One of my favourite authors has a look of cautious terror on his face while walking slowly backwards on the beach. This odd behaviour is not because I have criticised one of his characters or the plot of his latest book; Colin Cotterill is demonstrating what he did after coming across a tiger feasting on its kill on a jungle path when he was working in Burma some years ago. If the jungle cat had not found a meal already, the world might never have seen this writer’s growing series of books set in 1970s Laos and featuring the exploits of Dr Siri Paiboun, the septuagenarian chief (and only) coroner of the Peoples Democratic Republic of Laos, and who also hosts the spirit of a thousand-year old shaman.
This tiger-retreat demonstration over, the four Cotterill dogs lead us back to the small house where Colin’s wife Jess is getting squid ready to be grilled, which we will have before getting substantially drunk on Singha beer. It’s early evening on the Gulf of Siam, I am on holiday and Colin has finished the first book of his new series, so the drinking is guilt-free, plus there is always the excuse of this part of Thailand being very hot and humid in November.
Allow me some explanation as to how it came about that I found myself in the company of a famous author while backpacking around Thailand. Colin Cotterill must have one of the best and most unusual author web sites on the Web. This is due, in large part, to all the text on his site being written by hand and all the illustrations being drawn by the author himself. Another highly unusual element to his web site is that he actually gives his e-mail address (something he might regret after this). I was going to be passing through the area where the Cotterills live and decided to send him an e-mail and offer to buy him a drink. Being a short-story writer has made me near-impervious to rejection and I was not holding out much hope that I would actually get to do so, but to my surprise, he agreed. I think my case was helped by promising not to: a) act like a gushing fan; b) ask him to read anything; c) ask for any advice about getting published.
As it turns out, I was going to pass close by their post box. The Cotterills live very close to the middle of nowhere and if Colin had not offered to pick me up from their tiny local train station, I would never have found them.
On the way to their house from the train station we stopped to drop off a whiteboard at an illicit school in an abandoned fish factory that the Cotterills have started to help teach the children of the growing community of Burmese immigrants in the area. For some bizarre reason, the Thai government refuses to educate these children as a matter of national security.
Since early 2008, Colin and Jess Cotterill have lived next to the beach at Pak Nam Lang Suan, a small fishing community south of the provincial capital of Chumphon in the upper southern gulf of Thailand. They met while they were both teaching at a university in northern Thailand and the rest is happy history. Their house is modern, compact and cheerful, the result of Jess overseeing the build literally from the foundations up (it’s meant to be their guesthouse until they build a bigger place when the movie rights to the Dr Siri books are sold for a tidy sum – Colin says this is unlikely, however, since the books don’t have a lot of “…sex, drugs, prostitution and good looking western protagonists”). Jess also makes excellent carrot juice to soothe a Singha hangover and has taken in an assortment of stray dogs: Gogo, Little Beer, Psy(cho) and Sticky – so named because he resembled a ball of sticky rice as a pup. Colin is an avid gardener and their garden would be his pride and joy if not for the monsoon that regularly floods their property with sea water. He says that sometimes his biggest challenge in the garden is finding it.
Close to the house is a small studio where Colin pursues his passion for cartooning. When writing his books, he does so in a cottage owned by a friend a few kilometres away (although he heads home for lunch). According to him, the writing gets easier with every book, but since he is writing a series, keeping track of each character’s history and how they relate to each other has become more challenging.
(You may get the impression that in my opinion, Colin and Jess are really nice people, and this is true. I did try and discover mouldering skeletons or a hidden arms cache during my visit, but to no avail.)
Colin says he has only been able to write full time the last few years, despite having a very successful series now numbering seven books released through a number of publishers across the globe, and having received a Crime Writers Association Dagger in the Library award; a sobering reminder that writing – even successful writing – and huge financial rewards don’t automatically go together.
When asked how he starts a new book, Colin replied that he always starts with the title and then builds the story around it. This caused him a substantial amount of distress with his fourth Dr Siri book, Anarchy and Old Dogs which was initially titled The Devil’s Vagina (read the book and it will become clear why) – a title approved by his publisher, but later vetoed in no uncertain terms by the same publisher’s marketing department.
