Having secured, through a buy-out, a future for the company in August last year, we are now the only major South African publishing house that is independent and owner-managed. But thanks to the pandemic, we are facing a potentially ruinous few months with no income at all. Even though we have slowly started trading again we only get paid for these sales at least two months after they have happened.

We need your support to keep the firm alive, to pay fair salaries, to keep publishing and to continue to pay our printers and suppliers.

This year we plan to publish another 50 titles that will disturb, provoke, stimulate and entertain. Our children’s books come in all colours and languages. Our natural history titles are a source of reference and inspiration for nature lovers. Our non-fiction titles investigate, uncover and frequently change the way we see the past and imagine the future. Our fiction tells the truth about South Africa.

The Jacana Literary Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, runs literary competitions: 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 were the original publishers of The Caine Prize for African Writing.