Elevate Your Craft: Unveiling the SA Book Awards List

South African Literary Awards

The South African Literary Awards (SALA) were founded by the write associates in partnership with the national Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC) in 2005. The main aim of the South African Literary Awards (SALA) is to honor South African writers who have made significant contributions to literature. These awards celebrate literary excellence and the sharing of South Africa’s histories, values, philosophies, and art in all the official languages.

The Awards recognize living literary practitioners, legends, and others posthumously. To date, SALA (South African Literary Awards) has honored 133 authors. It has become one of the most prestigious literary accolades in South Africa.

SALA publishes a call for submissions to their event. This call outlines the 16 categories, the criteria for each category, and the submission deadline. Criteria often include restrictions like the year of publication and the author’s age.

The 16 categories include:

• First-time Published Author Award (open to all genres)
• Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award (for novels and novellas by authors under 40)
• Poetry Award
• Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award
• And more 

Prominent authors who received the awards in the past include the following: The Late Prof Keorapetse Kgositsile,  Sabata-mpho Mokae. 

The Booker Prize

In 1969, the inaugural Booker Prize was awarded to P.H. Newby for his novel Something to Answer For. This marked the birth of a prestigious prize for writers and readers across the Commonwealth, not just Britain. As South Africa is a member of the Commonwealth, South Africans are able to compete at these prestigious awards.

Thirty years later, Booker Chairman Michael Caine wrote, “The Booker Prize can trace its origin, through quirks of history and the imaginativeness of one individual, to James Bond and the attainment of political freedom in Guyana.” (Guyana gained independence in 1966)

The Sunday Times Literary Awards, in Partnership with Exclusive Books 

The Sunday Times Literary Awards are prestigious honors in South Africa, recognizing top literary talent. Established in 1989 as the Alan Paton Award, these awards honor remarkable literary achievements.

The non-fiction books prize is known as the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize, named after the late author. Notable winners in 2023 include Bulelwa Mabasa, who won the non-fiction award for “My Land Obsession: A Memoir,”. CA Davids also received the fiction prize for her novel “How to Be a Revolutionary.”

To win the Fiction Prize, a novel must exhibit “rare imagination and style” and be “a tale so compelling as to become an enduring landmark of contemporary fiction.”

The M-Net Literary Awards

The M-Net Literary Awards, sponsored by M-Net (Electronic Media Network), a prominent South African television station, were a celebrated series of literary accolades that debuted in 1991 and concluded in 2013. Renowned for their discerning recognition of literary excellence, these awards distinguished themselves by valuing not only literary merit but also the compelling narrative quality and accessibility to a wide-ranging readership. Regrettably, following the culmination of the 2013 season, the M-Net Literary Awards were indefinitely suspended, marking a poignant conclusion to an era of cultural distinction and literary appreciation.

 The Luxe Awards

The Luxe Awards are a unique addition to our book awards list. It celebrates excellence in South Africa’s hospitality industry. This prestigious platform highlights the country’s finest establishments, services, and experiences, aiming to promote exceptional contributions to tourism and hospitality. It has quickly become a symbol of excellence and a coveted honor in South Africa’s vibrant hospitality scene. 

In 2022, “Hosting With The Lazy Makoti” by Mogau Seshoene won Cookbook of the Year, featured in our Must-Have South African Cookbooks. In 2021, “Cooking With Zanele Vol 2” by Zanele van Zyl was honored as Book of the Year at these distinguished awards.  

African Authors Awards

The AfriCAN Honoree Authors’ Awards, also known as “The African Authors Awards,” hosts a prestigious global annual event on July 31st. It was established by Anthea Thyssen-Ambursley in 2018 under the NGO Acytin. These awards aim to unite passionate creative writers of African descent worldwide. Media reports, such as The Mahikeng Mail (August 9, 2019), highlight their mission to foster unity, transformation, and the renaissance of Africa through storytelling, Ubuntu leadership, and social cohesion.

The awards recognize authors who enrich global literary expressions with African content. Notable past winners include Kentse Badirwang, acclaimed for “Kattey’s Arrow” and activism against Gender-Based Violence. and Phumelele Fobozi.

Dr. Jabulile Msimango-Galawe, another award winner, collaborates extensively on impactful literary projects with fellow women. Anathi Kom, whose poetry collection triumphed in the poetry category in May 2022 under Publish’d Afrika, explores themes of overcoming loss, poverty, sexual abuse, and the journey to forgiveness and healing from personal experiences.

The African Writers Awards

The African Writers’ Awards, organized by the African Writers Development Trust, actively engages writers in advancing literature and building literary bridges. It presents a fantastic opportunity for African writers to showcase their talent and creativity. 

Participants can vie for a grand prize of $500 by submitting poems or stories between 3,000 to 5,000 words. Entries must be original and unpublished, including on personal blogs, and previous winners in any genre are ineligible to enter. Writers should align their submissions with the event’s thematic focus, such as the 2024 theme centered on aspects of Rwanda.