Originally from the UK, he is tall, lanky and tanned, with an easy smile, and it’s obvious that decades spent in Southeast Asia have suited him. A lot of cycling keeps him fit. Even though the sea is a stone’s throe away from their house, he avoids swimming in it after an unfortunate encounter with a jellyfish that landed him in the hospital.
In his short story/graphic collection Growing Old Disgracefully he relates how, shortly after moving to Lang Suan and while being roasted by the summer heat, he asked their neighbour – a 103 year-old lady named Sukhon – if it was safe to venture into the sea. She replied that in all her considerable time on earth she had never been harmed by anything in the sea. After the jellyfish incident, it transpired that she had omitted to mention that the reason for this is that she has never actually ventured into the water.
Andrew Salomon is an archaeologist and writer living in Cape Town. He was one of the PEN/Studzinski Literary Award winners in 2009 and his work has appeared in A Thousand Faces, Something Wicked and New Writing from Africa 2009. His short story “A Visit To Dr Mamba” is currently being made into a short film.
Alert! The London Book Fair may be several months away, but a veritable army of South African writers have already booked their tickets. In several cases, of course, we’re talking bus tickets, because many an SA scribe lives or works in the UK, and won’t have much to do to get to Earl’s Court, where the Fair takes place. But literally dozens of others will be packing for the long-haul flight from JNB to LHR come the tail end of April 2010.
BOOK SA understands that the following authors have given commitments (ranging from tentative to firm) to be part of the LBF’s South Africa Market Focus programme:
What a lineup – it’s going to be one heck of a party! (Plus, several other authors who’ve been invited are still deciding whether they can make the trip.) BOOK SA will be there, of course – and we can’t wait to bring all the action to our readers online.
For Londoners who want to get to know these authors better, a sampling of their works:
Alert!The Book Lounge has released its list of 2009’s must-have reads – a terrific, considered collection of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and cookbooks that features many works of SA Lit (all shown above).
There Was This Goat: Investigating the Truth Commission Testimony of Notrose Nobomvu Konile by Antjie Krog, Nosisi Mpolweni, Kopano Ratele Book homepage EAN: 9781869141660 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
World Nomads and Rough Guides are offering one lucky aspiring travel writer the chance to experience Japan while working on an update to The Rough Guide to Japan, all expenses paid. Applications close at midnight on 21 December 2009.
Kick start your travel writing career by going on assignment to Tokyo, Japan. After touching base with your travel writing mentor, Simon Richmond, you will hit the road for 7 days reviewing and writing for ‘The Rough Guide to Japan’ travel guide and staying with Hotels.com. Then you will get a chance to relax and enjoy a 4 day “Flavours of Tokyo” independent tour with Intrepid Travel offering a foody-focused insight into the Japanese culture.
It’s always great to listen to poets reading their work. This is particularly so when the poets are Finuala Dowling, Helen Moffett and Sindiwe Magona, all of whom are well known in writing circles. It should be a real treat. Colleen Higgs (of Modjaji Books) will make the introductions, and snacks and drinks will be provided.
The really exciting part though is that this will hopefully grow into an ongoing series that will be based at the Gardens branch. The dream is to have poetry and creative writing seminars, discussion groups, launches and anthing else that feels right.
Don’t miss it!
Event Details
Date: Thursday, 19 November 2009
Time: 5:30 PM for 6:00 PM
Venue: Wordsworth Books – Wordsworth Books, Garden Centre Mill Street Cape Town | Map
Here’s an entertaining gloss of the book from traveler Antonia Malchik:
More than once I have found myself in a foreign place with the wrong book. I’ll have brought History of the Arab Peoples to Russia, or an Emma Lathen mystery novel to Britain. Or Proust to a beach holiday on Grand Cayman (that was a huge mistake). Wherever it is, I get there and realize that the only thing I want to be reading is something that echoes the place and people I’m seeing around me.
So I was excited to be sent the Whereabouts Press Traveler’s Literary Companion to South Africa. Not that I’m going to South Africa anytime soon, but it served as an introduction to a series of books that focus on giving travelers a deeper sense of a place through its best writing, both past and present.
