Otherworlds
On being shocked and horrified
1. Last Saturday, the third instalment of Otherworld, the speculative fiction gathering, was held at Exclusive Books at the V&A Waterfront. According to an email I received from Marius du Plessis - he of that major new voice in South African publishing, Mirari Press: “It was a really great event - and very well attended. I would guess somewhere between 70 and 100 people - each session pulled in a different crowd, but 3 of the 4 sessions were so full that people had to stand in the aisles (which they did, for a full hour, listening to people talk about speculative fiction!)”
Given that book festivals are drawing significant crowds yet there is fairly poor attendance at some book launches these days, I have to ask: what is going on?
According to Marius, the audience at Otherworld “was on the younger side (somewhere between 28 and 33 or so)” whereas at book launches the average age is often double that.
“This is definitely a trend I am seeing with Mirari events - we’re pulling in young, diverse crowds. I’d say about 70% female, and about 60% white, and average age is around 30 to 35. There is definitely something there…”
Undoubtedly.
For the record, Otherworld was started in 2024 by Tanya Meeson (author of The Fulcrum, The Akashic Records of the Last People as Written by Neko and this year’s The Witch of Benbar’s Cross) and Shameez Patel Papathanasiou (author of The Last Feather portal fantasy trilogy, and romance bestsellers Playing Flirty and Next Level Love). Again, as Marius points out in his Substack, “as far as anyone could tell, nothing like it [had ever] existed in Cape Town. Three panels that first year, all full houses. A fourth panel added in 2025, also full”; and then the incredible showing this year. “For years,” writes Marius, “the industry consensus held that there was little appetite for a local brew of speculative fiction. Otherworld’s third year and fullest line-up yet begs to differ.”
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2. Yesterday morning’s newsletter from Media24 reported that “[m]atric teachers believe that the prescribed English literature setworks for Grade 12 should include a novel and a play by South African writers to make them more relevant to pupils.” Can our education authorities be this dof as not to include SA novels? Silly question really.
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3. Four words on books
Grace by Barbara Boswell: Nothing short of devastating.
Double Edged by Marina Auer: Yissis, buckle-up, my bru.
Single Minded by Marina Auer: The stuff of nightmares.
Malema: Money. Power. Patronage. by Micah Reddy and Pauli van Wyk: Tales of blatant thievery.
Good Wives by Margaret Forster: How we should live.
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4. The Writer’s Toolbox workshop I’m running for Catalyst Press starts on August 5 and lasts five weeks. It’s designed as a primer for beginners or a refresher on all the basics for the more experienced, as well as a way to connect with other writers engaged in this fascinating (and often daunting) activity. There’ll be a Zoom session every Wednesday. You can sign up here.
Mike, your Open Pages are terrific...informative, often witty, keep it up ! Cannot believe that SA authors aren't prescribed for matric.
Thanks for this Mike. I think the format of book launches and whether or not they attract a younger audience (and/or an audience in numbers) is about the nature of whether or not it's an 'event'. I know that abroad more publishers are understanding that younger readers want something that gives them a reason to go out and just the author isn't enough. Even when Samantha Shannon was here a few years ago I met some of her 'die-hard' fans who couldn't be bothered to go her event because it wasn't worth the effort. I started Otherworld because when I was offered a book talk at Exclusive Books I knew no one would come ... unless I made it into an event that also showcased other authors. Alone we would each get a handful of people (maybe), together it would be party. I'm not really sure this is an age thing really. Everyone's so overwhelmed that going out has to mean something more than 'just' listening to an author talk.