The University of Johannesburg has announced the shortlist for the annual UJ Prize! Prizes are awarded in two categories: the Main Prize and the Debut Prize.

The UJ Prize was established in 2006 for South African writers and is open to books published in English language. “The judges were particularly impressed by the high quality of the entries, especially from the first-time authors,” says UJ in a press release.

Find the 2024 shortlist below:

Debut Prize

• A Soft Landing (novel) by Wisani Mushwana
• Guerrillas and Combative Mothers (non-fiction) by Siphokazi Magadla
• The Institute for Creative Dying (novel) by Jarred Thompson

Main Prize

• Breasts, etc. (novel) by Nthikeng Mohlele
• Paperless (novel) by Buntu Siwisa
• Three Egg Dilemma (novel) by Morabo Morojele

The Main Prize winner will be awarded R70,000 and the Debut Prize winner will be awarded R35,000. The winners of each category will be announced by the end of this month.

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors!