FRESHLY PRESSED
The President
A spicy political thriller by Xander Beattie.
When a salacious fictional story about the nation’s president is published, the ruling party and its supporters are enraged. As pressure grows for the story to be erased, its young author flees into hiding, carrying with him an explosive secret — and plans for revenge.
Deftly plotted and gorgeously told, The President is a nail-biting exploration of bigoted backlash against provocative art. Set in South Africa in 2012, Xander Beattie’s novel is painfully relevant to our contemporary moment, where — in too many places around the world — powerful demagogues scapegoat the marginalised, imperil human rights and brutally suppress artistic expression.
LIMITED EDITION
Collectable culture
A book and print.
Published by PRONK in 2025, the limited Artist Edition of The President was printed and hand-bound by PULP Paperworks in Johannesburg. The book was designed by Catarina Pereira of Voodoo Voodoo studio in Berlin.
The President comes with a fine art print by the infamous South African artist Brett Murray. Entitled All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go, the artwork was printed on Risograph at Dream Press in Cape Town. Proceeds from the sale of both go to the Pride Shelter Trust. Based in Cape Town, this is the first formal haven in Africa providing short-term accommodation to LGBTQI+ folks during crisis periods.
Only a couple dozen copies of the Artist Edition remain available for purchase in South Africa. US copies are sold out1.
Get your hands on The President.
Currently available in South Africa ONLY. A new hardback edition lands in the UK on 7 September and in the USA this fall.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Xander Beattie
Impactful, immersive and exquisite storytelling meets nuanced and razor-sharp insights about South Africa’s fraught political and cultural milieux.
Xander Beattie is the fiction writing alter ego of Alexander Matthews who started out his media career in London as an assistant to MONOCLE’s editor-in-chief, Tyler Brûlé, and later served as the magazine’s Southern Africa correspondent for several years.
Running the gamut of politics, culture, the environment and travel, his other bylines include the BBC, Mail & Guardian and Business Day. Born in Cape Town (South Africa) in 1988, he has written widely for media, business and non-profits, though fiction is his first (and most enduring!) love.
Xander lives with his husband, two cats and hundreds of books in a remote cabin in Northern California. Subscribe to a swimming pool library, his newsletter, for occasional notes on swimming, reading, nature and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Eek, I’m not in South Africa. How can I get a book?
With the Artist Edition almost sold out, PRONK will be publishing another edition of The President. The Collectable Pocket Hardback will be available in the UK (from 7 September), the US (from 1 November) and South Africa (from February 2026).
We are also planning other formats, including a mass-market paperback, eBook and audiobook.
A hardback sounds nice, but what if I really want the Artist Edition book+print combo?
If you live overseas and still have your heart set on getting an artist edition book+print combo, then please contact Pulp Paperworks via email and they should be able to figure something out.
When is the next launch?
The worldwide inauguration of The President’s Collectable Pocket Hardback is in London (UK) on Sunday 7 September 2025 at The Common Press Bookshop (19.00-21.00 GMT). For a glimpse of the Artist Edition’s Cape Town, Joburg and San Francisco launches, head over to our blog, Marginalia.
What comes next for PRONK?
The President is just the start. As a little publisher with big ambitions, we intend to bring more beautiful print objects (including books, zines and chapbooks/pamphlets) into the world in the years to come. Find out more about PRONK here.
