The Sunday Times Literary Awards has announced the longlists for South Africa’s most prestigious annual literary awards. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the non-fiction award and 24 years of the fiction prize in partnership with Exclusive Books.

The Sunday Times Literary Awards recognize excellence in South African literature, with the non-fiction award honoring works that present “the illumination of truthfulness, especially those forms of it that are new, delicate, unfashionable and fly in the face of power,” demonstrating “compassion, elegance of writing, and intellectual and moral integrity.” The fiction prize seeks novels of “rare imagination and style… a tale so compelling as to become an enduring landmark of contemporary fiction.”

This year’s judging panels bring together an impressive mix of literary expertise, journalism, and cultural insight. The non-fiction panel is chaired by veteran journalist Kevin Ritchie, joined by scholar Hlonipha Mokoena and bookseller-author Sewela Langeni. The fiction panel is led by writer and academic Siphiwo Mahala, alongside longtime literary journalist Michele Magwood and physician and literary podcaster Alma-Nalisha Cele.

The longlist spans a remarkable range of genres and perspectives, from memoirs and political biographies to thrillers and literary fiction.

Non-Fiction Longlist

The 25 longlisted non-fiction titles include powerful memoirs, historical investigations, and political reflections:

  • Lucky Bastard by Anthony Akerman (Praxis Publishing)
  • Great Johannesburg: What Happened? How to Save an African Economic Giant by Nickolaus Bauer (Tafelberg)
  • Orthogonal Thinking: My Own Search for Meaning in Mathematics, Literature and Life by David Buckham (Mercury)
  • Dayspring: A Memoir by CJ Driver (Karavan Press)
  • Exit Wounds: A Story of Love, Loss, and Occasional Wars by Peter Godwin (Picador Africa)
  • Through a Dragonfly Eye: A Memoir by Jenny Hobbs (Hands-On Books)
  • Breaking Bread: A Memoir by Jonathan Jansen (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
  • The Times Do Not Permit: The Musical Life of Michael Mosoeu Moerane by Christine Lucia, Wits University Press
  • Soul of a Nation: A Quest for the Rebirth of South Africa’s True Values by Oyama Mabandla, Tafelberg
  • I Will Not Be Silenced by Karyn Maughan (Tafelberg)
  • Positively Me: Daring To Live And Love Beyond HIV by Nozibele Mayaba with Sue Nyathi (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
  • Prescription: Ice Cream – A Doctor’s Journey to Discover What Matters by Alastair McAlpine (Pan Macmillan)
  • The Truth About Cape Slavery: The Foundations of Colonial South Africa by Patric Tariq Mellet (Tafelberg)
  • Morafe: Person, Family and Nation in Colonial Bechuanaland 1880s-1950s by Khumisho Moguerane (Jacana Media)
  • Patient 12A: A Memoir by Lesedi Molefi, Picador Africa
  • Love and Fury: A Memoir by Margie Orford (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
  • Keorapetse Kgositsile and the Black Arts Movement: Poetics of Possibility by Uhuru Portia Phalafala (Wits University Press)
  • Witness to Power: A Political Memoir by Mathews Phosa (Penguin Non-fiction).
  • Hunting the Seven: How The Gugulethu Seven Assassins Were Exposed by Beverly Roos-Muller, Jonathan Ball Publishers
  • The Syndicate of Twenty-Two Natives: The Stan Sangweni Story by Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo, Pan Macmillan
  • One Hundred Years of Dispossession: My Family’s Quest to Reclaim Our Land by Lebogang Seale, Jacana Media
  • Lucas Mangope: A Life by Oupa Segalwe, Tafelberg
  • Chris van Wyk – Irascible Genius: A Son’s Memoir by Kevin van Wyk, Pan Macmillan
  • The Near North by Ivan Vladislavić, Picador Africa
  • In Silence My Heart Speaks by Thobeka Yose, Karavan Press

Fiction Longlist

The 20 longlisted fiction works demonstrate the vibrancy of contemporary South African storytelling:

  • God’s Pocket by Sven Axelrad (Umuzi)
  • Home Scar by SE Bhamjee (Modjaji Books)
  • The Comrade’s Wife: A Novel by Barbara Boswell
  • Good Hope by Nick Clelland (Karavan Press)
  • In the Shadows by Olivia M Coetzee (Modjaji Books)
  • Now You Suffer: A Ruben Ellis Thriller by Gareth Crocker (Penguin)
  • Deadly Benefits by Kurt Ellis (Penguin)
  • A Short Life: A Novel by Nicky Greenwall (Penguin)
  • Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings (Karavan Press)
  • The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil by Shubnum Khan (Pan Macmillan)
  • The Queer Book of Revelation by Siya Khumalo (Kwela)
  • The Child by Alistair Mackay (Kwela)
  • The City is Mine: A Novel by Niq Mhlongo (Kwela)
  • Revolutionaries House by Nthikeng Mohlele (Jacana Media)
  • The Creation of Half-Broken People by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (Picador Africa)
  • Love, Marry, Kill: A Novel by Zukiswa Wanner (Kwela)
  • The Equality of Shadows by Charl-Pierre Naudé (Picador Africa)
  • The Tea Merchant by Jackie Phamotse (Penguin)
  • Who Looks Inside by Anna Stroud (Karavan Press)
  • Crimson Sands: The Story of Dirk Aruseb and the Bondelswarts – A Novel by Jeremy Vearey, Human & Rousseau

The fiction longlist represents a dynamic mix of established and emerging voices exploring themes from urban life and queer identity to historical trauma and contemporary relationships.

These longlists celebrate the depth and diversity of South African literature, showcasing works that engage with the country’s complex past and present while pushing the boundaries of literary form and content. The shortlists and winners will be announced in the coming months, continuing the prestigious tradition of recognizing excellence in South African writing.