Why Junkets?

When John Keats was 20 years old, he submitted his first-published poem to Leigh Hunt's magazine The Examiner. He signed it 'J.K.' When Leigh Hunt met him. he asked him his name. Keats gave it. But, while he was born and bred in the East End of London, he had acquired his father's West Country accent. So, Leigh Hunt heard him and replied: 'So, Junkets, you say? Well then, Junkets it will be!' After that, Keats signed his letters to Leigh Hunt:

Junkets Publisher

This is the logo of Junkets Publisher:





*By permission of the British Library (Ashley 4869 f.2)


Junkets has published the following titles:

• 2005: Rebel Angel, a novel by Robin Malan, based on the life of the poet John Keats (published in association with Snailpress)

• 2006: Playscript Series No. 1: The boy who walked into the world, by Robin Malan, a stage adaptation of his novel The Story of Lucky Simelane (first edition 2006, second (revised) edition 2007). ISBN 978-0-620-38733-0 The boy who walked into the world has been bought by Nasou Via Afrika and is forthcoming from them as an educational edition.
• 2007: Playscript Series No. 2: Everybody Else (is fucking perfect) by Karen Jeynes ISBN 978-0-620-38067-6
• 2007: Playscript Series No. 3: The Boy Who Fell from the Roof by Juliet Jenkin ISBN 978-0-620-38958-7
• 2008: Playscript Series No. 4: Itsoseng and For the Right Reasons by Omphile Molusi (first edition Ikhwezi Festival 2008, second edition Baxter Theatre 2008, third edition Edinburgh Festival Pleasance Theatre, Soho Theatre London, Everyman Palace Theatre Cork Ireland 2008). ISBN 978-0-620-40672-7 Itsoseng has been bought by Oxford University Press Southern Africa and is forthcoming from them as an educational edition.
• 2008: Playscript Series No. 5: Cissie by Nadia Davids. ISBN 978-0-620-41389-3 Cissie has been bought by Oxford University Press Southern Africa and is forthcoming from them as an educational edition.
• 2008: Playscript Series No. 6: Out of Bounds by Rajesh Gopie ISBN 978-0-620-41648-1
• 2008: Playscript Series No. 7: Dalliances by Pieter Jacobs ISBN 978-0-620-42031-0
• 2009: Playscript Series No. 8: Sister Breyani by Malika Ndlovu ISBN 978-0-620-43788-3
• 2009: Playscript Series No. 9: The Return by Fatima Dike ISBN 978-0-620-44290-9
• 2009: Playscript Series No. 10: The Crossing and The Bicycle Thief by Jonathan Khumbulani Nkala ISBN 978-0-620-44291-6
• 2010: Playscript Series No. 11: Green Man Flashing by Mike van Graan ISBN 978-0-620-45825-2
• 2010: Playscript Series No. 12: Lord Hamlet by Robin Malan ISBN 978-0-620-45210-6
• 2010: Playscript Series No. 13: Iago's Last Dance by Mike van Graan ISBN 978-0-620-45826-9
• 2010: Playscript Series No. 14: London Road by Nicholas Spagnoletti ISBN 978-0-620-45827-6
• 2010: Playscript Series No. 15: The Quiet Violence of Dreams by Ashraf Johaardien, adapted for the stage from the novel by K Sello Duiker ISBN 978-0-620-48153-3

• 2010: Yes, I am! writing by South African gay men compiled by Robin Malan and Ashraf Johaardien ISBN 978-0-620-45828-3

Published in association with Junkets Publisher Playscript Series:

• 2009: Peninsula: MacBeki by Pieter-Dirk Uys ISBN 978-0-620-43621-2
• 2010: The Fugard Theatre: The Train Driver by Athol Fugard ISBN 978-0-9869750-0-4

You can also view information on Junkets Publisher on the South African Small Publishers Blog.

Also see The Playscript Series at http://playscriptseries.blogspot.com/

Rebel Angel

This is the front and back cover of Rebel Angel:










This cover was designed by Jo-Anne Friedlander of UserFriendly.


To see how this cover was designed and arrived at, read the article 'Chronology of a Cover'.

" A vivid and moving account of the young Keats "

– Shaun de Waal in Mail & Guardian Winter Reading Supplement 2005

Why the title Rebel Angel?

Here, in his own handwriting, is what John Keats wrote to a friend:



I feel confident I should have been a rebel Angel had the opportunity been mine.






Because of his poor birth and upbringing and his lack of a university education, he was never accepted by the literary Establishment, and his politics were distinctly left of centre, so his claim to Haydon is not without substance.

" ... striking narrative manner and unembellished style ... attractive and reader-friendly packaging ..."

– Marina le Roux in Die Burger 17 October 2005 (translated from Afrikaans)

The images on the Rebel Angel cover

On both front and back covers, images of John Keats's life-mask are used:








This is the Keats life-mask
on the wall of my study






Sometimes the whole mask is used (as on the back cover), and sometimes only a detail (as in two of the four front-cover images). Permission and a licence to use photographs of the life mask had to be obtained from the British National Portrait Gallery.

"... intriguing, informative biography of John Keats which serves as a lively introduction to some of his poetry and how it came to be written ..."