Tourism is a major source of income for many countries – but the money comes at a price. Every year millions of tourists pollute the planet while trying to see distant places – from the planes they use to get to their destinations to the copious amounts of water they consume, the litter they leave laying around and the eco-sensitive areas they trample.
Co-authored by Jeremy Smith and Richard Hammond, Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World, is your guide to eco-friendly travel, teaching tourists how to keep green while seeing the world. Paul Ash from talked to Jeremy about the book:
Alert! Open the Xmas floodgates! Today, Exclusive Books announces its selections for “The List” 2009 – “68 of the best books to give or receive this festive season”.
Zapiro’s here, as is Chris Hani and John van de Ruit; Julius Malema, Jacob Dlamini and Moeletsi Mbeki make strange bedfellows; there’s Nelson Mandela in several guises; Wilbur Smith, Zakes Mda, Deon Meyer and Dana Snyman compare notes; Koos Kombuis hangs out with Alan Knott-Craig (who’d of thought?); Marlene van der Westhuizen swops recipes with Nataniël, Emilia le Roux and Justin Bonello; two big men of Africa (for different reasons), Kingsley Holgate and John Smit, share a pint; the kiddies get theirs with the Nuwe Kinderverseboek; and Sue Williamson and Alf Kumalo visit the galleries together.
Oh, and there’s a whole bunch of non-SA Lit, too, wink-wink. Here are all “The List” 2009 books, save for three titles for which we couldn’t find covers – Dr Seuss Favourites by Dr Seuss, Great White, Eminent Grey by Chris Fallow and the New Scientist Box Set by Mick O’Hare – plus the official Exclusive Books press release at the bottom of the post. Happy holiday gift-book hunting!
Warren Buffet’s Management Secrets: Proven Tools for Personal and Business Success by David Clark, Mary Buffet EAN: 9781847376923 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
Superfrekonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D Levitt, Stephen J Dubner EAN: 9780713999907 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy and Commitment by Steve Harvey EAN: 9780061917431 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
The most riveting, langverwagte, visionary, superbly-penned, audacious, eye popping genius-infused List of books is about to hit our shelves, because the countdown has begun to the official announcement on 23 October, of the Exclusive Books bumper selection of 68 of the best books to give or get this festive season.
The List, offers the choice books of 2009 in one place. Lovingly compiled by the Exclusive Books managers, bibliophiles can look forward to an A-Z of fabulous reading from Afrikaans, biographies, collectable box sets and business books, to children’s titles, cookery, current affairs, fiction, humour, inspiration, lifestyle, nature, reference, sci-fi, and of course, books for sports lovers.
“The development of The List is a labour of love on the part of our staff and we believe that it reflects the very best books available,” says Jaco Nel, marketing manager of Exclusive Books.
“We cater for a broad spectrum of tastes with our Festive Season selection and look for special books that make memorable gifts. People often find it hard to find the right book and The List is the result of years of customers asking for help with gift books.”
“Exclusive Books is always right on top of trends in bookselling and The List reflects this insight.”
Afrikaans features real culture in a “Smullekker” cookbook from Emila le Roux and Francois Smuts, a range of “stoepstories” from Deon Meyer in Karoonag en Ander Verhale and Dana Snyman’s Op die Toneel: stories,reise,stemme, and the “skreeusnaaks” memoirs of Koos Kombuis in Die Tyd van die Kombi’s.
Larger than life heroes feature strongly in the biographies, from a poignant tribute to Chris Hani, to Barack Obama’s journey to power, to the wild adventures of intrepid explorers Kingsley Holgate and Ranulph Fiennes.
Business inspiration comes from investment guru Warren Buffet’s Management Secrets to Alan Knott-Craig’s Second is Nothing, the riveting account of his involvement in building Vodacom, to the suprising collaboration between 50 cent and Robert Greene in The 50th Law.
Current affairs cover a contentious kaleidoscope of politics and history from Dinosaurs, Diamonds and Democracy by Francis Wilson to The World according to Julius Malema by Max du Preez and Mandy Roussouw, to the megapopular Superfreakonomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner.
