Pan Macmillan SA authors win at the 2020 South African Literary Awards

Pan Macmillan SA is proud to have published three authors who have been honoured at the South African Literary Awards!

The SALAs celebrated 15 years of growth and success on International African Writer’s Day, 7 November 2020, with a virtual ceremony honouring local writers and stories.

SALA was founded in 2005 by the wRite associates, a literary art and events management and strategy company, and the Department of Arts and Culture, as a platform to celebrate South Africa’s rich literary landscape and its authors and language practitioners.

Born Freeloaders by Phumlani Pikoli – winner of the SALA K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award

Pikoli’s novel follows a group of friends born on the cusp of South African democracy examining their uneasy awareness of their privilege and the heightened sense of discomfort at their inability to change the world they were born into.

Lacuna by Fiona Snyckers – winner of the SALA Novel Award

In this fictionalised response to JM Coetzee’s Disgrace, Snyckers gives Lucy Lurie a voice and explores issues of sexuality, trauma and identity.

Illumination by Nthikeng Mohlele – runner-up of the SALA Novel Award

Mohlele’s sixth novel is an unrelenting study of possession and loss, of the beauty and uncertainty of love, of the dangers and intrusions of fame.

Terry Morris, Pan Macmillan SA Managing Director, said:

‘In these troubling and often dark times, books provide a sanctuary, provoke us to think deeply, to explore our emotions and to empathise with others and their stories. We, at Pan Macmillan, would like to thank our incredibly talented authors for pushing the boundaries of creativity with their remarkable books. We remain indebted to the SALA awards and team for continuing to recognise the power of words and local books.’