BOOK SA – News

Alert! BOOK SA’s Victor Dlamini shared the Literary Journalist of the Year award with the Sunday Times‘ Bongani Madondo at a gala banquet attended by glitterati and literati alike on Saturday night. It was an evening of song, dance, speeches and poems – an entirely fitting celebration for the third annual South African Literary Awards.

Imbongi Jessica Mbongeni, who stepped in at short notice, opened the ceremony with a superb performance, commanding the attention of all present.

Programme Director Motsumi Makhene began by saying that the awards were part of an effort to pay tribute to the icons and legends of the SA literary world.

“Writers are the custodians of our language and history, mirroring our being through storytelling,” he said. We need writers that will critically analyse, provoke and reveal to us the truth of the landscape. As we celebrate the history of our oral literature, we must also seek out a new set of practitioners in the cyber literature.” (The last comment a possible riposte to Doris Lessing’s castigation of the internet the night before?)

In her keynote address, Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture Ntombazana Botha highlighted the dearth of literature in African languages. “It is in the interests of all of us promote a culture of reading and to search out new authors writing in indigenous languages,” she said. “This country has many stories to tell.”

She further stressed the importance of preserving the nation’s stories for future generations and spoke of a forthcoming oral history project under the auspices of the Department of Arts and Culture that will document the lives and times of the South African people. “This should encourage the emergence of a new generation of writers and poets,” she said.

The SA Literary Awards recognises the achievements of South African writers who have contributed to the establishment of our literary canon, many of whom were never adequately recognised in their lifetimes. Phaswane Mphe was a recipient on Saturday night, as was Dalene Matthee.

They also recognise those who have spent a lifetime of endeavour in their field. Recipients of Literary Lifetime Achievement awards were Felix Thuketani, Max Marhanele, Ahmed Essop, Gladys Thomas, Oswald Mtshali and Stephen Gray – all present to receive them. Awards made in absentia went to Athol Fugard, Mongane Wally Serote and Sindiwe Magona.

The Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award for writing in an African language, meanwhile, went to Otty Nxumalo. Before presenting the award herself, Nobel laureate Gordimer said she was delighted to see Nutrend Publishers (a SALA sponsor) taking up the challenge of making books available in indigenous languages.

“Those who cannot read for pleasure in their mother tongue are being seriously deprived,” Gordimer said. “Television is no substitute for the book, which nurtures in the reader the ability to express onself through the written word. We need books in all the main language groups. Why are there no detective stories in Nguni? Under apartheid there was enough experience of the doings of the police to write a good crime novel. Where are the love stories in Sotho? We need epic literature, telling the story of the struggle in people’s mother tongues, so that people have a chance to relive the story of liberation. We have a treasure trove of stories in our land, in our time, just waiting to be written in the mother tongues.”

Another award category sought to single out emerging talents that warrant encouragement. The K. Sello Duiker Award was established to ensure that the young novelist’s memory lives on. Bruce Ngobeni received the award from the father and brothers of K. Sello Duiker.

How wonderful to be a literary fish swimming through such splendidly populated literary waters – and congratulations Victor! Here’s a gallery from the launch: