SALA celebrates 19 years of advancing our literary heritage

After a five-month call for submissions for the 19th South African Literary Awards (SALA), the adjudication of the entries has started.

The assessment of the books will be done by 30-35 seasoned judges, and will lead to a shortlist of nominees from which the winners will be drawn. The winning submissions will be announced at an awards handover ceremony to be held on November 7.

Preceding this awards ceremony, on the same day and at the same venue, will be the 12th Africa Century International African Writers Conference, which celebrates both the 33rd anniversary of the AU International African Writers’ Day and 30 years of freedom and democracy in South Africa.

The prestigious SALA were established in 2005 by wRite associates, in partnership with the national department of arts & culture (now the department of sport, arts & culture), as a platform to honour authors, translators, poets and other literary practitioners who have made and continue to make a contribution in the South African literary landscape. More than 300 wordsmiths have been honoured over the last 19 years.

Morakabe Raks Seakhoa, MD at wRite associates and SALA’s founder executive director, is pleased with the impact the association has had on South Africa’s literary scene over the past 19 years. “We are pleased with the consistent growth and maturation of SALA across linguistic, generational, gender and other social divides,” Seakhoa said. 

“Over the past 19 years, SALA has recognised authors who have since soared higher in their literary careers, leading to them being republished, receiving invitations to attend and participate in literary events at home and abroad, and having their work optioned for movies and theatre stages.”

Seakhoa is confident this year’s adjudicators will select the most impressive literary offerings. “SALA always goes out of its way to source the best adjudicators. Some are experts from literature and linguistics departments at institutions of higher learning, while others are writers and literary translation experts.”

The categories

SALA honours writing and writers in all official languages across 16 categories:

1. K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award
2. First-Time Published Author Award
3. Nadine Gordimer Short Story Literary Award, honouring practitioners in the genre across all languages.
4. National Poet Laureate Prize
5. Poetry Award
6. Literary Translators Award
7. Lifetime Achievement Literary Award
8. Posthumous Literary Award
9. Literary Journalism Award
10. Creative Non-Fiction Award
11. Chairperson’s Award
12. Children’s Literature Award
13. Youth Literature Award
14. Novel Award
15. Regional Poet Laureate Prize
16. Local Poet Laureate Prize

As writers are given an equal opportunity to contest any of the awards categories, the winners over the years reflect the ongoing generational and thematic shifts in South African literature. Some prize-winning works have been adapted for both stage and screen.

Article issued by SALA