The winners of the annual Sunday Times Literary Awards were announced last night in Johannesburg, where author Johnny Steinberg was the recipient of the prestigious Sunday Times Non-Fiction Award for his work “Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage” (Jonathan Ball Publishers). Andrew Brown received the Sunday Times Fiction Award for The Bitterness of Olives (Karavan Press).
The Sunday Times Literary Awards celebrate the outstanding contributions of South African authors who bring insight, compassion, and understanding to contemporary issues. As such, former Justice Edwin Cameron delivered the keynote address.
Steinberg’s portrayal of Nelson and Winnie Mandela’s iconic marriage was lauded by judges as a “modern epic,” offering a deeply nuanced look at two towering figures whose lives mirrored the struggles and triumphs of South Africa itself. “Telling the tale of a statesman as storeyed as Nelson Mandela is difficult, combining it with the story of another icon in his wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, is remarkably ambitious and fraught with peril. Steinberg does it with skill, courage and sensitivity,” commented Kevin Ritchie, veteran journalist and Chair of the non-fiction judging panel.
The non-fiction adjudicating panel led by Ritchie included Hlonipha Mokoena (Researcher at WiSER, University of the Witwatersrand), and Sewela Langeni (Owner of Book Circle Capital, specializing in African literature).
Other books shortlisted for the Non-fiction Award were:
- The Inheritors by Eve Fairbanks (Jonathan Ball Publishers
- Place: South African Literary Journeys by Justin Fox.
- The Plot to Save South Africa by Justice Malala (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
- The Race To Be Myself by Caster Semenya (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
Brown’s fiction novel The Bitterness of Olives, highlights his prowess in storytelling with a deeply emotional narrative. Award-winning author and playwright Siphiwo Mahala, Chair of the fiction judging panel, described the book as “a harrowing account of a moment of strife, beautifully told. The author, endowed with vivid imagination coupled with acumen and erudition, deftly immerses the reader in a brutal and bewildering landscape. A wholly sublime narrative, this novel is contemporaneous, daring, complex and aesthetically pleasing.”
Joining Mahala on the fiction judging panel were Michele Magwood (Literary journalist and book editor), and Alma-Nalisha Cele (Co-founder of The Cheeky Natives literary podcast).
Bitterness of Olives was selected from a Fiction Award shortlist including:
- Buried Treasure by Sven Axelrad (Umuzi)
- Three Egg Dilemma by Morabo Morojele (Jacana)
- The Institute for Creative Dying by Jarred Thompson (Picador Africa)
- Mirage by David Ralph Viviers (Umuzi)
