The English Academy of Southern Africa is pleased to announce the winners of the above listed awards which were run in 2010.
PERCY FITZPATRICK PRIZE
Seven books were shortlisted for this award. These were:
The Billion Dollar Soccer Ball by Michael Williams (Maskew Miller Longman, 2009)
Dance of the Freaky Green Gold by John Coetzee (Tafelberg, 2008)
Daniel Fox and the Jester’s Legacy by Andy Petersen (Penguin, 2009)
Fuse by S A Partridge (Human & Rousseau, 2009)
Jesse’s Story by Fiona MacGregor (Maskew Miller Longman, 2008)
Sharkey’s Son by Gillian D`Achada (Tafelberg, 2008)
The Summer of Toffie and Grummer by Edyth Bulbring (Oxford University Press SA, 2008)
The award goes to Andy Petersen for Daniel Fox and the Jester’s Legacy (Penguin, 2009). The judges noted that ‘the novel is interesting, with engaging complex characters, an imaginatively constructed world and surprising plot twists’.
Honourable mention goes to Gillian D`Achada for Sharkey’s Son (Tafelberg, 2008) and to S A Partridge for Fuse (Human & Rousseau, 2009). Fuse was highly commended for its exploration of school violence, bullying and abuse, showing what might drive a bullied child to strike back, and Sharkey’s Son was described as a beautifully written novel, with an almost lyric feel to it at times.
Judges: Crystal Warren (Convener), Marike Beyers and Megan van der Nest
THOMAS PRINGLE AWARD (Short Story)
The following six stories were shortlisted for the award:
‘Buiten Street’ by Stephen Watson (New Contrast, Vol. 36 No 4 2008)
‘Arrested Development’ by Sandisile Tshuma (Words, Fourth Quarter 2008)
‘Help’ by Liesl Jobson (New Contrast, Vol. 36 No 2 2008)
‘Hannah Hunter Watson’ by Stephen Watson (New Contrast, Vol. 36 No 2 2008)
‘Strangers’ by Arja Salafranca (New Contrast, Vol. 37 No 4 2009)
‘Venus Crossing’ by Gail Dendy (New Contrast, Vol. 37 No 6 2009)
The award goes to Stephen Watson for ‘Buiten Street’. The judges were impressed by his discursive style and mastery of language and imagery. They noted that the story ‘captures the poignancy of the struggle we all go through to accept and understand the experiences that form us’.
Honourable mention goes to Sandisile Tshuma for ‘Arrested Development’. The judges described it as a ‘beautifully observed story of a journey – both literal and figurative’. They loved its “hustle, hassle, bustle and bluster” and felt that the images and noise came across beautifully.
Judges: Jo-Anne Richards (Convener), Hugh Hodge and Phakama Mbonambi
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Each award is a cash prize and an illuminated certificate. The Percy FitzPatrick Prize carries a cash value of R7 000 and the Thomas Pringle Award R2 000. The award ceremonies will be organised in due course in collaboration with the publishers.
For more information on English Academy awards, please contact Naomi Nkealah on 011 717 9339 or at englishacademy@societies.wits.ac.za. You can also visit the English Academy web site www.englishacademy.co.za.
Children's books a secure category
Judith Rosen writes in Publisher's Weekly that one of the chief findings of a joint study undertaken by Bowker/PubTrack and the Association of Booksellers for Children is that children’s books are a secure category in the marketplace and bookstores will continue to play a key role as a driver of sales.
While some of the statistics came as no surprise—women buy nearly 70% of kids' books and most purchasers fit solidly in the middle class in terms of income and education—others were more startling, including the fact that books ranked number one over all other media for the youngest kids. Click on the title to read the article.
While some of the statistics came as no surprise—women buy nearly 70% of kids' books and most purchasers fit solidly in the middle class in terms of income and education—others were more startling, including the fact that books ranked number one over all other media for the youngest kids. Click on the title to read the article.
Invitation to nominate books published in 2008 and 2009 for the Katrine Harries Award
All publishers, illustrators and other interested parties are invited to nominate books published in 2008 and 2009.
Please send your nominations asap to: Thomas van der Walt, Children’s Literature Research Unit, UNISA - vdwaltb@unisa.ac.za
The Katrine Harries Award that originally was the only and most prestigious award in South Africa for children’s book illustrations, and that has been dormant for the past six years, will soon be awarded again. The award that was made for the first time in the early 1960's by the SA Library Association and later the South African Institute for Library and Information Science (SAILIS) has been awarded to South Africa’ s most well-known illustrators: Katrine Harries personally received the award twice before it was named after her. Thereafter Niki Daly, Joan Rankin, Alida Bothma, Cora Coetzee, Jeremy Grimsdell (and others) have received it with Emily Bornhoff finally receiving it in 2008.
