Pan Macmillan to publish Dare Not Linger

On 19 October 2017 Pan Macmillan is proud to be publishing Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela and Mandla Langa. 

With a prologue by Mandela’s widow, Graça Machel, this hugely anticipated book tells the remarkable story of Nelson Mandela’s presidency from 1994-1999. It draws heavily on the sequel to Long Walk to Freedom, which he began writing in the last days of his presidency, but was unable to finish. Now, the acclaimed South African writer, Mandla Langa, has completed the task using Mandela’s unfinished draft, detailed notes that Mandela made as events were unfolding and a wealth of previously unseen archival material.

The result is a vivid and inspirational account of Mandela’s presidency, a country in flux and the creation of a new democracy. It tells the story of the transition from decades of apartheid rule and the challenges Mandela overcame to make a reality of his cherished vision for a liberated South Africa.

 

The book will be published simultaneously in the United States by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and the agent is Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown. Translation rights have been sold to Rosinante in Denmark, Editions Plon in France, Quadriga in Germany, Feltrinelli in Italy, Uitgeverij Atlas Contact in The Netherlands, FYM Forlag in Norway, Marcador in Portugal, Aguilar in Spain and Volante in Sweden.

 

Nelson Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on 18 July 1918. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after 1948. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison and then later moved to Pollsmoor Prison, during which his reputation as a potent symbol of resistance to the anti-apartheid movement grew steadily. Released from prison in 1990, Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was inaugurated as the first democratically-elected president of South Africa in 1994. He is the author of the international bestseller Long Walk to Freedom. He died on 5 December 2013, aged ninety-five.

Graça Machel was born in Mozambique in 1945. A teacher, human rights activist, international advocate for women’s and children’s rights, and politician, she was – from 1975 until his death in 1986 –to Samora Machel, the first president of Mozambique. In July 1988 she married Nelson Mandela. Among numerous awards she has received the United Nations’ Nansen Medal in recognition of her long-standing humanitarian work, particularly on behalf of refugee children.

Mandla Langa was born in 1950 in Durban, South Africa. After being arrested in 1976, he went into exile and has lived in Botswana, Mozambique and Angola, as well as Hungary, Zambia and the United Kingdom, where he was the ANC’s Cultural Representative. A writer and journalist, he was the first South African to be awarded the Arts Council of Great Britain bursary for creative writing and has been a columnist for the Sunday Independent and the New Nation. He is also the author of several acclaimed novels, including The Lost Colours of the Chameleon, which won the 2009 Commonwealth Prize for Best Book in the African Region.

Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela and Mandla Langa will be published in hardback, ebook and audio on 19th October 2017.