BOOK SA – News

Alert! Poet Megan Hall has won the Ingrid Jonker Prize for her collection of poems, Fourth Child, published by Modjaji Books.

The prize is awarded to the best debut collection of poems over a two-year span – two years because it alternates between English and Afrikaans each year – meaning Hall’s work, in the view of the judges, is the best English collection to have been published in both 2006 and 2007. The amount awarded has not yet been announced.

For this round, the judges comprised Gabeba Baderoon, Ingrid de Kok and Kobus Moolman (himself a past winner).

The prize is administered by the Ingrid Jonker Trust, set up by Jack Cope after Ingrid Jonker’s death in 1965. The present trust committee consists of Louis Esterhuizen, Rustum Kozain, Danie Marais and Zandra Bezuidenhout.

Hall will be appearing at the Book Lounge later this month with Finuala Dowling and Joan Meterlekamp, where she will read from Fourth Child

Congratulations to Megan Hall from BOOK SA!

• Purchase a copy of Fourth Child at your local bookstore, or write to modjaj@gmail.com for more information

Here is the judges’ official statement, which also notes Haidee Kruger’s lush:

PRECISION AND CRAFTMANSHIP HALLMARK OF THIS YEAR’S JONKER PRIZE

Megan Hall’s first collection of poems, Fourth Child, has been announced as the winner of this years’ Ingrid Jonker prize for English poetry. The award will be presented to Hall during a ceremony at the Stellenbosch “Versindaba” early in September.

The adjudicators’ committee consisted of poets Gabeba Baderoon, Kobus Moolman and Ingrid de Kok. Baderoon and Moolman commended the attentively crafted verse and powerful emotional effect of Hall’s work. The verse, mostly centering around grief and loss, is written with discretion and restraint, steering away from self-pity. “Images are sharp and unforgettable”, says Baderoon in her report. Moolman refers to Hall’s “accomplished and precise writing”. He mentions that although she does not display so much formal inventiveness, so that her poems may appear rather conservative and traditional, the sophistication of her imagery and the construction of her lines more than compensate for this.

An innovative volume of poems by Haidee Kruger, titled lush, was a close contender for the prize. However, according to Moolman, the deliberation and sensitivity in Hall’s writing ultimately sets her apart from the other poets. He finds that her poems are clearly lovingly, deeply and painfully crafted – bearing “the mark of committed writing”.

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PRESISIE EN VAKMANSKAP VAN GEDIGTE MET JONKERPRYS BEKROON

Megan Hall se digbundel Fourth Child is pas aangekondig as die wenner van die Ingrid Jonker-debuutprys wat vanjaar aan `n Engelstalige werk gaan. Die toekenning word in vroeg in September tydens die Stellenbosse Versindaba aan haar oorhandig.

Die beoordelaarskomitee het bestaan uit die digters Gabeba Baderoon, Kobus Moolman en Ingrid de Kok. Baderoon en Moolman prys die sorgvuldige vakmanskap en emosionele slaankrag van Hall se werk aan. Die verse, wat hoofsaaklik oor verlies en verdriet handel, getuig van diskresie en ewewigtigheid, en stuur weg van selfbejammering. “Die skerp beeldspraak bly jou by”, sê Baderoon in haar beoordelaarsverslag. Moolman maak melding van die “vaardigheid en presisie” in Hall se digwerk. Hy noem dat hoewel sy nie so avontuurlik dig nie en haar werk na die konserwatiewe en tradisionele neig, die sofistikasie van haar beelding en aanbieding ruimskoots daarvoor vergoed.

Die innoverende bundel lush van Haidee Kruger was volgens die beoordelaars `n sterk aanspraakmaker op die toekenning. Volgens Moolman staan Hall se bundel egter vanweë die sensitiwiteit van haar werk bo dié van die vyf ander kandidate uit. “Haar werk is met diepe aandag en nougesetheid gekonstrueer – `n waarmerk van hoogstaande skryfwerk”, het hy gesê.