The timeless charm of print

New magazine for book lovers!

For as long as I can remember I’ve had a fascination with, and admiration for, the incredible world of print media. As a child in Middelburg, I used to disappear into the stories of glamour, fashion, travel and creativity of my mother’s fashion magazines, while my grandmother’s old culinary magazines paved the way for my journey into the culinary world, and eventually, my own publications.

One of the proudest moments in my career was publishing my first cookbook, The French Affair: Tables of Love in 2013. Holding your first book in your hands is an incredible experience, and in a world of neverending apps, digital clouds and web browsing it’s a great pleasure to see all your blood, sweat and tears beautifully bound in a tangible product that might become a treasured coffee table piece in homes from South Africa to France and beyond.

In 2016 I followed The French Affair with my second cookbook, JAN: A Breath of French Air, and I’m thrilled that my third title, the Klein JAN Cookbook, featuring 150 home-style recipes inspired by the Kalahari, will be on shelf before the end of this year.

Books aside, I also have a profound appreciation for the world of magazines, with my love for photography stemming from my days at Elle under legendary editor Jackie Burger. I love magazines so much, I always knew that I would one day want to have one of my own. That dream came true when, in 2018, I published the first ever JAN the Journal, my biannual food and lifestyle publication. It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since we took our first leap with the Journal, but today we’re celebrating the soon-to-be launched JAN the Journal Volume 8.

In this evocative issue, I share a conversation I had with world-renowned chef Massimo Bottura, one of my biggest idols, and visit Chanel’s perfumery in Grasse during a jasmine harvest. But this edition also takes on some of the bigger topics around food at the moment, such as our relationship with eating, and imagines a world without plastic. Through a series of beautiful fashion shoots, the book also explores the joys of gelato and looks at fashion’s survivalist movement while going on a jaunt through the Green Kalahari. And in a leisurely travelogue section, Journal 8 heads to Mozambique to visit an exotic, completely self-sustaining community on the Nhamabwue peninsula.

It’s no small feat curating 300 pages of lifestyle articles, meticulously tried and tested recipes and high-quality photography, not to mention countless trips to and from the publishers, but each time I hold a new Journal in my hands I’m blown away by what we’ve created. My favourite part of the process is imagining our readers flipping through the end product and ear marking articles they’d like to revisit, save for later or would like to share with a loved one, and I’m reminded that I’m part of a passionate global tribe as in love with print as I am.

Keeping up to date with publishing news

If you’re like me and love to keep up with the world of publishing, Penguin Random House has recently launched a new magazine for bibliophiles to stay up to date with the latest titles and news. The Penguin Post is a must-read for book lovers in the know and is bursting with informative features centred around the latest and greatest books.

In their latest issue they showcase Will Smith’s brand-new memoir, Will, along with an extract from Glennon Doyle’s memoir, Untamed. They also share exclusive interviews with authors like Lee Child and Elizabeth Strout, and feature a column from Tannie Maria author, Sally Andrew. I know I’ve got my holiday reading sorted.

The Penguin Post also makes gifting this December easier with a shortlist of the best of the best, including a special edition of Charlie Mackesy’s beloved book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, and one lucky reader stands a chance of winning a book hamper valued at R2 000!

The best part? The Penguin Post is free and is available online and in bookstores nationwide.