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18 authors shortlisted for the South African Literary Awards

The moment of glory beckons for 18 authors shortlisted for this year’s South African Literary Awards (SALA). The 18 writers were selected from a total of 132 submissions and the winners will be announced on 7 November, at a prestigious event at the University of South Africa (Unisa). The awards are the most prestigious and respected literary accolades in the country’s effervescent literary landscape.

Published

9 years ago

October 12, 2016

This Is Africa

Nominees for this year’s South African Literary Awards (SALA) have been revealed. 18 authors from a total of 132 submissions have been shortlisted and the winners will be announced on 7 November, at a prestigious event to be held at the University of South Africa (Unisa).

Celebrating the 11th anniversary of existence, the awards were founded in 2005 by the wRite associates, in partnership with the national Department of Arts and Culture, as a platform to honour authors, writers, poets and literary practitioners who made and continue to make a contribution in the literary landscape in South Africa.

The awards ceremony will be preceded by the 5^th Africa Century International African Writers Conference, also taking place at Unisa on the same day. This year, the SALAs are being held in partnership with Unisa’s Department of English Studies in delivering both the awards ceremony and the Conference.

The awards are the most prestigious and respected literary accolades in the country’s effervescent literary landscape. Photo: SALA

SALA says while South African literature continues to flourish, with many young writers coming into the scene, sharing platforms with experienced writers, it’s concerning that there are “less and less of works written in African languages”.

The main aim of the awards is to pay tribute to writers who have distinguished themselves as ground-breaking producers and creators of literature. SALA also “celebrates literary excellence in the depiction and sharing of South Africa’s histories, value systems and philosophies and art as inscribed and preserved in all the languages of South Africa, particularly the official languages”.

Going forward, the SALA Adjudication Panel recommended literary workshops and symposia with stakeholders, especially writers, publishers and editors, to address concerns regarding the standard and quality of some of the work, especially in African languages, that SALA has been receiving over time. This would be in line with one of the objectives of SALA,“to promote and preserve all our languages”.

To date, SALA has honoured 161 authors, amongst them Nobel Laureate, Nadine Gordimer, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Mazisi Kunene, Zakes Mda, novelist Kgebetli Moele, and many others.

The 2016 SALA Shortlist

Posthumous Literary Award

TT Cloete – Body of work

Chris van Wyk – Body of work

Poetry Award

Gilbert Gibson, Vry-

Athol Williams, Bumper Cars

Arja Salafranca, Beyond Touch

Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award

Danie Marais, Pruimtwak en skaduboksers

Sandra Hill, UnSettled and Other Stories

Literary Translators Award