Shaun de Waal
HAVING frequently been the butt of criticism – especially in these pages – due to the organisation of its categories, the CNALiterary Award has been reorganised.
South Africa’s longest-running national literary prize used to have only two categories: English and Afrikaans. Within them, highbrow fiction sometimes fought it out with yachting manuals and the like. Now there are three categories, open to any of South Africa’s 11 languages -creative literature, non-fiction and children’s books.
This year’s shortlisted titles are:
Creative writing:Die Reise van Isabella by Elsa Joubert, Ways of Dying by Zakes Mda, Other Places by Sarah Ruden, Die Uur van die Engel by Karel Schoeman, and Vatmaar by AHMScholz. Non-fiction: Rope of Sand by John Laband, The Calling of Katie Makhanya by Margaret McCord, ALife by Mamphela Ramphele, Die W^reld van Susanna Smit by Karel Schoeman, Digging Through Darkness by Carmel Schrire. Children’s books: The Boy Who Counted to a Million by Lawrence Bransby, Sit Oom Paul by Johann de Waal, Video Dreams by Jenny Hobbs, Girl from the Mountain by Heather Lee, ‘n Roofvo%l uit die Ooste by Rona Rupert.