WEEPING WATERS BY KARIN BRYNARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER AWARD 2019

Credit: Europa Editions

Blake Friedmann is delighted to announce that Karin Brynard’s WEEPING WATERS has been shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association International Dagger Award 2019. The prize recognises crime novels not originally written in English but translated for UK publication. WEEPING WATERS was translated by Karin’s agent Isobel Dixon along with Maya Fowler, and is published in the UK and US by Europa Editions and in Italy by E/O.

The CWA Award winners will be announced at an award ceremony at the Grange City Hotel in London on 24 October 2019. See more information on the International Dagger shortlist here.

In WEEPING WATERS, Inspector Albertus Beeslaar is a traumatized cop who has abandoned tough city policing and a broken relationship in Johannesburg for a backwater post on the edge of the Kalahari Desert. But his dream of rural peace is soon shattered by the repeated attacks of a brutally efficient crime syndicate, as he struggles to train and connect with rookie local cops, Ghaap and Pyl, who resent his brusqueness and his old-school ways.

The original Afrikaans edition was published by Human & Rousseau as PLAASMOORD and won the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize for Fiction and the M-Net Literature Award, Film Category. Film and TV rights in the Albertus Beeslaar series are optioned to Three River Studios. Karin has completed two more novels in the series, OUR FATHERS and HOMELAND, published in Afrikaans and English in South Africa by Penguin Books. Formerly a political and investigative journalist, Karin Brynard is now one of South Africa’s most successful authors, a bestseller in her home country, with her work translated in Dutch, French, German and Italian.

Praise for Karin Brynard

‘Karin Brynard has established herself as one of a handful of great thriller writers in South Africa. The fact that she has won many literary awards attests to the depth and staying power of her work. … Brynard’s observations of people are subtle and deep; she reads the small things.’ – Jane Rosenthal, Mail & Guardian

'The queen of South African crime fiction is Karin Brynard... Her journalism background is tangible in the way she fills out her characters and storylines with relevant factual details in a subtle yet effective way.’ — Dey There, 12 South African Crime Writers to Add to Your Reading List

Praise for WEEPING WATERS

'Brooding. Riveting. Brilliant.' — Deon Meyer

‘WEEPING WATERS is brimming with authenticity. A lucent tale of farm murder and rural society in the vice of social pressures, with the translation beautifully done by Maya Fowler and Isobel Dixon.’ – William Saunderson-Meyer, Sunday Times, 2014 Best Reads

‘Karin Brynard's WEEPING WATERS is that rare crime fiction novel that transcends the genre.  The heir apparent to J.M. Coetzee's DISGRACE, Brynard's book, set in South Africa, unfurls over the reader with glorious, sensuous prose in a tremendous translation.  We see, feel, and smell the locations and are transported to another world.  The many characters are three-dimensional and spring to life with crackling dialogue that has the ring of verisimilitude. Though a gripping whodunnit, WEEPING WATERS is geologically layered with complex interpersonal relationships, the backdrop of South Africa's fraught post-Apartheid politics, and a main character in Inspector Beeslaar – world-weary, fiercely independent – who anchors the book, and through whom Brynard paints a country's history, past and present, with the accretion of nuanced details.  Built for a blockbuster miniseries.  The best novel I've read all year.’ — Rex Pickett, author of SIDEWAYS

Visit Karin’s website.

Follow Karin on Twitter.

WEEPING WATERS published by Europa Editions

‘An arresting debut from South African crime author Brynard validates her reputation as ‘The Afrikaans Stieg Larsson.’ Brynard brings a strong, authentic voice to the country’s conflict-ridden past and its current complex society and entangled land claims. A brilliant ensemble cast, well-measured suspense, straightforward dialogue, and nice pacing add up to an outstanding thriller. Fans of other South African authors, from James McClure to Deon Meyer, will relish Brynard’s new and distinctive voice.’— Jane Murphy, Booklist

Karin Brynard’s Albertus Beeslaar, the South African Wallander, emerged from his homeland to reach US readers this week as Europa Editions launch their World Noir imprint. WEEPING WATERS, translated by Maya Fowler and Isobel Dixon, will be out in the UK later this month, on 19 April, and will also be published by E/O in Italy. German, French and Dutch editions are already available and a TV series is currently in development with Three Rivers Fiction.

‘For years Afrikaans readers have been raving about the talented Brynard - now with this translation...English-speaking book fanatics will get to find out for themselves what all the fuss is about.’ — YOU Magazine

Publisher’s Weekly called WEEPING WATERS ‘an impressive debut’ and Crime Fiction Lover said: ‘If WEEPING WATERS is anything to go by, this could be the start of an addictive new series about crime in the Rainbow Nation.’

In South Africa, where Penguin publish in both English and Afrikaans, Brynard is a Number One bestseller. WEEPING WATERS is followed by OUR FATHERS, also bought by Europa and E/O, and this year Penguin will publish the English translation of the third Beeslaar novel, HOMELAND.

Beeslaar is a traumatized cop who has abandoned tough city policing and a broken relationship in Johannesburg for a backwater post on the edge of the Kalahari Desert. But his dream of rural peace is soon shattered by the repeated attacks of a brutally efficient crime syndicate, as he struggles to train and connect with rookie local cops, Ghaap and Pyl, who resent his brusqueness and his old-school ways.

