We made a gift zine for you! It features a little short story by The President’s author, Xander Beattie, called And the Hummingbird Beats Her Wings.
If you want to print it out using A4 paper, download this PDF.
If you want to print it out using US letter paper, download this PDF.
Once it’s printed out, fold the pages in half and — voila! — you’ll have your very own Xander Beattie zine.
We love notebooks. If we leave the house without one, we feel naked and defenceless. Why? Because notebooks are sandboxes and launchpads and playgrounds and super-portable canvases. When paired with a pen or pencil, they help us to think, dream, problem-solve, escape and plan. We take them everywhere we go, filling them up with first drafts, brainstorms, lists, observations, reminders, doodles and more.
The first edition of the PRONK Notebook will soon be on sale in the United States. It is:
A handful of unlined PRONK Notebooks are also currently available for purchase in-store from The Common Press in Shoreditch, London.
The worldwide inauguration of The President’s Pocket Hardback Edition was held in London (UK) on Sunday 7 September 2025 at The Common Press Bookshop.
The evening was hosted by Dr Jaco Barnard-Naudé, legal professor, author, and winner of the Ingrid Jonker Prize for his debut poetry collection, om my kastele in Spanje te sloop.
With the Artist Edition of The President nearly sold out, this was the first time readers anywhere in the world had the opportunity to get their hands on the brand-new A6 pocket hardback. The Pocket Hardback was gorgeously printed and hand-bound by Pulp Paperworks in Johannesburg and published by PRONK.
Signed copies of the hardback are now available for purchase in person from The Common Press in Shoreditch for £20. It will soon be available for UK residents to purchase online.
The artist edition of The President (together with its accompanying Risograph print by Brett Murray, All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go) was showcased at the 2025 FNB Joburg Art Fair by our friends at PULP1. PULP’s booth was in the print-focused ETC section of the fair, which ran from 5 to 7 September 2025 at the Sandton Convention Centre.
As of late September 2025, there are only 24 copies left of the artist edition (and the fine art print by Brett which accompanies it) available; you can buy one in person at PULP or from its online store.
On 11 July, Et al. hosted the San Francisco launch of The President. Xander gave a reading, and then chatted about the novel with the fabulous SF-based speculative fiction writer and essayist Ploi Pirapokin.
We couldn’t have asked for a lovelier spot than Et al. for The President’s Californian inauguration. The high-ceilinged, white-walled gallery in the Mission has a lively calendar of readings, events, exhibitions etc. (Its bookshop has a terrific selection of mostly secondhand books1, too.) For a list of folks who have spoken there (Xander is in truly great company!), as well as ways to support, check out its website.
The President is a globetrotting beast — set in Cape Town, written (mostly) in Skukuza, extensively revised in California and designed in Berlin. But, we’d argue that the book’s true “home” is arguably Johannesburg, where the first edition was printed and hand-bound by PULP Paperworks.
On 5 May, we hosted a little Jozi launch in PULP’s light and airy workspace.
The author was in conversation with GALA Queer Archive‘s Karin Tan. (Thanks for the lively convo, Karin!) As South Africa’s preeminent LGBT archive, GALA is doing vital (and vibrant) work with a publishing programme and a library that’s open to all.
PULP has copies of The President for sale; pop in to grab yours (and some stunning PULP stationery). Or order it from them online1.
If you weren’t able to join our Joburg or Cape Town launches, no fear! We’re hosting a virtual launch from 5-6pm SAST on Saturday 14 June 2025. Here‘s where you can register.
Looked on by Brett Murray’s print All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go (and the gigantic painting of Brett’s upon which the print was based), The President had its first-ever launch at Everard Read Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa.