Congratulations to the 2010 M-Net/Via Afrika Literary Award Winners from SCBWI SA 
The M.E.R. Prize was established in 1983 and is awarded annually by M-Net and Via Afrika in two distinct categories. A prize is awarded to the best illustrated children’s book and another to the best youth novel published during the previous year. The only condition is that the books must be aimed at younger readers and that the authors and illustrators must be South African citizens. The award is named after MER (Mimie E. Rothmann 1875-1975), for her groundbreaking work in the field of children’s literature. No distinction is made between English and Afrikaans books.
- The M.E.R Prize for best youth novel – The Bird of Heaven
- The M.E.R Prize for best illustrated children’s book – In the Never-ever Wood
MER Prize Winner for Youth Literature
Peter Dunseith
An explorer of inner and outer spaces, the author Peter Dunseith lives in the magical Umbuluzi valley in the Kingdom of Swaziland. After practising for thirty years as a human rights lawyer and champion of the underdog, and a three year stint as the judge president of the Industrial Court of Swaziland, he has recently embarked on a new career in alternative medicine. His first novel The Bird of Heaven reveals his fascination with the myths and rituals that denote the cultural soul of the Swazi people.
The Bird of Heaven
Young Adult Fiction
Writer: Peter Dunseith
Publisher by Tafelberg Publishers in 2009
The plot follows the training and growth in power of Mandla, son of Ingwe.
Although it is superficially a fantasy adventure with some magic realism thrown in, it also deals with archetypes representing the struggle between innocence and corruption; transition from boyhood to manhood; the relationship between a boy and his distant father (a leopard in the body of a man); self-empowerment through the gifts of our ancestors
(the muti bag); and the transcendent victory of a noble spirit (the lightning bird).
MER Prize Winners for Illustrated Children’s Literature
Linda Rode & Fiona Moodie
Linda Rode was born on 3 July 1937 at Ladismith, Western Cape.
She matriculated at the Hoërskool Langenhoven in Riversdal in 1954 and studied at Stellenbosch University, where she obtained an Honours degree in German and a Teacher's Diploma (1963).
She taught school in Calvinia, in Hermannsburg, at the Pionierskool in Worcester (school for the blind) and at Herzlia in Cape Town and works as a free-lance translator for publishers. Linda is married to Erwin Rode. They live in Bellville and have two children.
Linda was the 1989 winner of the MER Prize for her book Goue fluit, my storie is uit. She also received the Tienie Holloway – medal for Goue Lint, My Storie Begint and for Verse vir Klientjies
Fiona Moodie was born in Cape Town on 6th May, 1952. She grew up on an apple farm in Elgin . She obtained a BA degree from UCT in 1971 and later a Secondary Teacher’s Diploma from the same university.
After university Fiona left South Africa for Europe. She taught English in Madrid and travelled in Greece, living for a while in an uninhabited monastery on the island of Siphnos and drawing.
She had always wanted to write and illustrate children’s books and with her parents’ support she was able to attend the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (1975). By chance in Paris she met an Austrian book illustrator who advised her to go to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair with a portfolio of wo
rk. At Bologna she met several encouraging editors and many European illustrators. As a result in 1976 she began living outside a small village called Rugolo in Northern Italy, in the farm house of the Czech film animator and illustrator Stephan Zavrel. His home was an open house for artists who came to stay and work for various periods. There Fiona Moodie learned about illustrating and making books and has illustrating children’s books ever since.
In die Nimmer-Immer Bos
In the Never-ever Wood
Retold by Linda Rode
Illustrated by Fiona Moodie
Published by Tafelberg Publishers in 2009
Here are sixty stories, selected and retold by fairy-tale lover and compiler of children’s books Linda Rode.
It is a comprehensive collection that will open up the wide, wide world of fairy tales and other folklore to children.
A short annotation at the end of each story points out the land of origin and puts the stories from Africa, Europe, the East and other parts of the world in context with one another.
Fiona Moodie’s evocative illustrations are drypoint etches printed by hand and painted afterwards – an intricate process that took more than two years to complete.
