Karina Author, Book, Literary Award, Literary Awards

Nick Clelland’s GOOD HOPE shortlisted for the SALA Novel Award

The 20th edition of the South African Literary Awards is set to take place on 11 November 2025 at the Roodepoort Theatre and Museum and we are delighted to announce that Nick Clelland’s Good Hope has been shortlisted for the Novel Award. Congratulations, Nick and all other shortlisted authors!

Read the official press release: SALA Announces the 2025 Shortlisted Nominees

Karina Author, Book, Prize

CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa shortlist announced!

The shortlist for the CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa — honouring the publishers who bring bold, brilliant African stories to the world — has been announced and we are thrilled that Thobeka Yose’s In Silence My Heart Speaks is among the selected titles. Congratulations to all shortlisted authors and publishers!

Thobeka, literary love and gratitude for the grace, courage and compassion with which you have shared your story with readers!


Meet all five unforgettable books chosen by the judging panel, chaired by Prof. Egara Kabaji:
 
• ‘No Pink in a Rainbow’ by Angel Patricks Amegbe, published by Masobe Books – A profound meditation on loss and the enduring power of quiet love, beautifully crafted both in prose and in print.
• ‘Dear Zimi’ by Chiziterem Chijioke, published by Quramo Publishing – A tender, courageous story of motherhood and resilience, positioning Chijioke as a significant voice in contemporary African literature.
• ‘The Comrade’s Wife’ by Barbara Boswell, published by Jacana Media – A bold, emotionally honest narrative that confronts personal and political betrayal in post-apartheid South Africa with feminist clarity.
• ‘Broken: Not a Halal Love Story’ by Fatima Bala, published by Masobe Books – A moving exploration of faith, identity, and forbidden love, balancing personal truth with spiritual devotion.
• ‘In Silence My Heart Speaks’ by Thobeka Yose, published by Karavan Press – A luminous memoir tackling mental health, abuse, betrayal, and sexual identity with honesty and defiance.
 
The winner will be revealed at CANEX@IATF2025 in Algiers, Algeria (4–10 September 2025) – the ultimate gathering for Africa’s creative industries.
 
Whether you’re a reader, writer, or culture lover, these books belong on your list.

Karina Author, Book, Literary Awards

Dawn Garisch wins the Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award for her collection, What Remains

We are delighted to announce that Dawn Garisch won SALA‘s Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award 2024 for her collection, What Remains! This is the second prestigious award for What Remains. It also won the HSS Award for Best Fiction Short Stories earlier this year. Congratulations Dawn and What Remains!

The Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award is one of the South African Literature Awards (SALA). This year, two other Karavan Press titles featured on the SALA shortlists: Sipho Banda’s A Crowded Lonely Walk was nominated for the Poetry Award, and Diane Awerbuck’s Inside your body there are flowers was also nominated for Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award. Congratulations to all nominated writers and books! And thank you, Dawn, Sipho and Diane for your amazing contributions to short story writing and poetry.

For the full announcement of this year’s SALA winners, please see: “SALA announces 2024 winners” (LitNet)

Karina Author, Book, Literary Awards, Prize

The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize

The shortlists of the 2024 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been announced today and The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown features on the Fiction Prize shortlist.

Fiction Prize Criteria

The winner should be a novel of rare imagination and style, evocative, textured and a tale so compelling as to become an enduring landmark of contemporary fiction.

Judges:

Siphiwo Mahala
Dr Alma-Nelisha Cele
Michele Magwood

CHAIR OF JUDGES SIPHIWO MAHALA SAYS:

The judging panel approached the books entered for this year’s Fiction Prize with a keen interest to delve into a world of the unknown. In turn, we were introduced to a kaleidoscopic array of writing from both the seasoned and emerging writers alike. The result was a pleasantly edifying and exhilarating experience, as reading these novels was embarking on a journey punctuated with diverse themes, surprising and experimental narrative styles and boundless imagery. The wide range of settings, encompassing familiar and unfamiliar locations, bears testament to the universality of our stories and illustrate that our narratives transcend the realist preoccupations with the present moment. These five shortlisted novels, each in its own unique way, represent masterful works of rare, unfettered and powerful imagination. 

Here is the fiction shortlist in order of the author’s surname:

  • Buried Treasure by Sven Axelrad (Umuzi)
  • The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown (Karavan Press)
  • The Egg Dilemma by Morabo Morojele (Jacana)
  • The Institute for Creative Dying by Jarred Thompson (Picador Africa)
  • Mirage by David Ralph Viviers (Umuzi)

The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown (Karavan Press)
Written before the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip on October 7, Brown’s latest novel is set against the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A retired detective in Tel Aviv and Palestinian doctor in Gaza with a shared past, must resolve their differences to investigate a murder. 
Judges said: A harrowing account of a moment of strife, beautifully told. The author, endowed with vivid imagination coupled with acumen and erudition, deftly immerses the reader in a brutal and bewildering landscape. A wholly sublime narrative, this novel is contemporaneous, daring, complex and aesthetically pleasing.

