by Lindsay on 22 May 2013
Alert! The Sylt Foundation has named Nigerian author Chika Unigwe as the winner of the 2013 Sylt Foundation African Writer’s Residency Award. Unigwe won the Nigerian Prize for Literature last year for her novel, On Black Sisters’ Street.
Indra Wussow, Veronique Tadjo and Helon Habila were tasked with choosing the winner from a shortlist, which included Yewande Omotoso, Ufrieda Ho, Zinaid Meeran and Maaza Mengiste.
Unigwe will be granted a two month residency on the island of Sylt, off the coast of Hamburg, Germany, as part of the Sylt Foundation’s multi-disciplinary Residency Programme. Congratulations!
Chika Unigwe has been selected as the 2013 winner of the Sylt Foundation African Writer’s Residency Award. Unigwe, from Nigeria, will travel to the Sylt Foundation’s headquarters within the next few months. This new residency opportunity is to be awarded annually to writers of contemporary African literature.
The four finalists shortlisted by the three selectors: Indra Wussow, Veronique Tadjo and renowned literary writer and academic Professor Helon Habila, were all very strong contenders. Unigwe was selected as a worthy recipient of the 2013 award. The Sylt Foundation called in November 2012 for writers of contemporary African literature to apply for this two month African Writer’s Residency, offered as part of the Sylt Foundation’s multi-disciplinary Residency Programme.
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by Carolyn on 21 May 2013
By Jackie May for The Times
Shortlists for the Sunday Times Literary Awards 2013 in association with CNA, were announced at the Franschhoek Literary Festival. The writers report back.
CHRIS WADMAN
The Unlikely Genius of Dr Cuthbert Kambazuma, (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
Where were you when you heard the news of your shortlisting?
I was at the announcement event at the literary festival in Franschhoek.
How did you celebrate?
I had a double scotch and then did a sequence of flick-flacks all the way down the high street.
What is the best line in your book?
There are a number of lines that I am fond of, but I like the opening two lines best in terms of setting the tone. “It takes a special calibre of man to slice, peel and consume an over-ripe mango while manoeuvring, with only one knee, the antiquated oversized steering wheel of a battered Zupco omnibus hurtling along at breakneck speed. Teddington Chiwafambira, was, indeed, just such a man.”
Which book would you like to see win?
I haven’t yet read the other books so I’ll have to go along with my own.
- The Unlikely Genius of Dr Cuthbert Kambazuma is published by Jonathan Ball
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IMRAAN COOVADIA
The Institute for Taxi Poetry, (Umuzi)
Where were you when you heard the news of your shortlisting?
In Cape Town. At home.
How did you celebrate?
I didn’t. Writers are better at funerals than weddings.
What is the best line in your book?
I admire the title very much.
Which book would you like to see win?
In most novels, wishes are even more dangerous than vampires. Having said that, I’d like a book that’s better than mine to win. And most of all I wish that readers and books can encounter one another in a country beyond prizes.
- The Institute for Taxi Poetry is published by Umuzi
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KAREN JAYES
For the Mercy of Water (Penguin)
Where were you when you heard the news of your shortlisting?
I was lucky enough to be in Franschhoek at the event.
How did you celebrate?
Inside I felt very shiny and wobbly and happy, like a bowl full of red jelly. I went home with some very special friends, and chatted over tea until we all felt sleepy.
What is the best line in your book?
“Where the water widened, the sun cut it into silver splinters, as if slicing the fabric of a painting to reveal a glimpse of a hidden country behind it, lit by thousands of sunken lights.”
Which book would you like to see win?
I’ll leave that one to the judges.
- For the Mercy of Water is published by Penguin Books SA
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STEVEN BOYKEY SIDLEY
Entanglement (Picador Africa)
Where were you when you heard the news of your shortlisting?
I heard the news of the shortlisting when they called out my name. I had decided to go with my wife, books columnist Kate Sidley. So serendipity reigned.
How did you celebrate?
Table-hopping a post-event restaurant with Moeletsi Mbeki, Ray Hartley, Mandy Wiener, Edyth Bulbring, Paige Nick, Louis Greenberg, Rachel Zadok, and uber agent Isobel Dixon, after which we moved to a pub, I think it was called The Elephant and Barred. It was a big night, and I am not authorised to tell all.
What is the best line in your book?
My protagonist is grumping about content on the internet: “This democratisation of information strikes him as so much chaff, a chaotic jumble of bits, all treated equally without fear or favour, with no way to adjudge veracity or excellence, no way to separate signal from noise.”
Which book would you like to see win?
Come on, that’s not fair.
- Entanglement is published by Pan Macmillan
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JAMES WHYLE
The Book of War (Jacana)
Where were you when you heard the news of your shortlisting?
At home. [Publisher] Maggie Davey called and said: “Are you sitting down?”
How did you celebrate?
I had a whisky. In a bar. With rugby on the TV.
What is the best line in your book?
“First published by Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd in 2012.”
Have you read any of the other shortlisted books?
I have read very little that was written after 1850.
Which book would you like to see win?
The best one.
- The Book of War is published by Jacana Media
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Also read the interviews with the Alan Paton Award shortlistees.
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by Carolyn on 21 May 2013
By Jackie May for The Times
Shortlists for the Sunday Times Literary Awards 2013 in association with CNA, were announced at the Franschhoek Literary Festival. The writers report back.
