About Deep South

—– by Robert Berold, publisher

Deep South began in 1996. I was editing the poetry journal New Coin, and Seitlhamo Motsapi was a regular contributor. One day he told me that his first manuscript had been turned down by more than one Johannesburg publisher. That sounded impossible to me. Without thinking, I said I’d publish it. I knew nothing about book publishing, and I didn’t know what I was getting into.  

I asked Paul Wessels if he would join me as a partner in the publishing venture. He had skills in design and layout and a fine sense of literature. At the time he was running a mail order bookshop called Deep South Distribution. We called our small press Deep South, and Motsapi’s earthstepper/the ocean is very shallow was our first book. Paul handled the design and print, while I edited the manuscripts. From 2003, after four books, I continued on my own.

It was a privilege to work closely with every writer and see their manuscripts through to a book. Working with them taught me much, at many levels. I’d like to thank them and everyone who contributed to the making of each book – the cover artists, cover designers, proofreaders, and printers. My thanks especially to book designer Liz Gowans, who remained calm and patient through many last-minute changes.