About Jacana Media
Since 2002 we have published at the cutting edge of critical, adventurous and independent South African literature.
Having secured, through a buy-out, a future for the company in August 2019, we are now the only major South African publishing house that is independent and owner-managed.
We are a ground-breaking and fiercely independent publisher, producing books in the fields of the arts, natural history, lifestyle, fiction, South African history, current affairs, memoir and biography, children’s books and public health. We publish work from some of the most imaginative, award-winning and clear-thinking minds of our time. Our books respond to the challenges of the moment and certainly inform and frequently change the national conversation.
Jacana Media won the Bologna Book Fair award for Best African Children’s Publisher in 2018. We have made it a proud tradition to publish in all 11 official South African languages.
The Jacana Literary Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, runs literary awards; the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award for best poetry in all languages, the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award and the Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology, a collection of exceptional works which explore, interrogate and celebrate the topics of gender, sexuality and human rights.
We are the original publishers of The Caine Prize for African Writing.
Through our publishing and through the Jacana Literary Foundation, we give voice to the unusual, the brilliant, the queer and the brave. It’s our future after all.
Featured Titles

Submission Guidelines
We are looking forward to reading your manuscripts.
Please click below to view our submission guidelines and submit your manuscript.

JACANA LITERARY FOUNDATION
The Jacana Literary Foundation (JLF) is a not-for-profit organisation which seeks to promote and foster excellent writing from South and southern Africa through a number of initiatives.
Join us for the launch of Spear: Mandela and the Revolutionaries by Paul S. Landau.
Paul will be in conversation with Professor Hlonipha Mokoena.
RSVP Essential. Use SPEAR LOVE BOOKS launch in the subject line. rsvp@jacana.co.za
Join us for the launch of Spear: Mandela and the Revolutionaries by Paul S. Landau.
Paul will be in conversation with Professor Hlonipha Mokoena.
RSVP Essential. Use SPEAR LOVE BOOKS launch in the subject line. rsvp@jacana.co.za
Weekend Special: Bringing back our forgotten giants!
Quote coupon code MARTIN50 to qualify for your 50% Weekend Special discount. The offer is valid until midnight, Monday, 16 April.
Click here to purchase from the titles below by @martinplaut : https://t.co/dZNnuFjxXW
New Book Alert: Faizel is back with a new adventure for 5 to 9 year olds!
A Gold Star for Faizel by Rafiek Mammon, illustrated by Joan Rankin
Available in English, Afrikaans, isiZulu and isiXhosa.
Click here to purchase: https://t.co/NuyIJ2sIdG
Jacana children’s picture books sweep the boards!
Click here to purchase one of our award-winning children's books: https://t.co/ZSRZN8ax09