JACQUES PAUW
Rat Roads (Zebra Press)
Where were you when you heard the news of your shortlisting?
I was at the announcement in Franschhoek. I didn’t plan to go, but partner-in-crime and fellow author Julian Rademeyer and my partner, Sam, dragged me to the event.
How did you celebrate?
We had dinner with Jenny Crwys-Williams and a handful of other authors and readers at the spectacular Pierneef restaurant at the La Motte wine estate. First we had cap classique, then dipped into the estate’s delicious sauvignon blanc. It was a rather joyous affair and ended at midnight scouring the village for an open bar.
What is the best line in your book?
“This is a book about barabara ya panya – a Swahili proverb that means the roads of the rat, those little paths that you take in order not be seen and to stay alive.”
Have you read any of the other shortlisted books?
I’ve been involved with Julian’s Killing for Profit from the outset. Julian and I are close friends and started writing our books at the same time for the same publisher. We supported one another and read one another’s finished chapters.
It’s important to have this kind of support when one embarks on a writing journey.
Xolela’s Biko is in my bookshelf and Redi is definitely a must-read.
Which book would you like to see win?
Killing for Profit. I’ve seldom seen such dedication from any person embarking on a long-term and difficult project. He gave up his job to write this book. No wonder we now call him Renoster Rademeyer.
- Rat Roads is published by Zebra Press
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JULIAN RADEMEYER
Killing for Profit, (Zebra Press)
Where were you when you heard the news of your shortlisting?
At the announcement.
How did you celebrate?
I drank fine Franschhoek valley wine with friends. Oh, and a brandy and coke with Jacques Pauw.
What is the best line in your book?
You’d have to ask someone who has read the book for an objective opinion. I’d tell you that there are too many good lines to mention just one.
Which book would you like to see win?
Mine, of course.
- Killing for Profit is published by Zebra Press
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HERMANN GILIOMEE
The Last Afrikaner Leaders, (Tafelberg)
Where were you when you heard the news of your shortlisting?
Erika Oosthuysen, my publisher at Tafelberg, phoned from Franschhoek to tell me the news.
How did you celebrate?
My wife and I hugged each other.
What is the best line in your book?
A line from a letter in 1951 from the historian of world civilisations, Arnold Toynbee, to Piet Meyer, a correspondent in South Africa: “In South Africa you are faced with a situation that is going very soon to be the common situation of the world as a result of the annihilation of distance through the progress of Western technology. There will never be room in the world for the different fractions of mankind to retire into isolation from each other again.” This became the main theme of my book.
Which book would you like to see win?
I will decide after I have read the other books on the shortlist.
- The Last Afrikaner Leaders is published by Tafelberg
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XOLELA MANGCU
Biko: A biography, (Tafelberg)
Where were you when you heard the news of your shortlisting?
I was invited to the ceremony and thought I should attend, even if it meant risking the awkwardness that comes with not making it and still keep up a grin the whole evening. I thought I had a fair chance, though.
How did you celebrate?
With loads of cranberry juice. “Boring, boring boring,” I hear you say.
What is the best line in your book?
It is from the distinguished historian Jeff Peires: “A brilliant biography, a landmark in Biko studies.”
Which book would you like to see win?
I hope my book wins, of course. If not, then Redi’s. She’s a good friend and Biko would be proud. But as they say in sports, may the best book win.
- Biko: A Biography is published by Tafelberg
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REDI TLHABI
Endings and Beginnings (Jacana)
Where were you when you heard the news of your shortlisting?
At home, frying bacon and eggs for our Sunday morning brunch.
How did you celebrate?
Celebrate? I haven’t won. Of course I am pleased but celebrating should wait until an award is announced, surely?
Which book would you like to see win?
I don’t have a view on a specific book. I think all the shortlisted books are excellent and the authors have proven, some over many years, that they are formidable.
- Endings and Beginnings is published by Jacana Media
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by Lindsay on 21 May 2013
Times LIVE has shared their footage from the 2013 Sunday Times Literary Awards, held in Franschhoek on Saturday evening, during the Franschhoek Literary Festival. View the full Sunday Times Fiction Prize shortlist and the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award shortlist.
Watch as Tymon Smith announces the shortlists:
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by Carolyn on 18 May 2013
Alert! The 2013 Sunday Times Alan Paton Award shortlist has been announced at the Franschhoek Literary Festival. A longlist of 42 titles has been whittled down to five. In no particular order:
Have a look at last year’s shortlist, from which Hugh Lewin’s book emerged the winner, Stones Against the Mirror.
The winner of the 2013 edition of the R75 000 Sunday Times Alan Paton Award will be announced at a ceremony on 29 June. Best of luck to the shortlisted authors!
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by Carolyn on 18 May 2013
Alert! The Sunday Times Fiction Prize shortlist has been announced at the Franschhoek Literary Festival. This year’s judges have selected five novels from an initial longlist of 31.
In no particular order, the shortlist comprises:
Have a look at last year’s shortlist; Michiel Heyns won the prize for Lost Ground.
The winner of the R75 000 this year’s Sunday Times Fiction Prize will be announced at a ceremony on 29 June. Best of luck to the shortlisted authors!
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