Kopano Matlwa’s novel Coconut has been published in Catalan by València-based publisher Sembra Llibres!

The novel was translated into Catalan by Elisabet Ràfols Sagués, and the new edition features a cover illustration by Marta Bellvehí. It will be in bookstores from 17 February 2020.

Get a taste of the translation here:

«Descobriràs, Ofilwe, que la gent a qui t’esforces tant a assemblar-te un dia et rebutjarà perquè, per molt que ho vulguis fer veure, tu no ets un d’ells.»

‘You will find, Ofilwe, that the people you strive so hard to be like will one day reject you because as much as you may pretend, you are not one of their own.’

Coconut, Matlwa’s award-winning debut novel, was first published in 2007 Jacana Media. The book, which deals with growing up as a black child in a white world, became a huge bestseller. It has previously been published in English, French, Spanish and Swedish.

In 2018, Sembra Llibres published a Catalan translation of Matlwa’s third novel Period Pain titled Florescencia.

The publisher announced the new book on its website:

‘Following the great success of the Catalan translation of Florescence, we publish Coconut, the first and acclaimed novel by Kopano Matlwa, which won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, considered as the African Nobel Prize, and the European Union Literary Award.

‘Written with a lyrical boldness that causes us to question who we are and who we want to be in the society of appearances, Coconut intertwines the lives of Ofilwe and Fikile, two young people in Johannesburg who demonstrate the weight of racial prejudice, aesthetic pressure, self-identity and gender-based violence against black women in the post-apartheid era.

‘A necessary story about young people seeking their identity between the racism, classism and sexism that prevail in the world we live in. An immersion in modern South Africa from one of the most outstanding young African writers today.’

Matlwa’s second novel, Spilt Milk, was longlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize. Her latest novel, Period Pain, was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize and longlisted for a Humanities and Social Sciences Award. Period Pain was translated into English, French, Spanish, Catalan, Norwegian, Polish and German. In November 2019, The Pontas Agency announced that South African production company KIWI Films had acquired the film rights to Coconut.

Matlwa shared the cover on her Twitter account:

Love Love Love the Catalan cover of Coconut ❤ Thank you @SembraLlibres for this beautiful design 😘 pic.twitter.com/fMkCdYrcAH

— Dr Kopano Matlwa Mabaso (@kopanomabaso) February 13, 2020

Categories Fiction International South Africa

Tags Catalan Coconut Jacana Media Kopano Matlwa News Sembra Llibres Spain Translations Valencia