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!
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.
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.
The shortlists of the prestigious Sunday Times Literary Awards have been announced and we are thrilled that An Island by Karen Jennings is nominated for the Fiction Prize! Congratulations, Karen, and all the other shortlisted authors.
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: Ekow Duker (chair), Nomboniso Gasa, Kevin Ritchie
CHAIR OF JUDGES EKOW DUKER SAYS:
I’m sure we can all remember our school days when the teacher would pose a question to the class. Some pupils would immediately strain to answer. Others might look at each other in puzzlement, the answer tantalisingly out of reach. This year’s judging of the Fiction Prize was a little like that. Some novels by their magisterial telling of an important story, screamed at the judges to, “Pick me! Pick me!”. Others were more restrained, quietly confident in their ability to narrate a memorable tale. Each of the five books that made this year’s shortlist met the criteria but in remarkably different ways. An Island by Karen Jennings is a masterful depiction of a fragile life lived in near-solitude. With its cast of indentured labourers and colonial administrators, Joanne Joseph’s Children of Sugarcane took us on a meticulously detailed journey from India to the cruel fields of Natal, and back again. All Gomorrahs Are The Same by Thenjiwe Mswane gently lifts the veil of familiarity that shrouds the existence of three women, allowing us a powerfully intimate view into their inner lives. Damon Galgut’s The Promise, winner of the 2021 Booker Prize, is a compelling study of a once privileged family in terminal decline. Finally, and without any warning to buckle up, Junx by Tshidiso Moletsane, flung us headlong into the exhilaration of inner-city Joburg.
AN ISLAND KAREN JENNINGS (Karavan Press)
Jennings doesn’t continue the postmodernist leitmotifs of living on an island which were established by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and JM Coetzee’s response to it in Foe. Our reviewer wrote: “Instead of writing ‘back’ to another text, she digs deeper into the long term impact of a colonist rule, and the twisted dictatorship that follows it. This allegorical tale could be read as a warning of the long lasting impact of fear, violence, depravity and poverty and the role isolation plays in feeding these conditions.” Our judges said: “Haunting in its depiction of a life lived in solitude, where the past is more real than the present. She is masterful in building the suspense, stone by blood-soaked stone.”
Congratulations to Lester – we are so proud! – all the other shortlisted authors, and the winner of the subcategory: Nthikeng Mohlele!
Congratulations also to the winner of the Best Fiction Edited Volume subcategory: Hauntings edited by Niq Mhlongo. The anthology includes short stories by Lester Walbrugh and Joanne Hichens!
Two Kalk Bay locals are shortlisted for the 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards: Dawn Garisch for Breaking Milk (Fiction Award) and Mark Gevisser for The Pink Line: Journeys Across the World’s Queer Frontiers (Non-fiction Award). Earlier tonight, Dawn and Mark were in conversation with Olympia’s Kenneth McClarty and spoke about their books and writing lives on the outdoor terrace of the Chartfield Guesthouse, where we had also launched Dawn’s Disturbance towards the end of last year.
Thank you Dawn, Mark, Kenneth, Audrey of Kalk Bay Books and the fabulous people of Chartfield Guesthouse for a fascinating evening of stories. It was simply wonderful to attend a live book event and celebrate these two brilliant writers with other readers.
The Red Wheelbarrow held their first poetry competition and announced their shortlist of eleven poets from which the prize winners will be selected. Congratulations to these fantastic poets, among them Stephen Symons, the author of FOR EVERYTHING THAT IS POINTLESS AND PERFECT!
