Sunday Times Literary Awards finalists named

Writings from the 10 authors on the shortlist include groundbreaking new forms of biographies, adventurous coming-of-age tales that connect past and present, and novels with stories that are universal and timeless, writes Jennifer Platt

In proud partnership with Exclusive Books, this year marks the 34th anniversary of the non-fiction award and the 23rd year of the fiction prize.

Choosing the top five books for the non-fiction was not an easy task. However, chair of the judging panel Kevin Ritchie described the shortlisted books as ones which “rightly deserve the accolade in the country’s pre-eminent award for non-fiction”. 

The fiction prize honours writers who are exceptional storytellers. Head of the fiction judging panel, Siphiwo Mahala, writes: “These five shortlisted novels, each in its own unique way, represent masterful works of rare, unfettered and powerful imagination.”

Last year Bulelwa Mabasa won the Non-Fiction Award for her book My Land Obsession: A Memoir, and CA Davids won the Fiction Prize for her novel How to Be a Revolutionary.

The winners will be announced later in the year and will receive R100,000.

Here is the nonfiction shortlist in order of the author’s surname:

• The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning by Eve Fairbanks (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
• Place: South African Literary Journeys by Justin Fox (Umuzi)
• The Plot to Save South Africa: The Week Mandela Averted Civil War and Forged a New Nation by Justice Malala (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
• The Race To Be Myself by Caster Semenya (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
• Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage by Jonny Steinberg (Jonathan Ball Publishers).

Here is the fiction shortlist in order of the author’s surname:

• Buried Treasure by Sven Axelrad (Umuzi)
• The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown (Karavan Press)
• Three Egg Dilemma by Morabo Morojele (Jacana)
• The Institute of Creative Dying by Jarred Thompson (Picador Africa)
• Mirage by David Ralph Viviers (Umuzi)

For more on the books and what the judges have to say about them, see Lifestyle.