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Newcomers, controversy and big issues mark shortlists for 2006 Sunday Times Literary AwardsSunday Times Literary Awards Media ReleaseThe shortlists for both the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the Alan Paton Non-Fiction Award, the country's most financially lucrative English language literary awards at R50 000 each, were announced in Johannesburg on Wednesday, May 3, 2006. According to Michele Magwood, Sunday Times Literary Awards convenor, both shortlists illustrate key trends that have emerged in this year's impressive crop of entries, which has been marked by a record number of submissions as well as an exceptionally high calibre of writing. Comprising five titles each, the respective shortlists are: Sunday Times Fiction Prize
Alan Paton Non-Fiction Award
"Measured by this year's entries, one can only conclude that our local publishing industry, and publishing in English, in particular, which is the focal point of these awards, is in very good health," Magwood said. Two of the short-listed fiction titles - Garden of the Plagues by Russel Brownlee and The Good Cemetery Guide by Consuelo Roland, are debut novels, while advocate Andrew Brown's Coldsleep Lullaby is just his second, pointing to the emergence of a new set of eloquent voices that are successfully holding their own against some of the country's most celebrated established writers. Significant too, is the renewed interest with which many of these writers are turning to South African history, particularly the history of the early Cape settlers, to deliver inventive, vigorous new tales to their readers and give substance to the rise of a historical fiction genre in local English writing. In the Alan Paton non-fiction category the shortlist marks an emphasis on the big issues facing the country. Two titles, AidSafari by Adam Levin and Witness to AIDS by Judge Edwin Cameron, examine the Aids pandemic from deeply personal perspectives, while a third offers a searing insight into the, often dysfunctional, workings of the South African Police Services (SAPS) in Antony Altbeker's The Dirty Work of Democracy. A potentially controversial inclusion is No Cold Kitchen: A Biography of Nadine Gordimer by Ronald Suresh Roberts, published despite an acrimonious fall-out between the author and his subject, the South African Nobel Laureate. Commenting on the judging process Magwood says, "Both our fiction and non-fiction judging panels represent the broadest range of opinions possible. They combine academic viewpoints with those of people who work in the book industry, with writers themselves and with critics and book journalists to ensure that many perspectives are brought to bear and to ensure that the eventual winners will truly represent the best South African writing of this particular period." New members on the 2006 Alan Paton panel are Professor Kader Asmal, veteran MP and now president of the Financial Action Task Force, Professor Deborah Posel, director of WISER (Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research), and the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dele Olojede. They have joined seasoned panellists Sakhela Buhlungu, who is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Wits, and Henrietta Dax, manager of Clarke's Bookshop in Cape Town. New adjudicators for the 2006 Sunday Times Fiction Prize are the writer and poet Chris van Wyk, whose autobiography Shirley, Goodness & Mercy was shortlisted for the Alan Paton Award last year, and Corina van der Spoel, manager of the Boekehuis bookstore in Johannesburg. They join regular panellists Jennifer Crwys-Williams of Talk Radio 702 and Professors Andries Oliphant of UNISA and Bheki Peterson of Wits. "We make changes to the panels every year but also maintain continuity by retaining one or two individuals who have judged the awards in the previous year," Magwood said. "Booksellers such as Henrietta Dax and Corina van der Spoel provide valuable insight drawn from their close and constant interaction with readers and their excellent overview of the market. Jenny Crwys-Williams is steeped in books through her radio show and also interacts with readers through her influential book club, whilst Dele Olojede offers the insight of an international news journalist, practised in investigation and newsgathering but also in the effective telling of it. "The academic experts have a thorough understanding of the pattern of South African writing, its shifts and preoccupations. In the case of Kader Asmal, we've included an ardent, wide-ranging reader who has very strong opinions about South African writing." The winners will be announced on June 17 to coincide with the first Cape Town Book Fair that will be co-sponsored by Sunday Times.
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