Cassava Republic Press is the winner of the inaugural Canex Prize for Publishing in Africa 2024, for its cover design for the book Female Fear Factory: Unveiling Patriarchy’s Culture of Violence by Pumla Dineo Gqola.
Dr Wale Okediran the Chair of the Judges, said the book’s solid cover design, an elegant layout, and a reader-friendly text coupled with its imaginative gender strategies make this book a compelling contribution to feminist literature.
The book is study into how patriarchal society encourages violence against women. In addition, the book gives a sobering account of patriarchal violence in the world and a hopeful vision for the works of feminists across the globe, Okediran added.
Cassava Republic Press was announced winner on October 19, during the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Weekend 2024 that was held in Algiers, Algeria from October 16 to 19.
Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie and Narrative Landscape Press, in partnership with CANEX and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) launched the prize at the sidelines of the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) on November 9, 2023, in Cairo, Egypt.
The Judges, Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, Edwige Dro and Okediran assessed 85 books submitted by various African publishers. While majority of the submissions were in English, a few titles were in French and Portuguese.
Submissions for the competition were judged on the quality of writing, editing and production with priority given to books printed and produced on the African continent in the preceding two years, Okediran said.
The prize recognises the publisher of the best African fiction or non-fiction title.
The annual prize is open to writers from all over the African continent.
According to Cassava Republic Press, Female Fear Factory: Unveiling Patriarchy’s Culture of Violence, published in 2022 explores how fear is weaponised to control women and those socialised as female, and a hopeful vision for the future.
Drawing on examples from around the world - from Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa to Saudi Arabia, the Americas and Europe, Gqola traces the construction and machinations of the female fear factory by exposing its lies, myths, and seductions.
She shows how seemingly disparate effects, like driving bans, street harassment, and coercive professors, are the product of the ever-turning machinery of the female fear factory, and its use of fear as a tool of patriarchal subjugation and punishment.
“Female Fear Factory: Unravelling Patriarchy’s Cultures of Violence” is a sobering account of patriarchal violence in the world, and a hopeful vision for the work of unapologetic feminist imaginative strategies across the globe.
The Cassava Republic Press beat 4 shortlisted books to the prize. The remaining four finalists received $2,000, each.
The Judges, Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, Edwige Dro and Okediran assessed 85 books submitted by various African publishers. While majority of the submissions were in English, a few titles were in French and Portuguese.
Submissions for the competition were judged on the quality of writing, editing and production with priority given to books printed and produced on the African continent in the preceding two years, Okediran said.
He added that publishers were allowed to submit one trade book for the prize. Trade books, in publishing terms, mean books published for a general audience and which are widely available through libraries and bookstores.
They include books published in the genres of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, and may be in hardcover and paperback. They do not include textbooks or academic books.
