Book covers: https://www.modjajibooks.co.za/; top author - Futhi Ntshingila (picture provided); Khadija Heeger (picture provided)
A 15th anniversary is a milestone for any publisher, particularly a small independent one dedicated to publishing the work of women writers. Modjaji Books has reached that remarkable milestone under the administration of Colleen Higgs. Modjaji started off as a one-woman enterprise and has grown since its early days.
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A 15th anniversary is a milestone for any publisher, particularly a small independent one dedicated to publishing the work of women writers. Modjaji Books has reached that remarkable milestone under the administration of Colleen Higgs. Modjaji started off as a one-woman enterprise and has grown since its early days.
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Janet van Eeden asked Colleen a few questions about the exhibition that is on from 4 to 13 August at the Spin Street Gallery in Cape Town, Uncovering Modjaji Books, a celebration of the beautiful covers which have come out of Modjaji’s imprint.
Colleen, can you tell me a bit about the early days of Modjaji? Am I right in thinking it was just you who started this enterprise? How has it grown since then? Do you have more people who are part of the Modjaji operations?
Modjaji started when I was still at the Centre for the Book. I thought I would do some publishing as an extra thing, and I had two poetry collections that I planned to publish – Fourth child by Megan Hall and Life in translation by Azila Reisenberger. And then Ron Irwin sent me Tracey Farren’s Whiplash! I knew I couldn’t have a full-time day job and do justice to Whiplash. Also, my daughter was about to start primary school, and I wanted to be present for her. So, I decided to commit myself to making Modjaji Books work as my full-time occupation.
In 2007, we published only one title, Fourth child, and then three in 2008. Now, we publish between 10 and 15 titles a year. And we’ve published more than 150 titles in the past 15 years. A number of our published writers have won awards, including Megan Hall with Fourth child, our very first book, which won the Ingrid Jonker Prize in 2008. Many have been shortlisted for awards, received critical acclaim and turned the writers into well-known authors. Some of our titles have been studied at universities here and abroad. Whiplash was made into an award-winning movie, Tess. A number of other titles have been optioned for movies. And we’ve had success with a number of titles being translated and/or published in other countries. Most notably, Futhi Ntshingila’s Do not go gentle is the title for which we have sold most international rights. One of Wame Molefhe’s stories from Go tell the sun was turned into a short opera.
We haven’t really grown, but the number of people involved with Modjaji has grown, in the sense that each year we have had one or two interns and/or volunteers. This means that there are more than 20 young women who still have a soft spot for Modjaji. There is a large team of editors, cover artists, book designers and printers that we work with closely. We also worked with Helen Holyoake for a number of years for PR; Aimee-Claire Smith, who first interned here in 2017, started the Modjaji Instagram account, and still manages it for us. We have a Facebook group called Modjaji Matrons, where I sometimes ask for support, guidance or ideas.
My friend Colleen Crawford Cousins has been a supporter from the start; she’s listened to all my ups and downs, seen the struggles and the triumphs and given advice – and done work for free at times. My daughter, Kate, has also done plenty of different bits of work, such as helping with packaging books for the courier, selling books at events, proofreading, designing e-invitations, reading manuscripts and many other things.
Emily Buchanan worked with me for two years as a business partner, which was wonderful for me, having someone as interested as I was in the nitty-gritty of Modjaji. I think she decided in the end that she wanted a more peaceful life than is possible when dealing with a small independent press. She still does some editing for us; most recently, she worked on Go away birds by Michelle Edwards.
Modjaji has shareholders who have invested in the business: Colleen Crawford Cousins, Emily Buchanan, Fiona Ghosh, Bontle Senne and Fiona Snyckers. I’m grateful to them for their support.
Of course, there are also all the wonderful writers we’ve published since 2007, who are in some way or another still part of the Modjaji family, even if their rights have reverted to them.
Who came up with the idea of celebrating 15 years of beautiful covers from Modjaji?
Leanne Johansson volunteered to work with me at Modjaji this year; she wanted to learn more about publishing. In the course of our work together, I told her about this idea I had which was to create an exhibition of book covers. I’d discussed it over the years with anyone who would listen, and most recently with Carla Kreuser, one of the artists who has designed quite a number of our covers. And then Leanne volunteered to organise the exhibition and was able to source funding from an anonymous donor to make the dream come true!