Read the full press release here: Sunday Times

Karina Author, Book, Literary Award

SMALL SOULS by Stephen Symons shortlisted for the SALA Poetry Award

The shortlisted nominees of the S.A. Literary Awards 2023 have been announced and we are delighted to report that Small Souls by Stephen Symons was shortlisted for the Poetry Award.

“The 34-strong panel of judges of the South African Literary Awards (SALA) spent months rigorously reading, scrutinising, and scoring the over 200 books that answered to the Call for Submissions issued in November 2022. […] The huge number and diversity of books submitted are a testimony to the amazing journey SALA has travelled since the inaugural ceremony held at the Durban International Convention Centre, Kwa-Zulu Natal, on the 5th March 2005, in honour of South Africa’s world-renowned scholar, author, eminent yet unsung poet of majestic epics and literary genius, Prof. Mazisi Kunene.” (SALA)

Poetry Award

  • Vuyisile Msila – Yombela
  • Kaka Mokakale – Tswina ya poko
  • Anelisa Thengimfene – Amajingiqhiw’ entlalo
  • Michèle Betty – Dark Horse
  • Stephen Symons – Small Souls: New and Collected Poems

Congratulations to Stephen and all other shortlisted authors!

The 18th SALA Awards handover ceremony will take place on 7th November 2023.

For more information, click here: S.A. Literary Awards 2023

Karina Author, Book, Prize

THE OTHER ME by JOY WATSON shortlisted for the UJ Debut Prize

Announcement of the UJ Prize Shortlists (Debut Prize and Main Prize) for Works Published in 2022

The University of Johannesburg Prize (UJ Prize) for South African Writing is delighted to announce the shortlist for books published in 2022. The UJ Prize opened for submissions on 25 October 2022 and closed on 31 January 2023.

We received a record number of entries this year, and a panel comprised of seven judges considered the submissions. Following a rigorous adjudication process, the judges have shortlisted the following books in the respective categories:

Debut Prize

  • Boy on the Run (novel) by Welcome Mandla Lishivha
  • The Other Me (novel) by Joy Watson
  • Things My Mother Left Me (novel) by Pulane Mpondo

Main Prize

  • An Angel’s Demise (novel) by Sue Nyathi
  • Greyheart (poetry) by Lesego Rampolokeng
  • How to be a Revolutionary (novel) by C.A. Davids

The panel of judges drawn from three different universities around South Africa, selected these six titles out of more than 100 entries. “The overwhelming response to the prize is indicative of the growth and diversity of South African writing,” said Professor Ronit Frenkel, Chairperson of judges and Head of the English Department at the University of Johannesburg.

The final results will be announced on 14 September 2023.

Congratulations, Joy, and all other shortlisted writers!

Karina Author, Book, Competition

Karavan Press author Michael Boyd shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2023

It gives us great joy to announce that Karavan Press author Michael Boyd has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2023 with his story “Mama Blue”. Michael’s debut novel, The Weight of Shade, is forthcoming from Karavan Press.

“The story of a man remembering his life through the memories of his neighbour, Mama Blue. With touches of the magical, ‘Mama Blue’ is about hope in our ever-changing world, and how we can use the past to look forward.”

You can listen to Michael talk about his story here: “Mama Blue”

Congratulations, Michael, and all shortlisted authors!

Look out for The Weight of Shade, a haunting, gothic tale that explores the bearing of the past on our lives and whether we can ever escape the circumstances thrust upon us.

Karina Author, Book, Prize

UJ Prize shortlist clarification

As many of you would have seen when the original press release about the University of Johannesburg Prize for Creative Writing shortlists went out on 15 September, our A Hibiscus Coast by Nick Mulgrew was included — troublingly, however, for the debut prize.

But the novel is the author’s fourth book, a fact clearly stated both inside the book and on its cover. 

We were thrilled nevertheless, because we thought that the inclusion of the novel might have been a simple administrative mix-up, and that the novel belonged on the main category’s shortlist.

When we asked for clarification before making an official announcement on our side, however, the response was:

“Unfortunately, the UJ literary prize panel erroneously shortlisted Nick Mulgrew’s The [sic] Hibiscus Coast as a debut publication. As his publisher pointed out that he had published creative writing previously, we have removed this wonderful book from the debut shortlist. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.”

With considerable disappointment, therefore, the book has been withdrawn entirely from consideration for the University of Johannesburg Prizes.

Thank you to all who congratulated Nick and Karavan Press after the initial press release. We are celebrating this exceptional novel (shortlist or no shortlist) and continue to congratulate the shortlisted authors.

Here is the updated, correct (sadly for us), press release: JRB.