Zimbabwean author Sue Nyathi was recently shortlisted for UJ Prize for published works, for her latest novel An Angel’s Demise.
This is yet another honour for the novel that has already won Nyathi the Fiction Award at the 2023 HSS Awards (Humanities and Social Sciences Awards) and it is also longlisted for the 2023 Sunday Times Literary Awards. It seems the author’s 4th book might be her most successful one yet.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ Prize) for South African Writing is delighted to announce the shortlist for books published in 2022. The UJ Prize opened for submissions on 25 October 2022 and closed on 31 January 2023. We received a record number of entries this year and a panel comprised of 7 judges considered the submissions.
An Angel’s Demise was shortlisted for the main prize alongside Greyheart a poetry collection by Lesego Rampolokeng and How to be a Revolutionary a novel by C.A. Davids.
The University of Johannesburg Prize for South African Writing, also known as the UJ Prize, is awarded annually by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) for the best creative works in each of five categories: English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Northern Sotho, and Literary Translation. There are usually two prizes, a main prize and a debut prize, in each category. The prizes are not linked to a specific genre, and each year’s prize rewards work published in the previous year.
The winner of the main prize in each category receives R70 000, the winner of each debut prize receives R35 000, and the winner of the Literary Translation prize receives R50 000. Previous winners of the award include Mandla Langa, Jacob Dlamini, Rešoketšwe Manenzhe, Gabeba Baderoon, and Zakes Mda, among others.
Sue Nyathi describes herself as a writer by passion. Although having studied finance at university, writing is something that she has always loved since childhood. While Nyathi says she wrote her first novel at 13, her first published work would only come 20 years in 2012 with The Polygamist. Since then she has published The Gold Diggers, A Family Affair and most recently An Angel’s Demise.