– Jay Heale in SA Children’s Book Forum Newsletter July 2005

The first words of the novel

‘Not intend to be a surgeon! After six years of training? Well, what do you intend to be?’
Mr Abbey was so angry he was spluttering. He looked down at the young man in front of him. John had thought long and hard about this moment. He had waited until he turned twenty-one, knowing that now his guardian couldn’t force him to do what he didn’t want to. He steeled himself, and then looked up at the taller man, and said:
‘I want … I’m going to be a poet, sir.’
That was more than Abbey could take. His eyes widened in outraged astonishment.
‘Are you mad, John? Or just a fool? That’s absurd.’
‘I’m sorry, sir,’ said John very quietly, ‘but my mind’s made up. I’m good, sir, better than most. And I’m sure I can earn a living by writing.’
Abbey looked at him as if he were some newly discovered and particularly unpleasant species, and, with an upward sneer of his lip, he said:
‘Well, all I’ve got to say, boy, is that you’re being … silly. I’ll tell you one thing. It won’t be long before you’re forced to give up this selfish notion.’
‘I don’t think so, sir.’ How dare he call me ‘boy’? What’s the point of turning twenty-one if he’s still going to think of me as a ‘boy’?

" Robin Malan’s beautifully presented Rebel Angel is a tender, humorous and informative account of the life of John Keats ... this high-quality publication ... "

– Michelle McGrane online at LitNet 1 June 2005

Rebel Angel at Keats House

Towards the end of his short life (he died at the age of 25), Keats shared half of Wentworth Place with his friend Charles Brown. For some time, his beloved Fanny Brawne, the love of his life, and her mother, sister and brother lived in the other half of the house.

The house is now the Keats House, in Keats Grove, in Hampstead. It is a wonderful museum of things Keatsian.










On the shelves of its merchandise shop, you will find copies of Rebel Angel, on sale at £9.99.

If you're there, be sure to buy a copy.

" The academic background to the book is unsurpassed ... the life and death of a tragic genius, vividly portrayed in this work. "

– Michael Hurry in The Sunday Independent 22 May 2005

Why a book on Keats in 2005?

" We read every day, and we hear on radio every day, about some youngster totally overcoming the most severe drawbacks and achieving wonders. I think Keats’s story is one of those, and I want young South Africans to read about him and feel ‘Hey, I could do that!’ As like as not, they, like him, will go out and do it. And I want them to know that you can achieve in whatever area you choose to ... like, you can be a poet! "

– Robin Malan

Reviewed in Keats-Shelley Journal

The prestigious Keats-Shelley Journal Volume LV 2006 published by the Keats-Shelley Association of America Inc. carries a review of Rebel Angel.

"... the book is written in an elegant and direct style ... the passages from Mr Keats's letters are remarkably helpful when trying to place Keats's exact feelings ... Robin Malan writes with a sense of tenderness and kindness ... I would definitely recommend this book to a friend."

- Emily Jakubisin (a. 11)

The adult reviewer Brenda Walton notes: 'Malan's Keats must conquer an audience that does not possess a substantive cultural orientation; he must accomplish a task that at times seems surely as difficult as counting the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin: engaging a middle-schooler. ... Malan's account of Keats offers many careful touches. ... The inclusion of all of Keats's friends reinforces the Keats that emerges from Malan's pages: a young man whose talent and charisma draw others to him. ... Rebel Angel is not the usual juvenile biographical novel: there are a number of innovations. ... Ms Jakubisin's comment perhaps says it all: Malan writes with the "tenderness" that Keats deserves.'

- Keats-Shelley Journal Volume LV (Keats-Shelley Association of America, Inc., New York, 2006, pp. 231-3)

The boy who walked into the world

– the play of Lucky Simelane –

by Robin Malan

This play is a stage adaptation of the novel The Story of Lucky Simelane (see below). Included in this volume are notes for teachers and community directors on presenting the play, as well as activity exercises for students.

In order to encourage schools and community theatre groups, the cost of the texts varies according to the number of texts ordered: the more copies, the cheaper the price.

ISBN 0-620-36432-7

Playscript Series No. 1

Junkets Publisher

A young man walks into the police station of a small country town. Lucky has been brought up in a small rural black community. But is he really black? The others tease him because of his light brown eyes and blond hair. He has vague notions of having been abducted from his white family, and there are remnants of Afrikaans words somewhere in his head. So Lucky sets out on a quest to discover who he is. When people find out about Lucky’s dilemma, it touches a raw nerve in the national psyche, and the debate about identity and ethnic origin starts to swirl around the young man, confusing rather than clarifying, diffusing rather than focusing his search for himself. What is it to be African? What does a family mean to a growing child? Does it matter what language you speak or think in? What if you’re not even sure of your name? Issues of identity and belonging crowd in on Lucky, who is thrown off balance by the publicity surrounding him, yet enjoys the attention and sudden ‘celebrity’ this brings. In the end, who is Lucky? And can Lucky cope with being Lucky?

The novel The Story of Lucky Simelane is published by Jacana Media

FOR ALL OTHER TITLES IN THE JUNKETS PUBLISHER PLAYSCRIPT SERIES SEE http://playscriptseries.blogspot.com/

Everybody Else (is fucking perfect)

Karen Jeynes's play won the Best Writer Award, the Audience Award and the Award for Best Director in the 2005 NLDTF/PANSA Contemporary Theatre Festival (Comedy). Its first performance in the Sanlam Studio of the Baxter Theatre Centre in Cape Town took place on 7 February 2007.

This volume serves as both programme for that presentation and as complete text of the play.










Playscript Series No. 2

ISBN 978-0-620-38067-6

Junkets Publisher

The Boy Who Fell from the Roof

Juliet Jenkin:

The Boy Who Fell from the Roof

Part of the Artscape New Writing Programme

Nominated for Best Play at the Dublin Gay & Lesbian Theatre Festival 2006.

No. 3 in the Playscript Series.

FOR ALL OTHER TITLES IN THE JUNKETS PUBLISHER PLAYSCRIPT SERIES SEE

http://playscriptseries.blogspot.com/