Sunday Times CNA Literary Awards

The Sunday Times CNA Non-Fiction Award
Sponsored byCNA
CountrySouth Africa
Presented bySunday Times
Formerly calledAlan Paton Award
Reward(s)R100 000
First awarded1989; 35 years ago (1989)
The Sunday Times CNA Fiction Award
Sponsored byCNA
CountrySouth Africa
Presented bySunday Times
Formerly calledBarry Ronge Fiction Prize; Sunday Times Fiction Prize
Reward(s)R100 000
First awarded2001; 23 years ago (2001)

The Sunday Times CNA Literary Awards are awarded annually to South African writers by the South African weekly newspaper the Sunday Times. They comprise the Sunday Times CNA Literary Award for Non-fiction and the Sunday Times CNA Literary Award for Fiction, and are awarded for full-length non-fiction works and novels, respectively. Both winners receive R100 000.[1] Ivan Vladislavic is the only person to have won both the fiction and the non-fiction award.

History of the Awards

Originally established in 1989, the Alan Paton Award was conferred annually for meritorious works of non-fiction. It aimed to reward books presenting "the illumination of truthfulness, especially those forms of it that are new, delicate, unfashionable and fly in the face of power," and demonstrating "compassion, elegance of writing, and intellectual and moral integrity."[2] The award was named for Alan Paton, the famous South African author of Cry, The Beloved Country (1948).

In 2001, a companion award for fiction was established, the Sunday Times Fiction Prize. The criteria stipulate that the winning novel should be one of "rare imagination and style... a tale so compelling as to become an enduring landmark of contemporary fiction."[2] The prize was restructured in 2015 when fiction and non-fiction awards were brought together as the Sunday Times Literary Awards; the money for each prize was increased, from R75 000 to R100 000,[3] and the Fiction Prize was renamed the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize in honour of Barry Ronge, a renowned South African journalist who was one of the founders of the awards.[4]

In 2020, there was a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] However, the awards recommenced in 2021 with a new sponsor, CNA, a South African retail chain of stationery shops, and are now known as the Sunday Times CNA Literary Awards.[6] This sponsorship arrangement followed the acquisition of CNA from "embattled" parent company Edcon in February 2020.[6] In 2021, books published between 1 December 2018 and 1 December 2020 were eligible.[1]

Fiction winners

Works shortlisted for the fiction prize, 2008–2024
Year Nominee Work Result Ref.
2024 Andrew Brown The Bitterness of Olives Won[7] [8]
Sven Axelrad Buried Treasure
Morabo Morojele Three Egg Dilemma
David Ralph Viviers Mirage
Jarred Thompson The Institute for Creative Dying
2023 C. A. Davids How to Be a Revolutionary Won|[9][10] [11][12]
Andrew Brown The Heist Men
Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu The Quality of Mercy
Yewande Omotoso An Unusual Grief
Mark Winkler The Errors of Dr Browne
2022 Tshidiso Moletsane Junx Won [13][14]
Karen Jennings An Island
Joanne Joseph Children of Sugarcane
Thenjiwe Mswane All Gomorrahs Are The Same
Damon Galgut The Promise
2021 Marguerite Poland A Sin of Omission Won [1][15]
Dawn Garisch Breaking Milk
Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu The History of Man
Rešoketšwe Manenzhe Scatterlings
Mark Winkler Due South of Copenhagen
2020 No award due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2019 Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu The Theory of Flight Won [16][17]
John Hunt The Boy Who Could Keep a Swan in His Head
Nozizwe Cynthia Jele The Ones with Purpose
Claire Robertson Under Glass
Mark Winkler Theo & Flora
2018 Harry Kalmer A Thousand Tales of Johannesburg Won [18][19]
Maxine Case Softness of the Lime
S. J. Naudé The Third Reel
Lesego Rampolokeng Bird-Monk Seding
Francois Smith The Camp Whore
2017 Zakes Mda Little Suns Won [20]
Bronwyn Law-Viljoen The Printmaker
Kopano Matlwa Period Pain
Yewande Omotoso The Woman Next Door
Mark Winkler The Safest Place You Know
2016 Nkosinathi Sithole Hunger Eats a Man Won [21][22]
Alastair Bruce Boy on the Wire
Craig Higginson The Dream House
Claire Robertson The Magistrate of Gower
Henrietta Rose-Innes Green Lion
2015 Damon Galgut Arctic Summer Won [23][24]
Imraan Coovadia Tales of the Metric System
Masande Ntshanga The Reactive
Elaine Proctor The Savage Hour
Zoë Wicomb October
2014 Claire Robertson The Spiral House Won [3][25]
Lauren Beukes The Shining Girls
Dominic Botha False River
Songeziwe Mahlangu Penumbra
Eben Venter Wolf Wolf
2013 Karen Jayes For the Mercy of Water Won [26][27]
Imraan Coovadia The Institute for Taxi Poetry
Steven Boykey Sidley Entanglement
Chris Wadman The Unlikely Genius of Dr Cuthbert Kamazuma
James Whyle The Book of War
2012 Michiel Heyns Lost Ground Won [28][29]
H.J. Golakai The Lazarus Effect
Henrietta Rose-Innes Nineveh
Yewande Omotoso Bom Boy
Adam Schwartzmann Eddie Signwriter
2011 Sifiso Mzobe Young Blood Won [30][31]
Shaida Kazie Ali Not a Fairy Tale
James Clelland Deeper than Colour
Deon Meyer Thirteen Hours
Ivan Vladislavic Double Negative
2010 Imraan Coovadia High Low In-between Won [32][33]
J. M. Coetzee Summertime
Zinaid Meeran Saracen at the Gates
Kgebetli Moele The Book of the Dead
Sally-Ann Murray Small Moving Parts
2009 Anne Landsman The Rowing Lesson Won [34][35]
Tracey Farren Whiplash
Damon Galgut The Impostor
Michiel Heyns Bodies Politic
Mandla Langa The Lost Colours of the Chameleon
2008 Ceridwen Dovey Blood Kin Won [36][37]
Justin Cartwright The Song Before it is Sung
J. M. Coetzee Diary of a Bad Year
Andrew Gray The Fence
Niq Mhlongo After Tears
2007 Marlene van Niekerk Agaat (trans. Michiel Heyns) Won [38][39][40]
Imraan Coovadia Green-Eyed Thieves
Morabo Morojele How We Buried Puso
David Medalie The Shadow Follows
2006 Andrew Brown Coldsleep Lullaby Won [41][42][43]
J. M. Coetzee Slow Man
André Brink Praying Mantis
Russel Brownlee Garden of the Plagues
Consuelo Roland The Good Cemetery Guide
2005 Justin Cartwright The Promise of Happiness Won [41]
2004 Rayda Jacobs Confessions of a Gambler Won [41]
2003 André Brink The Other Side of Silence Won [41]
2002 Ivan Vladislavic The Restless Supermarket Won [41]
2001 Zakes Mda The Heart of Redness Won [41]

