The Chaka centenary: What, how and why

This year is the 100th anniversary of the publication of Chaka by Thomas Mofolo (yes, that’s how he spelled it). One of the wild things I’ve discovered is how often our customers ask for books that we can’t find. That’s how Bridge Books started publishing classics from the public domain, starting with Marcus Garvey, and then Herbert Dhlomo.

With Chaka, you could find it. Just not in the language that it was written in. Mofolo wrote, in Sesotho, a fictionalized version of Chaka’s life, going from a boyhood where he was bullied to a king who profoundly shaped South African history. We could easily track down copies in English, Afrikaans, German, Italian or French. But not in Sesotho.

So this is our first effort at republishing a novel in an indigenous language. We’ve made two editions. One’s a mass market paperback priced at R180, hopefully a point where many people can afford it.

But we also worked with the amazing people at Pulp Paperworks, who love books as much as we do. They have created for us the collector’s edition in the photo: hand stitched, cloth bound, gold embossed. Because South African classics should be beautiful to hold as well. We only made 100 copies, and we’ll never make more of that edition. Perfect for the holidays for the book lover in your life. Even if you don’t read Sesotho, it’s a beautiful thing to hold.