New volume from Eppel, Chingono to hit London Book Fair

Brian Jones of amaBooks explained that the book is being co-published with the University of New Orleans Press and the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, and distributed in the United Kingdom by the African Books Collective. The book will be available in the UK and elsewhere through the African Books Collective and copies will be available for the London Book Fair, which starts on 11 April. The book will be available in Zimbabwe soon afterwards.

The idea for Together arose during the Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo in 2007 when Julius and John read from their poetry together, and they were both enthusiastic about a joint publication, said Jones.

The book has already received some very positive reviews the Kenya writer and activist Philo Ikonya describes it as A jewel-filled collection of stories and poems and by the South African academic Dan Wylie as A distinctive and distinguished addition to a burgeoning literature of response to human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

Jones said amaBooks would be involved in other activities at the fair. Bryony Rheams novel This September Sun, which has sold well in Zimbabwe since its launch in 2009, is to be published by Parthian Books in the United Kingdom in September this year, and we will be talking to them about promoting the book there and about its distribution to other countries. We are also to co-publish a book of Zimbabwean short stories with Parthian later this year, he said.

The publisher aims to keep abreast of new developments in the publishing industry particularly in digital publishing and in ebooks. Print-on-demand is already important enabling it to make titles available across the world without the difficulty of transporting the books from Zimbabwe.

Long Time Coming: Short Writings from Zimbabwe, Chris Mlalazis Dancing with Life: Tales from the Township and Pathisa Nyathis Zimbabwes Cultural Heritage are three amaBooks titles that have sold well through print-on-demand via the African Books Collective. Ebooks are a new development for amaBooks Long Time Coming, This September Sun and Dancing with Life are already available as ebooks in the USA through www.scribd.com, and most of their titles will be available elsewhere in the world through www.into-ebooks.com in the near future.