UJ Prize shortlist announced

The University of Johannesburg Prize (UJ Prize) for South African writing has announced the 2025 shortlist for books published in 2024. 

The UJ Prize was established in 2006 for South African writing and is not genre-specific.

They trust their panel of judges to do a fair and rigorous evaluation of submitted texts and select the most outstanding books. After an intensive adjudication process, the judges have shortlisted these books in their respective categories:

Debut Prize

• Morafe: Person, Family and Nation in Colonial Bechuanaland by Khumisho Moguerane
• Weeping Becomes a River by Siphokazi Jonas
• Who Looks Inside by Anna Stroud

Main Prize

• Keorapetse Kgositsile and the Black Arts Movement by Uhuru Portia Phalafala
• The Comrade’s Wife by Barbara Boswell
• The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil by Shubnum Khan

The prize money is R75,000 for the main prize and R45,000 for the debut prize. The final results will be announced before the end of September.