Cookery reflects a strong return to home cooking and African influences in books such as A Farm in my Heart: From the Yard to the Table and Pantry by Emelia le Roux and Francois Smuts to Cooked in Africa by BBC presenter Justin Bonello, with a touch of decadence added by Marlene van der Westhuizen’s gorgeous book on French cooking, Sumptuous.
Nataniel’s Gatherings: A year of Invitations offers an opulent but informal peek into get-togethers in his home.
Fiction focuses on the hits of 2009, including the Twilight series by Stepheni Meyer, Stieg Larsen’s trilogy and bestsellers, such as Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna, Wilbur Smith’s Assegai and Marian Keyes The Brightest Star in the Sky.
Inspiration focuses on the core issues of conquering fear and finding faith, hope and love.
Best seller The Shack by William P Young features as does the must-read Act like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey.
On a lighter note Zapiro returns with Don’t mess with the Presidents’ Head while John Farndon Offers the odd yet challenging read, Do you think you’re Clever?
The QI Book of the Dead by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson continues the quirky theme with a biographical dictionary full of hilarious facts and details about famous and obscure people, now dead.
Two predators, lions and sharks feature in the nature genre, with Part of the Pride by Kevin Richardson and Great white and Eminent Grey by Chris Fallows, offering new understanding of these magnificent creatures.
Science takes on creationists and looks at the wonders in the everyday world, while legendary sci-fi writer Eoin Colfer offers his sixth novel in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series with And Another Thing….
Sport scores bit hits with Captain in the Cauldron – The John Smit Story and the Big Book of Top Gear 2010.
Alert! Happy Heritage Day! A day that, as most know, has been hijacked by a marketing campaign and is now also firmly registered in many an SA consciousness as “National Braai Day”. But we aren’t going to say “Happy Braai Day”. We refuse.
That said, there are some pretty darn good braai books out there and, if you’re quick, you can pick one up for 30% off at Kalahari.net, which is having a big sale on SA books – including some pretty terrific SA Lit titles.
The sale lasts until Friday. We’ve compiled most of the SA sale books below. Get a-clickin’!
Thesen Islands: Rise with the Sun, Fish with the Tides and Rest with the Moon by Les Aupiais EAN: 9780980265132 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
Prickly Pears and Pomegranates: Local, Organic and Seasonal Food from the Plains of the Camdeboo by Marianne Palmer, Bernadette le Roux EAN: 9780980265149 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
A Touch of Rooibos: Over 100 delicious recipes from 14 of South Africa’s leading chefs by Rooibos Limited EAN: 9780620429962 Find this book with BOOK Finder!
I’ve been to Australia twice so far, but according to my father I’ve never actually seen it. He made this observation at the home of my cousin Joan, whom he and I visited just before Christmas last year, and it came on the heels of an equally aggressive comment. “Well,” he said, “David’s a better reader than he is a writer.” This from someone who hasn’t opened a book since “Dave Stockton’s Putt to Win,” in 1996. He’s never been to Australia, either. Never even come close.
“No matter,” he told me. “In order to see the country, you have to see the countryside, and you’ve only been to Sydney.”
“And Melbourne. And Brisbane,” I said. “And I have too gone into the country.”
“Like hell you have.”
“All right,” I said. “Let’s get Hugh on the phone. He’ll tell you. He’ll even send you pictures.”
Joan and her family live in Binghamton, New York. They don’t see my father and me that often, so it was pretty lousy to sit at their table, he and I bickering like an old married couple. Ashamed by the bad impression we were making, I dropped the countryside business, and as my dad moved on to other people’s shortcomings I thought back to the previous summer, and my twenty-three-hour flight from London to Sydney. I was in Australia on business, and because someone else was paying for the ticket, and it would be possible to stop in Japan on the way home, Hugh joined me. This is not to put Australia down, but he’d already gone once before. Then, too, spend that much time on a plane and you’re entitled to a whole new world when you step off at the other end—the planet Mercury, say, or, at the very least, Mexico City. For an American, though, Australia seems pretty familiar: same wide streets, same office towers. It’s Canada in a thong, or that’s the initial impression.
PEN/Studzinski runner-up Andrew Salomon filed these notes on an unusual sojourn in Thailand:
I considered selecting 