DANILA BOTHA

Incredibly grateful to learn that A Place For People Like Us won a silver medal in the Collective of Independent Publishers and Authors - CIPA Cipa Evvy Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction https://www.cipabooks.com/cipa-evvy-2026-winners/ Thank you so much to the judges, and to my amazing publisher Guernica Editions thank you Michael Mirolla for being the best and Heather Wood 💗💗📚🥹 so grateful for this beautiful honour.

’m so excited to tell you about my new short story collection, Sleepwalking Too Close to the Fire. It will be published in fall of 2027 by the amazing Guernica Editions. I’m thrilled to get to work with the amazing Michael Mirolla and the whole Guernica team again, including David Moratto who designed this beautiful cover. So much to tell you, but stories have appeared in literary magazines in Canada, the US, and Europe (from Malta to Berlin and Brussels) and have been nomina

I'm so grateful to everyone who's been asking about upcoming Vidal events. I have more after this, which I'll share soon, but in the meantime, these are are coming up in Toronto, and I'm so excited about all of them: Canadian Jewish Literary Awards, Gala Awards Ceremony Sunday Oct 25th 2pm Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal JCC 750 Spadina Ave. | Toronto 2:00-4:00pm –Awards Ceremony 4:00-5:00pm – dessert reception and book sales/signing Jewish Book Council’s Jewish Writer’s Confe

I’m unbelievably grateful and emotional to learn that Vidal won a Canadian Jewish Literary Award, a CJLA award for Graphic Literature. Thank you so so much to the jury, and to my amazing publisher At Bay Press, Heather J Wood, Dani Arieli and the whole team. I’m unbelievably grateful that the story has resonated. Thank you again to the jury for their thoughtful and generous words: “ Vidal by Danila Botha transcends classification. It is more than a graphic novel. It is a fami

So grateful to come back online after two days of Rosh Hashana to find this beautiful review from Kirkus Reviews “Visually lush with Expressionist artwork… the text is rich with cultural details illuminating the world of Vidal…A vivid portrait of a man who refuses to give up on life, even at its most harrowing. A beautifully illustrated work of historical fiction that’s as touching as it is delightful.” Thank you again so, so much. You can read it in full here: https://www.ki

I had such a wonderful time at the launch for Vidal. Thank you so much to Koffler Arts for sponsoring the event, to Josh Heumann for organizing and curating the art so beautifully, to the whole team including Jimena Perez for publicizing, and making me so special. Thank you so much to Gary Barwin for being so awesome. It was also incredible to hear him perform a Sephardi song, and to hear him read and to be interviewed by him. What a privilege and a joy. Heather Wood, Dani A

This has such a beautiful week of firsts, and I appreciate it so much. Thank you so much to True North Country Comics Podcast for having me on their amazing comics podcast to talk about Vidal 🧡🧡🪬🎨📚It the first graphic novel podcast I've ever been part of, and I had such a great time. I love their interviews so much. It was a wonderful conversation, and you can listen to it in full here, thanks again so much for having me https://truenorthcountrycomics.com/2026/09/02/dani

I was so honoured when the Jewish Book Council asked me to write about my own family’s Sephardic history (and how it relates to Vidal) Vidal is a work of fiction, but parts of the story are based on my family’s history and I’m so honoured to get to share part of it here 🧡🧡🪬🎨📚 https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-daily/painting-my-familys-moroccan-sephardic-jewish-story

It was such a lovely surprise to hear that A Place For People Like Us is a finalist in the 2026 CIPA EVVY award (Collective of Independent Publishers and Authors - CIPA in the US) in the Literary and Contemporary Fiction category, alongside books I've loved like Meg Richman ‘s Freya the Deer. Thanks as always to my awesome publisher Guernica Editions for all of the support 💗💗📚🎉 you can see the whole finalist's list here: https://www.cipabooks.com/cipa-evvy-2026-finalists

I’m so incredibly excited for the official Toronto launch of Vidal on September 9th🧡🧡 I wanted to write and illustrate this story for so long, and it's such a joy to be able to share it, with you and with the world soon. The launch will be hosted and presented by Koffler Arts, and I will be in conversation with the incredible Gary Barwin (https://garybarwin.com/) whose writing and music and art is so inspiring. We will also have some of the original art from Vidal, some Sep