Oneworld scoops ‘phenomenally talented’ Moeng’s short-story collection and début novel

Oneworld has snapped up Call and Response, the first short-story collection from Botswana author Gothataone Moeng, in a two-book deal.

Publisher Juliet Mabey obtained UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, for the collection and Moeng’s début novel, from Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein, on behalf of Julie Barer at The Book Group. Oneworld will be publishing its hardback edition of Call and Response as a lead title in February 2023. North American rights were acquired by Laura Tisdel at Viking.

“The collection comprises nine richly drawn stories about the lives of ordinary families in contemporary Botswana as they navigate relationships, tradition, caretaking and grieving in a rapidly changing world,” the synopsis explains. “Strongly anchored in place – in the small rural village of Serowe, where the author is from, and in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana – they chart the emotional journeys of women seeking love and opportunity beyond the barriers of custom and circumstance.” 

Mabey praised the “balance of vivid, playful humour and wistfulness that runs through this immensely thoughtful collection”.

“I am so excited to be working with Gothataone, who is a star in the making, part of a phenomenally talented generation of young African writers,” she continued. “Her work brings to life an authentic and clear-eyed vision of Botswana and gives voice to women caught between the competing pulls of tradition and modernity.”

Moeng was born in Serowe, Botswana, and was a 2018-2020 Wallace Stegner Fellow in Fiction. Her writing has appeared in American Short Fiction, One Story, A Public Space and Oxford American. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Mississippi.