Non-fiction winners

Works shortlisted for the non-fiction prize, 2006-2024
Year Nominee Work Result Ref.
2024 Jonny Steinberg Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage Won[44] [45]
Eve Fairbanks The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning
Justin Fox Place: South African Literary Journeys
Justice Malala The Plot to Save South Africa: The Week Mandela Averted Civil War and Forged a New Nation
Caster Semenya The Race To Be Myself
2023 Bulelwa Mabasa My Land Obsession: A Memoir Won[9][10] [11][12]
Liz McGregor Unforgiven: Face to Face with My Father’s Killer
André Odendaal, with editorial contributions by Albie Sachs Dear Comrade President: Oliver Tambo and the Foundations of South Africa’s Constitution
Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon The Blinded City: Ten Years in Inner-City Johannesburg
Songezo Zibi Manifesto: A New Vision for South Africa
2022 Mignonne Breier Bloody Sunday: The Nun, The Defiance Campaign and South Africa's Secret Massacre Won [13][14]
Tembeka Ngcukaitobi Land Matters: South Africa's Failed Land Reforms and the Road Ahead
Imraan Coovadia The Poisoners: On South Africa's Toxic Past
Thula Simpson History of South Africa: From 1902 to the Present
Johnny Clegg Scatterling of Africa: My Early Years
2021 Andrew Harding These Are Not Gentle People Won [1][15]
Jacob Dlamini Safari Nation: A Social History of the Kruger National Park
Mark Gevisser The Pink Line: Journeys Across the World’s Queer Frontiers
Pieter-Louis Myburgh Gangster State: Unravelling Ace Magashule’s Web of Capture
Telita Snyckers Dirty Tobacco: Spies, Lies and Mega-Profits
2020 No award due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2019 Terry Kurgan Everyone is Present: Essays on Photography, Family and Memory Won [16][17]
Anneliese Burgess Heist! South Africa’s Cash-in-Transit Epidemic Uncovered
Panashe Chigumadzi These Bones Will Rise Again
Rekgotsofetse Chikane Breaking a Rainbow, Building a Nation: The Politics Behind the #MustFall Movements
Sylvia Neame Imprisoned: The Experience of a Prisoner Under Apartheid
2018 Bongani Ngqulunga The Man Who Founded the ANC: A Biography of Pixley ka Isaka Seme Won [18][46]
Stuart Doran Kingdom, Power, Glory: Mugabe, Zanu and the Quest for Supremacy (1960–87),
Thandeka Gqubule No Longer Whispering to Power: The Story of Thuli Madonsela
Sisonke Msimang Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home
Thuli Nhlapo Colour Me Yellow: Searching for My Family Truth
2017 Greg Marinovich Murder at Small Koppie: The Real Story of the Marikana Massacre Won [20]
Sean Christie Under Nelson Mandela Boulevard: Life Among the Stowaways
Christa Kulijan Darwin's Hunch: Science, Race, and the Search for Human Origins
Dikgang Moseneke My Own Liberator: A Memoir
Steven Robins Letters of Stone: From Nazi Germany to South Africa
2016 Pumla Dineo Gqola Rape: A South African Nightmare Won [21][47]
David Attwell J.M. Coetzee and the Life of Writing
Maxine Case Papwa: Golf's Lost Legend
Khaya Dlanga To Quote Myself: A Memoir
Charles van Onselen Showdown at the Red Lion
2015 Jacob Dlamini Askari: A Story of Collaboration and Betrayal in the Anti-Apartheid Struggle Won [23][48]
Mark Gevisser Lost and Found in Johannesburg
Lindie Koorts DF Malan and the Rise of Afrikaner Nationalism
Maria Phalime Postmortem: The Doctor Who Walked Away
Jonny Steinberg A Man of Good Hope
2014 Max du Preez A Rumour of Spring: South Africa after 20 Years of Democracy Won [3][49]
