Alert! The 2015 PEN International/New Voices Award longlist has been announced, including Zimababwean Nozizwe Dube and South African Carien Smith.
The PEN International/New Voices Award provides a space for young and unpublished writers to promote their work, and encourages new writing from “diverse linguistic regions and communities”.
The award is open to unpublished writers aged 18-30, who are nominated by their local PEN Centre. This year’s judges are Zakariya Amataya, Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, Edwige-Renée Dro, Drago Jančar, Yann Martel and Olga Tokarczuk.
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The 2015 PEN International/New Voices Award longlist:
“Likkewaan” by Carien Smith (PEN Afrikaans)
“Under the Jacaranda Tree” by Nozizwe Dube (PEN Flanders)
‘Nichts kurz vor der Rue Saint-Blaise” by Lea Sauer (German PEN)
“Ailleurs” by Sophie Prévost (PEN Québec)
“Varshava” by Ana Dontsu (PEN Romania)
“Moon Dog” by Rebecca F John (Wales PEN Cymru)
Smith is a South African writer, playwright and philosophy student at the University of Fort Hare. Her Afrikaans stories “Likkewaan” and “Binnekort” won an honourable mention and runner-up award, respectively, in the Nuwe Stories 3 competition last year.
19-year-old Zimbabwean Dube is studying mathematics and science at St Albertus College Haasrode in Belgium, and is the chairman of the Flemish Youth Council.
The shortlist of three will be announced in a few weeks, and the award will be presented on October 14 during the 81st PEN International Congress in Québec, Canada.
The 2014 PEN International/New Voices Award winner was Marina Babanskaya (St Petersburg PEN Chapter), while Masande Ntshanga won the 2013 edition, which was the start of a very promising writing career for the young South African.
Images courtesy of NB Publishers and De Redactie