Karin Brynard is a former political and investigative journalist and uses her research skills and eye for detail to fascinating effect in her novels. She is Winner of the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize, ATKV Literature Prize, and twice winner of the M-Net Literature Awards.

Check out Karin’s website here, and follow her on Twitter.

Praise for Karin Brynard, and WEEPING WATERS

‘Brooding. Riveting. Brilliant.’ — Deon Meyer

‘The Afrikaans Stieg Larsson.’ — Rooi Rose

‘WEEPING WATERS is crime fiction you never want to end. Buy this book. Crime fiction doesn't get any better. High praise doesn't come close to doing justice to this book.’ — Mike Nicol, author of Payback and the Revenge Series

‘An impressive debut novel. Crime fiction fans will find the picturesque backdrop, cast of authentic characters, and knotty story line to be more than satisfying.’ — Publishers Weekly 

‘WEEPING WATERS is brimming with authenticity. A lucent tale of farm murder and rural society in the vice of social pressures, with the translation beautifully done by Maya Fowler and Isobel Dixon.’ — William Saunderson-Meyer, Sunday Times, 2014 Best Reads

‘An assured debut — intriguing from its inception, punchy, gritty, by turns gruesome, sensitive, dense and ever evocative... Ultimately what WEEPING WATERS gets spot on is the introduction of another compelling leading man, an indisputably good man, who can allow readers in English to traverse the diverse social strata that make South Africa such a fertile ground for its skilled writers.’ — Cape Times 

BFLA Authors at the Franschhoek Literary Festival 2015!

Several Blake Friedmann writers are attending this year’s Franschhoek Literary Festival. The festival runs from the 15th to the 17th May. The events take place in village venues within a few minutes' walk of each other, which creates a vibrant ambience in streets buzzing with book-lovers.

The emphasis is on informal discussions and spirited debates between several writers with a chairperson, or one-on-one conversations, and occasional talks. The FLF hosts the shortlist announcements of the annual Sunday Times Literary Awards, for which several Blake Friedmann authors are longlisted.

Karin Brynard, author of WEEPING WATERS (Penguin, 2014), is appearing in two events on Saturday 16th May – ‘Telling Tales or Tub-thumping’ at 1pm and ‘What a Plot I’ve Got’ at 4pm.

Finuala Dowling, author of THE FETCH (Kwela, 2015), features in 5 events throughout all 3 days of the festival, talking about both poetry and prose.

Dorothy Driver, editor of a new edition of Olive Schreiner's FROM MAN TO MAN (to be published by UCT Press/Juta in June) will be appearing in events alongside Lyndall Gordon and Finuala Dowling on the 16th and 17th May.

Lyndall Gordon, author of DIVIDED LIVES (Little, Brown, 2014), is also busy with 5 events across 3 days, including a Life-writing Workshop on Friday 15th May.

Deon Meyer, author of ICARUS (Hodder, 2015; Afrikaans, Human & Rousseau 2015), will be talking about crime writing in 4 events across all 3 days of the festival.

S.A. Partridge, author of SHARP EDGES (Human & Rousseau, 2013), is asking ‘Who Likes what Teens Read?’ at an event on Friday 15th May.

Henrietta Rose-Innes, author of GREEN LION (Umuzi, 2015), appears on Friday 15th May at 2.30 at ‘Prizing African Writing’, and Saturday 16th May at 1pm at ‘Hello World, Africa Here’.

Ivan Vladislavić, author of 101 DETECTIVES (Umuzi, 2015) is taking part in 4 events across the three days of the festival.

You can find out more information about our authors and their events here.

Agent and Director Isobel Dixon will also be taking part in some poetry events at the festival.

FOUR BLAKE FRIEDMANN AUTHORS LONGLISTED FOR SUNDAY TIMES PRIZE IN SOUTH AFRICA

We are delighted to announce that four of our authors have been longlisted for the Sunday Times Prize in South Africa.

WEEPING WATERS by Karin Brynard (translated by Isobel Dixon and Maya Fowler), A SPORTFUL MALICE by Michiel Heyns and RACHEL’S BLUE by Zakes Mda are on the longlist for The Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize, formerly the Sunday Times Fiction Prize. Now in its fifteenth year, this prize is awarded annually to a novel that is of ‘rare imagination and style, evocative, textured and a tale so compelling as to become an enduring landmark of contemporary fiction.’

In the non-fiction category, DIVIDED LIVES by Lyndall Gordon has been longlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Non-Fiction Prize. This award, now in its twenty-sixth year, is awarded to non-fiction with ‘compassion, elegance of writing, and intellectual and moral integrity.’

Previous Blake Friedmann winners of these prizes include Ivan Vladislavić (who has won both the fiction and non-fiction prizes for PORTRAIT WITH KEYS and THE RESTLESS SUPERMARKET), Marlene van Niekerk for AGAAT (translated by Michiel Heyns), Zakes Mda (HEART OF REDNESS) and Hugh Lewin for STONES AGAINST THE MIRROR.

The shortlists are usually announced at the Franschhoek Literary Festival. For more information on both prizes, check out: