South Africa, says that “in order to succeed locally, the children’s publishing effort needs support from all stakeholders, including government, the educational sector, as well as publishers and retailers.” She praises organizations such as Book Dash and Nal’ibali and other, smaller independent publishers who are doing groundbreaking work in the field of children’s literature and literacy in South Africa. Like other big-name local publishers, Nattrass believes it is “important to publish local children’s books, as there is a relative lack of locally relevant titles compared to the volume of books emanating from overseas.” She adds, “Pan Macmillan publishes picture book translations, such as The Gruffalo, which we have released in Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, and Setswana, as well as other titles, such as the April release Yes Yanga! From 3 Tins to Cricket Champion by Refiloe Moahloli, which is available in English and Xhosa.”
Local authors echo these sentiments. Novelist and children’s writer Maya Fowler, who writes in both English and Afrikaans, and whose YA novel Dead Meat has just been acquired by Inanna Publications in North America, says, “One of the most rewarding projects I’ve worked on in South African children’s fiction is Book Dash, for which I wrote a book called Tortoise Finds His Home. It was awarded the UNICEF-sponsored prize for Best Author in Early Childhood Literature in 2015. Book Dash is a nonprofit organization with the goal of supplying children who would otherwise have no access to books with entertaining, high-quality books in their mother tongue.”
Helen Brain, the author of more than 50 children’s books, whose YA trilogy Elevation was acquired in North America last year by Catalyst Press, is clear on why she writes for children: “I specialize in writing page-turners, to help reluctant readers learn to love books.”
Another local YA author who has had a lot of success internationally is Sally Partridge, who says, “In South Africa there are incredible opportunities and initiatives for writers, not only to be published but to give back. It is a vibrant and electric environment full of passionate, energetic people who are driven by their passion for South African youth literature and local readers. Personally, the feeling of being published is nothing compared to the joy of meeting and engaging with readers and helping young writers find their own voices.”
And a lot of those voices will be shouting above the crowds at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Stop, listen, and you might just hear something you like!