Vusi Pikoli and Mandy Wiener My Second Initiation: The Memoir of Vusi Pikoli
Karen Schoeman Portrait of a Slave Society: The Cape of Good Hope 1717 – 1795
Elizabeth van Heyningen The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War: A Social History
Shaun Viljoen Richard Rive: a Partial Biography
2013 Redi Tlhabi Endings and Beginnings: A Story of Healing Won [50][51]
Julian Rademayer Killing for Profit
Jacques Pauw Rat Roads: One Man’s Incredible Journey
Xolela Mangcu Biko: A Biography
Hermann Giliomee The Last Afrikaner Leaders
2012 Hugh Lewin Stones Against the Mirror: Friendship in the Time of the South African Struggle Won [52][53]
Jonny Steinberg Little Liberia: An African Odyssey in New York
Anton Harber Diepsloot
Mandy Wiener Killing Kebble
Andrew Feinstein The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade
McIntosh Polela My Father, My Monster
2011 Ronnie Kasrils The Unlikely Secret Agent Won [54][53]
Adriaan Basson Finish and Klaar: Selebi’s Fall from Interpol to the Underworld
David Klatzow and Sylvia Walker Steeped in Blood: The Life and Times of a Forensic Scientist
Jay Naidoo Fighting for Justice
Bill Nasson The War for South Africa: The Anglo-Boer War: 1899-1902
2010 Albie Sachs The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law Won [32][33]
Kevin Bloom Ways of Staying
André Brink A Fork in the Road
Antjie Krog Begging to be Black
James Ngculu The Honour to Serve: Recollections of an Umkhonto Soldier
2009 Peter Harris In a Different Time Won [55][35]
Andrew Brown Street Blues: The Experiences of a Reluctant Policeman
Pippa Green Choice, Not Fate: The Life and Times of Trevor Manuel
Ahmed Kathrada with Tim Couzens A Simple Freedom
Peter Harris In a Different Time: The Inside Story of the Delmas Four
2008 Mark Gevisser Thabo Mbeki – The Dream Deferred Won [56][36][57]
George Bizos Odyssey to Freedom
Charles van Onselen The Fox and the Flies
2007 Ivan Vladislavic Portrait with Keys Won [58][59]
Glynis Clacherty The Suitcase Stories
John Allen Rabble-Rouser for Peace
Fred Khumalo Touch My Blood
Denis Hirson White Scars
2006 Edwin Cameron Witness to AIDS Won [41][43]
Adam Levin AidSafari Won
Antony Altbeker The Dirty Work of Democracy: A Year on the Streets with the Saps
Ronald Suresh Roberts No Cold Kitchen: A Biography of Nadine Gordimer
William N. Zulu Spring Will Come
2005 Jonny Steinberg The Number: One Man's Search for Identity in the Cape Underworld and Prison Gangs Won [41]
2004 Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela A Human Being Died That Night Won [41]
2003 Jonny Steinberg Midlands Won [41]
2002 Jonathan Kaplan The Dressing Station: A Surgeon's Chronicle of War and Medicine Won [41]
2001 Henk van Woerden A Mouthful of Glass Won [41]
2000 Anthony Sampson Mandela: The Authorised Biography Won [41]
1999 Antjie Krog Country of My Skull Won [41]
Stephen Clingman Bram Fischer: Afrikaner Revolutionary Won
1998 John Reader Africa: A Biography of a Continent Won [41]
1997 Charles van Onselen The Seed is Mine Won [41]
1996 Margaret McCord The Calling of Katie Makanya Won [41]
1995 Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom Won [41]
1994 Breyten Breytenbach Return to Paradise Won [41]
1993 Tim Couzens Tramp Royal Won [41]
1992 Thomas Pakenham Scramble for Africa Won [41]
1991 Albie Sachs Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter Won [41]
1990 Jeff Peires The Dead Will Arise Won [41]
1989 Marq de Villiers White Tribe Dreaming Won [41]

References

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