(English translation by Elsa Silke)
The 2010 SCBWI (SA) Publishers Show & Tell Day
Annual SCBWI (SA) Publishers Show & Tell Day (CAPE TOWN)
Description of Event: This will be a day for writers and illustrators to pitch their work to the publishers. It provides an opportunity for publishers to see what work our writers and illustrators have done during the past year and also for them to meet new writers and illustrators. We will send out specifications for your Personal Details Form after we have received your bookings.Region: Cape Town, South Africa
Date: Friday, February 19, 2010
Time: 09h00 - 17h30
Enquiries: By e-mail to scbwi.za@gmail.com and (NB!) please put Enquiries - Publishers Day 2010 in your e-mail’s subject line.
Venue: Bellville Public Library, Bellville, Cape Town (Tel: +27 21 918-2300)
Cost: SCBWI members R80 and non-SCBWI members R140 (this includes tea/coffee & lunch).
RSVP: Since we have a limited number of slots available, kindly RSVP as soon as possible by e-mail to scbwi.za@gmail.com and (NB!) put Publishers Day 2010 in your e-mail’s subject line. Your e-mail must reach us by no later than 10 February 2010. We repeat, slots are limited and they will be allocated on a strict first-come-first-served basis.
Specific requirements: Please specify if you prefer a vegetarian lunch.
The list of participating publishers will be distributed early in February 2010 and will be posted on www.scbwi-za-capetown.blogspot.com/ early in February 2010.
Exhibition by Illustrators and Writers of Children's books
For pictures and a description of the exhibition, click on the title above.
Long walk to Freedom
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The Children's version of Long Walk to Freedom by Chris van Wyk has just been published. Paddy Bouma, one of SCBWI SA’s Committee members, did the wonderful illustrations, many of them based on actual photographs. This is a task that took almost a year to complete. She calls the work the crowning piece of her career in this interview with Bianca Capazorio
The book published by Pan Macmillan comes in all our 11 languages and in Portuguese and American English. Congratulations to Chris and Paddy from SCBWI SA.
School visits
A TimesOnline article by Laura Dixon reports that in the U.K., there will be a new Vetting and Barring Scheme for school-visit authors starting this autumn. The Scheme requires the registration of names in a new government database. It is managed by the Independent Safeguarding Authority.
A prominent group of children's authors and illustrators are against the Scheme. They have refused to register in the database, and said they will stop visiting schools in protest. The group includes Philip Pullman, Anthony Horowitz, Michael Morpurgo and Quentin Blake.
"I've been going into schools as an author for 20 years, and on no occasion have I ever been alone with a child," says Philip Pullman, author of the HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy. "The idea that I have become more of a threat and I need to be vetted is both ludicrous and insulting. ... Children have never been in any danger from visiting authors or illustrators, and the idea that they should be is preposterous.”
However, another TimesOnLine article by Nicolette Jones says Pullman was wrong in objecting to the vetting. Jones referred to the case of William Mayne, winner of the 1957 Carnegie Medal, author of about 100 books, and described by the Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature as “one of the outstanding children’s authors of this century”. In 2004, Mayne went to prison for indecent assault of young girls aged between 8 and 16, crimes committed between 1960 and 1975.
* Laura Dixon article
<<http://tinyurl.com/l2jc5e >>
* Vetting and Barring Scheme
<<http://tinyurl.com/l4mlne >>
* Nicolette Jones article
<<http://tinyurl.com/nt48pg >>
A prominent group of children's authors and illustrators are against the Scheme. They have refused to register in the database, and said they will stop visiting schools in protest. The group includes Philip Pullman, Anthony Horowitz, Michael Morpurgo and Quentin Blake.
"I've been going into schools as an author for 20 years, and on no occasion have I ever been alone with a child," says Philip Pullman, author of the HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy. "The idea that I have become more of a threat and I need to be vetted is both ludicrous and insulting. ... Children have never been in any danger from visiting authors or illustrators, and the idea that they should be is preposterous.”
However, another TimesOnLine article by Nicolette Jones says Pullman was wrong in objecting to the vetting. Jones referred to the case of William Mayne, winner of the 1957 Carnegie Medal, author of about 100 books, and described by the Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature as “one of the outstanding children’s authors of this century”. In 2004, Mayne went to prison for indecent assault of young girls aged between 8 and 16, crimes committed between 1960 and 1975.
* Laura Dixon article
<<http://tinyurl.
* Vetting and Barring Scheme
<<http://tinyurl.
* Nicolette Jones article
<<http://tinyurl.