Header image taken by Victor Dlamini
Mongane Wally Serote has been announced as South Africa’s new Poet Laureate at the 2018 South African Literary Awards ceremony.
Serote becomes South Africa’s third poet laureate, after Mazisi Kunene and Keorapetse Kgositsile, who died in January.
Now in their thirteenth year, the SALAs are awarded annually by the wRite Associates and the Department of Arts and Culture to celebrate literary excellence in all the languages of South Africa.
Twenty-three authors were shortlisted this year, from a total of just under two hundred submissions, and two additional award categories were announced: the Novel Award and the Children’s Literature Award.
Each award category winner receives a trophy, certificate and R30,000 prize money. The Poet Laureate is awarded R100,000.
Hermann Giliomee and Ronnie Kasrils were honoured with Lifetime Achievement Literary Awards, while photographer Peter Magubane received the Chairperson’s Award. Leon Rousseau and SM Mofokeng were honoured with Posthumous Literary Awards.
Dan Sleigh won the inaugural Novel Award for his book 1795, while Malebo Sephodi took home the First-time Published Author Award for her memoir Miss Behave.
The Poetry Award went to Kelwyn Sole for his collection Walking, Falling.
The Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award was jointly awarded to Nick Mulgrew, for The First Law of Sadness, and Nicole Jaekel Strauss for As in die mond.
There were no nominations this year for the K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award, for novels written by authors under forty.
Morakabe Seakhoa, SALA project director, says: ‘The main aim of the South African Literary Awards is to pay tribute to South African writers who have distinguished themselves as groundbreaking producers and creators of literature, while it 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.
‘SALA continue continues to remain prestigious and respected literary accolades in the South African literary landscape.’
Paying tribute to South African writers who have distinguished themselves as ground breaking producers and creators of literature.
All the best to the 2018 nominees. You are all winners and we look forward to celebrating all of you tonight.#SALA2018 #Writers #AfricanWriters pic.twitter.com/1orNcqPsVn
— #SALA2018 (@SALA_Awards) November 6, 2018
Serote received a standing ovation:
Standing ovation as the legendary Mogane Wally Serote receives his award. #SALA2018 #AfricanWriters #Writers #CelebratingLegends pic.twitter.com/39YuQYlZeG
— #SALA2018 (@SALA_Awards) November 6, 2018
2018 South African Literary Awards winners
Category: Children’s Literature Award
| Author | Publications | Language |
| Marilyn J Honikman | There Should Have Been Five | English |
| Jaco Jacobs | Daar is nie ʼn krokodil in hierdie boek nie | Afrikaans |
| Jaco Jacobs | Moenie hierdie boek eet nie! | Afrikaans |
Category: Novel Award
| Author | Book title | Language |
| Dan Sleigh | 1795 | Afrikaans |
Category: First-time Published Author Award
| Author | Book title | Language |
| Malebo Sephodi | Miss Behave | English |
Category: Literary Journalism Award
| Sam Mathe |
Category: Poetry Award
| Author | Book title | Language |
| Kelwyn Sole | Walking, Falling | English |
Category: Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award
| Author | Book title | Language |
| Nick Mulgrew | The First Law of Sadness | English |
| Nicole Jaekel Strauss | As in die mond | Afrikaans |
Category: Creative Non-fiction Award
| Author | Book title | Language |
| Jurgen Schadeberg | The Way I See It | English |
Category: Literary Translators Award
| Author | Book title | Language |
| Jeff Opland and Peter Mtuze | Umoya Wembongi: Collected Poems 1922–1935) by John Solilo | isiXhosa to English |
Category: Posthumous Literary Award
| Leon Rousseau and SM Mofokeng |
Category: Chairperson’s Award
| Peter Magubane |
Category: Lifetime Achievement Literary Award
| Author | Book title | Language |
| Hermann Giliomee | Body of work | Afrikaans |
| Ronnie Kasrils | Body of work | English |
Category: National Poet Laureate
| Mongane Wally Serote |
See also:
- 2017 South African Literary Awards winners announced
- ‘Smaller’: New short fiction from Nick Mulgrew’s forthcoming collection, The First Law of Sadness
- A steady vigil over the slow death of the anti-apartheid dream: Rustum Kozain reviews Kelwyn Sole’s latest poetry collection, Walking, Falling
- ‘Spending time with Bra Willie is the closest thing to being in touch with the soul of this country’: Read Mandla Langa’s Introduction to Keorapetse Kgositsile’s Homesoil in My Blood
Congratulations, Wally.