The Jacana Literary Foundation (JLF) has announced a new award for 2016: The Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology.
The award was announced at an event at the Jacana offices in Auckland Park, Johannesburg last night.
The JLF is a not-for-profit organisation that was created to foster writing excellence from South and southern Africa.
The annual projects currently administered by the JLF are:
- The Dinaane Debut Fiction Award
- The Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award and multilingual annual poetry anthology
- The Gerald Kraak Award and anthology
The Gerald Kraak Award, which honours activist and author Gerald Kraak, who passed away in 2014, will be awarded annually, with the shortlisted work being published in an anthology, to be produced by JLF publishing partner Jacana Media.
Submissions will be open to authors and artists from the whole of Africa in the genres fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photography, journalism/magazine reporting, scholarly articles, book chapters/extracts, social media/blog writings, dealing with the topics of gender, sexuality and/or human rights.
Books LIVE’s Jennifer Malec tweeted from the announcement:
I'm at @JacanaMedia hearing about the Jacana Literary Foundation's plans for 2016 #livebooks
— Jennifer Malecówna (@projectjennifer) January 13, 2016
In addition to the Sol Plaatje Poetry & Dinaane Awards this year the JLF will launch Gerald Kraak Award & Anthology #livebooks @JacanaMedia
— Jennifer Malecówna (@projectjennifer) January 13, 2016
This award will cover African fiction, non-fic, poetry, photog, journ, blogs, scholarly articles #livebooks #JLF pic.twitter.com/DyKkwfrZ89
— Jennifer Malecówna (@projectjennifer) January 13, 2016
The Gerald Kraak Award/Anthology will be run in association with the @OtherFoundation & @atlantic #livebooks @JacanaMedia
— Jennifer Malecówna (@projectjennifer) January 13, 2016
The first Gerald Kraak Anthology will be published in early 2017. @JacanaMedia emphasise they are eager for submissions!
— Jennifer Malecówna (@projectjennifer) January 13, 2016
From the JLF:
The Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology
The JLF will launch a new project in 2016, in partnership with The Other Foundation and made possible by funding from Atlantic Philanthropies.
The prize and publication will honour activist Gerald Kraak’s extraordinary contribution and legacy to advancing rights related to sexuality and gender by celebrating the best writing around these issues in Africa.
Gerald Kraak (1956–2014) was a passionate champion of social justice, an anti-apartheid activist and the head of the Atlantic Philanthropies’ Reconciliation and Human Rights Programme in South Africa.
He authored two award-winning books, including Ice in the Lungs (Jacana, 2005) which explored South African politics, and directed a documentary on gay conscripts in the apartheid army. He is remembered for being kind and generous, delightfully irreverent and deeply committed to realising an equal and just society for all.
Submissions will be open to any works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photography, journalism/magazine reporting, scholarly articles in academic journals and book chapters/extracts, social media/blog writings and contributions, written in English and from Africa, which deal with the topics of gender, sexuality and/or human rights.
Only the very best work submitted will be shortlisted and published in the anthology, with the winners to be announced at an award ceremony, hosted by The Other Foundation. A cash prize is awarded to the author of the winning piece. The JLF will partner with publishers throughout the African continent in order to disseminate the work as widely as possible.
The Other Foundation is an African Trust that gathers support for those who are working to protect and advance the rights, wellbeing and social inclusion of people
of all sexual orientations and gender identities – and gives support in a smart way that helps groups to work better for lasting change. To learn more, please visit:
http://theotherfoundation.org/
Atlantic Philanthropies is a limited life foundation dedicated to bringing about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. To learn more, please visit: www.atlanticphilanthropies.org
The Dinaane Debut Fiction Award
Formerly known as the European Union Literary Award, the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award was established in 2004, and has proved to be a driving force in uncovering new and talented South African fiction writers. The word dinaane in Setswana means ‘telling our stories to one another’, which connotes the many strands of conversation that weave into the common language of fiction.
Non-fi ction takes the lion’s share of book sales in South Africa, with local fiction limited to around 17% of all sales. Locally written fi ction and its market are under threat. We cannot allow it to disappear. Accordingly, this, the only award of its kind, aims to promote new southern African literature that speaks to both a local and international audience.
The award is open to unpublished English-language fi ction manuscripts by debut writers. A panel of three judges (author, academic and member of the media) selects a shortlist of titles, and then a winning manuscript. Entries are judged blind.
The winning manuscript is published by Jacana Media and the winner is awarded a cash prize at an award ceremony. The distribution of the award-winning book is supported by Exclusive Books through inclusion of the title in one of their annual sales campaigns.
Previous winners of the award include:
The Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award
In an attempt to keep visible the voices of South African poets in the country’s landscape of published works, the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award was established in 2011. It is supported by the European Union.
The annual award, named after Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (1876–1932), recognises the life and vision of this highly respected political and social activist. A longlist of the strongest entries into this award are anthologised each year. Poets may enter up to three poems for consideration, in any of the official South African languages.
As Plaatje’s works did in his time, these poems reveal the political and social attitudes of our time.
Five volumes of the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology have been published to date:
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