Kariba

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KARIBA is an ecofeminist fantasy-adventure graphic novel inspired by the mythology of the Zambezi River and the history of the construction of the Kariba Dam, one of the largest dams ever constructed in Africa. Heroine Siku is a young African girl raised by the Shonga people on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia, who, after the disappearance of her father, discovers that her strange gifts with manipulating water are a result of her mythological origins?and they come with a grave responsibility: for Siku to die, in order to bring life to the valley. With high-stakes action, sweet young romance, ragtag sidekicks, and a fierce African heroine, KARIBA will be a perfect pick for young readers of Children of Blood and Bone, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, The Gilded Ones, and YouNeek YouNiverse! comics like Malika: Warrior Queen and Iyanu: Child of Wonder. But its historical and political elements, reminiscent of Nadia Shammas' Squire, Joe Sacco's Paying the Land and ­­­Shing Yin Khor's The Legend of Auntie Po, as well as the impressive artistry of the illustrations, will appeal to parents and older readers as well. This book explores the displacement of indigenous people and the desecration of African land by colonial (and, at times, native) greed, ending with Siku striking a diplomatic balance between the preservation of Shonga heritage and native land, and the acceptance of her country's new colonial realities. But this is done with a light touch and carefully threaded into the narrative in a way that will not alienate non-POC readers.The concept for Kariba was created in 2013. At the time, when they began approaching film development companies, they were told that ?nobody in Hollywood wanted a black, female protagonist?. Rather than pivoting to a white, male protagonist, the Kariba team decided to develop a proof of concept on their own in the form of a graphic novel. They created a Kickstarter to fund the process themselves (which was very successful, more than doubling its goal), and Daniel Clarke spent all day, every day for one year developing the illustrations. When they printed the first copies (they did a very limited, low-quality print run for their original Kickstarter backers), they relied a fruit merchant ship to which creator Daniel Snaddon had a family connection to bring the books from the overseas printer to the team in Cape Town. When the books arrived, they were wet from transit, and the three of them (Daniel Snaddon and Daniel and James Clarke) used hairdryers to dry each individual pages. The three of them are so committed to this book and are thrilled to see it receiving the professional publishing treatment almost 10 years after they began creating it, especially at a time when black and female heroes are in high demand in the book world and in Hollywood.The creative team behind the book is a trio of charismatic South African creatives in their twenties and thirties, with astonishing CVs in the African and international animation and film industries for their age, and they're very keen to get involved in publicity. Collectively, the Clarke brothers and Daniel Snaddon have served as art directors, artists and animators on multiple Emmy and Academy Award nominated films and television shows, worked with Netflix, Disney+, BBC, and more, and they are connected to several of the animation industry's most respected and up-and-coming studios, so we expect to receive blurbs and publicity from several major names in film and animation. With titles like the The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America doing so well in the education market, we're expecting KARIBA to receive similar attention in that space.With a strong environmental and heritage conservation bent, this book ties in strongly with two of our other 2023 titles, Pearl of the Sea (another graphic novel from South Africa, also with ties to Triggerfish Animation Studios) and Eye Brother Horn (a literary fiction novel set in 1870s South Africa), and we will use joint marketing strategies to raise the profile of all three titles.We recently discovered that the creative team for Kariba and for our January 2023 title Pearl of the Sea are very close personally, and that the two teams originally worked together in brainstorming ideas for the books in their early stages. We're hoping to do a joint event between the two creative teams and both teams intend to publicize both books in their networks.The creative team has provided us the following animation teaser for use in publicity: https://vimeo.com/122076401