The 2019 South African Literary Awards winners were announced tonight at a gala ceremony in Johannesburg, with The JRB’s nominees—Editor Jennifer Malec, City Editor Niq Mhlongo and Editorial Advisory Panel member and regular contributor Wamuwi Mbao—each collecting an award.
Malec and Mbao co-won the Literary Journalism Award, for their respective bodies of work, mainly as reflected in their reviews and essays for The JRB; and Mhlongo won the Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award, for his short story collection Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree.
The JRB extends congratulations to all winners—especially Jennifer, Niq and Wamuwi!
Here is the complete list of the 2019 SALA winners:
Category: Children’s Literature Award
| Winner | Book title | Language |
| Lebohang Masango | Mpumi’s Magic Beads | English |
Category: Youth Literature Award
| Winner | Book title | Language |
| Sally Partridge | Mine | English |
Category: First-time Published Literary Award
| Winner | Book title | Language |
| Bongani Ngqulunga | The Man Who Founded the ANC: A Biography of Pixley Ka Isaka Seme | English |
Category: Poetry Award
| Author | Book title | Language |
| Tony Ullyatt | An Unobtrusive Vice | English |
| Nathan Trantraal | Alles het niet kom wôd | Afrikaans |
| Ayanda Billie | Umhlaba Umanzi | isiXhosa |
Category: K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award
| Winner | Book title | Language |
| Chase Rhys | Kinnes | Afrikaans |
Category: Novel Award
| Winners | Book title | Language |
| Charl-Pierre Naudé | Die ongelooflike onskuld van Dirkie Verwey | Afrikaans |
| Sabata-mpho Mokae | Moletlo wa Manong | Setswana |
Category: Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award
| Winner | Book title | Language |
| Niq Mhlongo | Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree | English |
Category: Creative Non-Fiction Literary Award
| Winner | Book title | Language |
| Jonathan Jansen | As by Fire: The End of the South African University | English |
Category: Literary Translator’s Award
| Winner | Publications | Language |
| Michiel Heyns | Buys and Red Dog | Afrikaans to English |
Category: Literary Journalism Award
| Winners | Publications | Language |
| Jennifer Malec | Body of work | English |
| Wamuwi Mbao | Body of work | English |
Category: Lifetime Achievement Award
| Winners | Publications | Language |
| Louise Smit | Body of work | Afrikaans |
| Cornelius Tennyson Daniel (CTD) Marivate | Body of work | Xitsonga |
Winner: Posthumous Literary Award
| Cyril Lincoln Sibusiso Nyembezi |
Winner: Chairperson’s Award
| Lindiwe Mabuza |
