The South African Literary Awards (SALA) inaugurated the Regional Poet Prize on the International African Writers’ Day, 7th November 2021, at a virtual ceremony held in Johannesburg.
Ronelda Kamfer and Themba Patrick Magaisa, won the coveted prize. The two poets laureate, who write in Afrikaans and Xitsonga were awarded this prestigious prize for their groundbreaking poetry and overall contribution in the literary field. They joined the 29 awardees spread across 15 categories for the 2021 SALA Awards, bringing the total recipients, to date, to 251.
The MD of the wRite associates and founder of SALA, Morakabe Seakhoa, said the inauguration of the 15th category, the Regional Poet Laureate Prize, sets another milestone in the history of SALA, thus, broadening the National Poet Laureate Prize, which was announced in March 2005, in Kwa-Zulu Natal, when we bestowed it on Professor Mazisi Kunene, for his selfless dedication to foregrounding and championing African literature, especially poetry, in African languages, particularly, isiZulu.
He said SALA also saw improvement in the number of African language books submitted. “Out of the 29 winners, 13 went to authors writing in African languages, and most of whom were publishing for the first time. “This gives hope that, with time, African languages will gain a prominent place in the literary space,” he said.
The main aim of the South African Literary Awards (SALA) is to pay tribute to South African writers who have distinguished themselves as ground-breaking producers and creators of literature, while it celebrates literary excellence in the depiction and sharing of South Africa’s histories, value systems, philosophies and art as inscribed and preserved in all the official languages of South Africa.
To date, the South African Literary Awards has honoured 133 authors and are becoming the most prestigious and respected accolades in the South African literary world.
Please visit https://sala.org.za/ to view the full list of 2021 winners.
