Imraan Coovadia is on a shortlist of three, along with Mark Behr and Sally-Ann Murray, for the 2009 University of Johannesburg Prize for Creative Writing in English. His shortlisted novel HIGH LOW IN-BETWEEN, a 'mercurial, incisive and literary' portrayal of the Indian middle-class in South Africa, has drawn comparisons with V S Naipaul from Isabel Hofmeyr of the South African Sunday Independent who said: 'Rather like a wittier Nuruddin Farah or a more politically sagacious V S Naipaul, HIGH LOW-INBETWEEN documents the shifting realities of a particular postcolonial middle class life in Durban.' Vikas Swarup, author of Q & A (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE), has described it as 'a wise book, full of provocative insights.' HIGH LOW IN-BETWEEN has been sold to South Africa (Umuzi), India (HarperCollins) and Germany (Das Wunderhorn).

HIGH LOW IN-BETWEEN is Coovadia's third novel. It follows GREEN-EYED THIEVES, published by Umuzi in South Africa, which was shortlisted for the M-Net Literary Prize 2007, and was runner-up for the South African Sunday Times Literary Prize 2007. Described by Daniel Mendelsohn in New York Magazine as 'hilarious and ultimately poignant', GREEN-EYED THIEVES has been sold to Seagull Books (WEL excluding South Africa) and to Newton Compton (Italy).

Subject to volcanic ash, Imraan Coovadia is scheduled to be in London for the London Book Fair, for which South Africa is the country of market focus. He will be on the panel at the 'Goal! Match! Victory! Freedom! What the 2010 World Cup means to the home team' event at the South Bank Centre on 21 April, and will be hosting a table at the Read SA 'Meet the Writers' dinner, where Henrietta Rose-Innes and Isobel Dixon will also be entertaining guests.

Praise for Imraan Coovadia:

'Imraan Coovadia has a unique and marvellously talented voice. HIGH LOW IN-BETWEEN effortlessly extended my capacity to imagine the moral inner world of the kind of character I often wonder about.'
-- Antjie Krog, author of COUNTRY OF MY SKULL

'Imraan Coovadia is turning into a national, or international, treasure as a novelist. Not only is he thoughtful and interesting, full of ideas, deeply pondered, but he also has a firm grip on his narrative style in this his complex but engaging third novel…HIGH LOW IN-BETWEEN, comfortably situated in the plain and everyday, but also deliciously wry and sharp, will make its own place in the mind of the reader.'  

-- Jane Rosenthal, Mail and Guardian

'One of South Africa's most impressive voices.' 

-- Margaret von Klemperer, The Witness

Some more information on the South Africa 2010: One Nation, Many Voices programme around London Book Fair (some events subject to volcano-induced change): 
 
South Africa is the Country of Market Focus for London Book Fair in April 2010 and a stellar array of Blake Friedmann authors will attend and take part in the South Africa 2010: One Nation, Many Voices programme. For fuller story see here.
 
For more information on the British Council programme around London (including Foyles, the British Library and the South Bank) and beyond, click here.
 
For the Market Focus seminars, including South African authors, organised by London Book Fair at Earls Court during the Fair itself (19-21 April), click here.
 
In association with English PEN and the British Council, the PEN Literary Cafe located in Earls Court 2 will also host events. Foyles, the official LBF bookshop for 2010, is located within the Literary Cafe where authors who are interviewed will sign copies of their latest titles. For this programme click here.
 
For more information on South African events at the Travel Bookshop see here.
 
For an overview of all London Book Fair events and seminars, and to search by day or type of event click here.
 
And for information and tickets for the Read SA charity 'Meet the Writers' dinner, on Thursday 22 April with tables hosted by various South African authors, including Imraan Coovadia, Henrietta Rose-Innes and Isobel Dixon, click here!