Exhibiting the covers is a way of celebrating the work that goes into making a book, but from a different angle. It’s been one of my special pleasures to collaborate with artists and the writers to achieve covers that honour the writing and stand for the books, as their outward face. I never get tired of seeing the printed book with the cover on it. It’s turning a dream into something you can hold in your hand.
Book covers: https://www.modjajibooks.co.za/https://www.modjajibooks.co.za/
Can you tell me more about the opening event on 6 August? Do you hope to attract new readers? Or is it just a celebration of the good years behind Modjaji?
The opening event is a celebration pure and simple, a chance to take stock and to celebrate the good. Publishing keeps one so busy on a day-to-day basis, with many little crises and dramas for good measure. It is wonderful to have a chance to step back and to look at it all with some objectivity.
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The opening event is a celebration pure and simple, a chance to take stock and to celebrate the good. Publishing keeps one so busy on a day-to-day basis, with many little crises and dramas for good measure. It is wonderful to have a chance to step back and to look at it all with some objectivity.
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Of course we would like to attract new readers – always! We will be selling books at all three of the events we are hosting during the exhibition period.
In addition to the opening event, we are launching Khadija Heeger’s new collection of poems, Thicker than sorrow, on 9 August at 10:00 am. Khadija is an extraordinarily powerful performer, so that will be a treat and she will be there to sign copies.
On the last day of the exhibition, we are hosting a panel event, Under the Covers, where three artists – Jesse Breytenbach, Carla Kreuser and Danielle Clough – will talk about their processes in making book covers and show us some examples of how they work; and, of course, you will be able to go and look at their artworks with a new eye after the event. You can book tickets via webtickets.
Tell me about the challenges that face a publisher, especially an independent publisher, these days.
How much time do you have? Seriously, the challenges are huge; I guess the biggest challenge is money/cash flow, capacity, our precarious survival. In South Africa: our economy and the fact that the state hasn’t, up to now, made books and reading a priority.
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How much time do you have? Seriously, the challenges are huge; I guess the biggest challenge is money/cash flow, capacity, our precarious survival. In South Africa: our economy and the fact that the state hasn’t, up to now, made books and reading a priority.
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If, for example, there were a concerted effort to buy local books in numbers for all the public libraries in the country, that would make all the difference in the world to us and the writers we publish. Imagine if, as a small publisher, we knew we would sell say 500 copies of each title that is approved (I’d like to think that all of our titles would meet the approval of the library selection committee), think of how that would change how we work – we would become sustainable. Some titles that we publish sell in very small numbers, like 300 copies only. Thank goodness for digital printing and short print runs.
Another challenge is that often, once authors have achieved some measure of success and have won awards, they go on to bigger publishers who offer them advances and so on. Or they decide to self-publish. Of course, I understand that authors want to make money from their books. So, Modjaji has been a place where a number of authors have made their name, which obviously makes us proud for the authors and feel bittersweet when they move on.
In this world of Kindle and so on, do you think there is still an appetite for hard copy books?
The short answer is a definite yes. I don’t see it as either-or. Most of our titles are available as e-books. Most people I know prefer reading paper books; it is a durable technology, one that has lasted several centuries. I like reading e-books because of my eyesight; I like reading in bed, and I find that wearing reading glasses isn’t comfortable when lying on my side reading a book. But all things being equal, I prefer paper books, too. I like being able to share books easily with friends.
What is the one thing that Modjaji offers as a publisher that larger publishers don’t offer?
Having someone who is personally invested in your book project-manage the whole process of publishing from start to finish, is different. And we continue to promote and take an interest in books long after the first six months to two years of publication.
We also publish books that other publishers aren’t prepared to take on, like Whiplash. We publish debut collections of short stories. And where the voice or perspective of the manuscript is particularly strong or interesting, but needs development work, we do take the writer on if we can. This is where access to funding or the sure knowledge of significant library purchases would make a huge difference to us.
What is your dream for the future of Modjaji?
I would love to see Modjaji Books achieve sustainability and to live on beyond me, continuing to publish southern African women writers.
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I would love to see Modjaji Books achieve sustainability and to live on beyond me, continuing to publish southern African women writers.
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Find out more about the Uncovering Modjaji Books celebration here.