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27th
July 2010
SOUTH
AFRICAN LITERARY AWARDS (SALA) ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF THE 2009
EDITION.
THE Deputy Minister of Arts and
Culture, Mr. Paul Mashatile, announced seventeen (17) winners of
the 2009 South African Literary Awards (SALA) today at a media
convention held at the South African Broadcasting Corporation
(SABC). These Awards, the country’s premier all-language and
multi-genre literary accolades, also celebrate their fifth (5th)
anniversary this year, and the winners are:
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CATEGORY
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WINNER
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1.K.
Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award
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*
Chris Marnewick for Shepherds
and Butchers, in English.
*
H.R. Tshianane for Vhuanzwo in
Tshivenda.
*
Kabelo D. Kgatea for Monwana wa Bosupa, in Setswana.
*
Siphatheleni Kula for Inkawu idliw’ilila, in isiXhosa.
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2.Literary
Translators Award
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Ingrid
and Dirk Winterbach for Die
boek van toeval en verlaat, from Afrikaans to English.
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3.
Literary Journalism Award
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*
Karabo Kgoleng- Electronic Media
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Maureen Isaacson- Print Media
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4.Nadine
Gordimer Short Story Award
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J.J
Ngcongwane for Tikhatsi
Letimatima, in siSwati.
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5.Literary
Lifetime Achievement Award
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*
Abraham De Vries: Oeuvre (in Afrikaans)
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Matthew J. Mngadi: Oeuvre (in IsiZulu)
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6.Posthumous
Literary Award
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Sol Plaatje: Oeuvre (across languages)
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Etienne le Roux: Oeuvre (in Afrikaans)
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W.K. Tamsanqa: Oeuvre (in isiXhosa)
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7.Poetry
Award
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Mxolisi Nyezwa for New
Country * Loftus Marais for Staan
in die algemeen nader aan vensters.
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8.
First-time Published Author Award
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Diale
Thlolwe for Ancient
Rites
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“Our primary aim is to take South
Africa’s literary heritage to greater heights”, says Raks
Morakabe Seakhoa, the Project Director of SALA.
“Through SALA, we contribute to the
nourishment of the minds of the South African society. The
celebration of our rich and diversified literary culture is
crucial to the fundamental transformation project of the
country’s socio-economic, political and cultural landscape”,
he continues.
He adds that the Awards serve as a
platform to promote the appreciation of our indigenous languages
and the lack of adequate recognition of our writers.
“The S.A Literary Awards endeavour
to address the aforementioned challenges while creating an
enabling environment for the South African society to explore and
demonstrate our literary wealth and worth. We also take this
opportunity to congratulate the winners and all those who
submitted their entries in various categories and languages.”
South Africa’s chief arts and
culture funding body, the National Arts Council (NAC), joins the
strategic partnership in strengthening the SALA project.
Says the NAC’s CEO, Ms Annabell
Lebethe, “we found it critical to support this initiative
because it is a sterling contribution to the development and
preservation of the country’s literary and cultural heritage”.
“This
partnership”, continues Ms Lebethe, “serves to contribute to
the broader strategic objective of the NAC to create a
co-ordinated strategy aimed at leaving an everlasting and
developmental legacy for the literary artistic community in years
to come”.
This
would be underpinned by a creative writing skills development
programme currently being finalised and to be announced soon,
concluded Ms Lebethe.
The panel of judges lauded one of the
three winners in the Posthumous Literary Award category, the
legendary political activist and writer, Sol Tshekiso Plaatje, for
being “a pioneering wordsmith and a freedom fighter with a
perceptive mind, always yearning for peace. His bravery in the
face of colonial adversity is a rare quality that sets him apart
from authors of his generation. As one of the early African
intellectuals, he used his literary, journalistic and translation
skills and talents to advance an African nationalist agenda, and
inspire hope and pride among the oppressed people of the world.”
Plaatje is the first black South
African to write a novel in English. The novel was entitled Mhudi
and is considered a classic with immeasurable literary merit. He
has also translated several books, including William
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar into Setswana, his mother tongue.
Plaatje collected numerous Setswana proverbs, thus preserving the
linguistic heritage of the Batswana, in particular and South
Africans, in general.
The judges also praised one of the
joint winners of the Literary Journalism Award, Maureen Isaacson,
editor of the weekly Sunday Independent’s book page for her
insightful perspective into the literary landscape.
“We salute Isaacson for her
admirable courage, unshaken consistency and steely determination
that have seen her maintain the literary pages in an environment
where literary journalism is somewhat moribund and has been placed
on the back burner in most newspapers of our country.”
Issued
by: The
wRite associates Tel:
011-791 3585 Email: info@sala.org.za
Website: ww.sala.org.za
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