Short lists announced for Sunday Times Literary Awards

The short lists for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the Alan Paton Award for non-fiction were announced in Johannesburg last night. With prizes of R75 000 each for the winners, these prestigious awards are the richest on the continent. Convener Michele Magwood pointed out that because the Sunday Times has upped the number of entries that publishers can submit, judges received a record number of books to consider.

The short-listed works are:

Fiction Prize:
1. Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk, translated by Michiel Heyns, Tafelberg /Jonathan Ball
2. My Mother's Lovers by Christopher Hope, Atlantic Books
3. Mandela's Ego by Lewis Nkosi, Umuzi
4. The Native Commissioner by Shaun Johnson, Penguin Books
5. Green-Eyed Thieves by Imraan Coovadia, Umuzi

Honorary Award: Memorandum: a story with paintings by Marlene van Niekerk and Adriaan van Zyl, translated by Michiel Heyns and published by Human & Rousseau.

Alan Paton Award:
1. Rabble-Rouser For Peace - The Authorised Biography of Desmond Tutu by John Allen, Rider Books
2. Portrait With Keys - Jo'burg & What-What by Ivan Vladislavi*, Umuzi
3. The Suitcase Stories - Refugee Children Reclaim Their Identities by Glynis Clacherty, Double Storey
4. White Scars - On reading and rites of passage by Denis Hirson, Jacana Media
5. Touch My Blood - The Early Years by Fred Khumalo, Umuzi

Honorary Award: Scorched - South Africa's Changing Climate by Leonie S Joubert, Wits University Press

Said Michele Magwood: "It was not only the longest but the strongest list of entries ever for the Fiction Prize, but the judges distilled them into a short list relatively quickly. There was little or no dissent at all. Unlike last year, there are no surprises in terms of unknowns - all are established, experienced writers, and this shows in the deeply assured quality of the works."

The debate for the Alan Paton award, she says, "was longer and particularly fierce this year. Most of the discussion centred on the criterion 'the illumination of truthfulness', and how this is defined." The judges were impressed, she says, with the new forms that non-fiction is taking, as demonstrated in such books as White Scars and Portrait with Keys.

The Paton jury opted for an Honorary Award for Scorched for entering the new territory of science journalism and its skill in popularising an often-inaccessible field.

The Honorary Award in the fiction competition was given to Memorandum for its challenging of the conventions of the traditional novel, thematically and in form. The Chair of the panel, Professor Andries Oliphant, noted, "Constant experimentation is vital for the renewal of the novel."

The judging panels will meet again in May to decide on the winners. They will be announced on June 16 at a gala dinner at the Cape Town Book Fair.