One writer, one desk, and a fairly full reading stack. If you want to send a title for a closer look, ask about a reading list, or check whether a specific edition is already on the shelf here, the details below are the fastest way in.
8034 Goosen Crossroad Suite 625
Allanfort, NW 3227
Post and deliveries arrive here, though most correspondence comes by email. If you are sending a physical copy for consideration, a short note tucked inside helps.
Email is the better route for anything longer than a couple of sentences. Phone calls are fine for quick questions about editions or library branches.
Messages that land over the weekend are read on Monday morning. Replies can take a week or more when a long review is in progress.
A title, the edition, and the translator if there is one. Add a line or two on why it deserves a closer look. Suggestions arrive faster than they can be read, so not every one becomes a review, and there is no charge or payment involved either way.
The review desk is a single room in Cape Town, and the address below is where mail and reading copies land. If you are dropping something off in person, mornings are usually calmer than afternoons.
The desk is not a shopfront and there is no walk-in counter, so it helps to write first before travelling across the city. A short note about the title you have in mind, and why it deserves a closer look, is enough to start.
Reviews link to independent bookshops and library branches across the Western Cape rather than a single retailer. If you would rather send a title by post than by email, the address above is the right one.
This is a one-writer desk in Cape Town. If a book has stayed with you and you think it deserves a proper review, tell me which edition you read and why it matters. I read literary fiction, memoir, nature writing and translated novels, and I work from specific printings rather than titles in the abstract.
A few practical notes before you write. Replies can take a while, and not every suggestion turns into a review. Nothing here is sponsored, and there are no star ratings. When a book does get covered, the piece links to independent bookshops and library branches around the Western Cape instead of pointing you at one retailer.