Marlene van Niekerk and Michiel Heyns Win the Sunday Times Fiction Prize
In a night of firsts, the 2007 Sunday Times Fiction Prize was awarded to a translated work, Marlene van Niekerk’s Agaat, which was rendered into English by Michiel Heyns. Heyns’ translation is published by Jonathan Ball.
In what must surely be another first, van Niekerk and Heyns were also singled out for an honorable mention, for their collaboration on the “novel with paintings”, Memorandum – illustrated by Adriaan van Zyl and also published in both English and Afrikaans.
Upon accepting the Fiction Award, it was Heyns who gushed the most, thanking the judges for recognizing the art of translation. Translators, he explained, were often considered the Cinderellas of the literary world, with very few opportunities to “go to the ball”.
The prize, worth R75 000, is Africa’s largest for fiction, and is the counterpart to the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award. (The latter prize also saw a first, in that the winner, Ivan Vladislavic, is the only one to have also one the Fiction Prize.)
Imraan Coovadia won the R10 000 runner-up prize, for his novel Green-Eyed Thieves, published by Umuzi. Here he is, receiving the award from Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya:
More ST Lit Awards coverage coming soon!
Book Details
- Agaat
by Marlene van Niekerk
EAN: 9781868422562
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Apr
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