The Sunday Times CNA Literary Awards are awarded annually to South African writers by the South African weekly newspaper the Sunday Times. They comprise the ''Sunday Times CNA Literary Award for Non-fiction and the Sunday Times CNA Literary Award for Fiction, and are awarded for full-length non-fiction works and novels, respectively. Both winners receive R100 000. Ivan Vladislavic is the only person to have won both the fiction and the non-fiction award.
History of the Awards
Originally established in 1989, the Alan Paton Award was conferred annually for meritorious works of non-fiction. It aimed to reward books presenting "the illumination of truthfulness, especially those forms of it that are new, delicate, unfashionable and fly in the face of power," and demonstrating "compassion, elegance of writing, and intellectual and moral integrity." The award was named for Alan Paton, the famous South African author of Cry, The Beloved Country (1948).
In 2001, a companion award for fiction was established, the Sunday Times Fiction Prize. The criteria stipulate that the winning novel should be one of "rare imagination and style... a tale so compelling as to become an enduring landmark of contemporary fiction." The prize was restructured in 2015 when fiction and non-fiction awards were brought together as the Sunday Times Literary Awards; the money for each prize was increased, from R75 000 to R100 000, and the Fiction Prize was renamed the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize in honour of Barry Ronge, a renowned South African journalist who was one of the founders of the awards.
In 2020, there was a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the awards recommenced in 2021 with a new sponsor, CNA, a South African retail chain of stationery shops, and are now known as the Sunday Times'' CNA Literary Awards."Submissions for 2021 Sunday Times CNA Literary Awards now open" This sponsorship arrangement followed the acquisition of CNA from "embattled" parent company Edcon in February 2020. In 2021, books published between 1 December 2018 and 1 December 2020 were eligible.
Fiction winners +Works shortlisted for the fiction prize, 2008–2024YearNomineeWorkResultRef.2024Andrew BrownThe Bitterness of Olives WonSven AxelradBuried Treasure Morabo MorojeleThree Egg Dilemma David Ralph ViviersMirage Jarred ThompsonThe Institute for Creative Dying 2023C. A. DavidsHow to Be a RevolutionaryWon|Andrew BrownThe Heist MenSiphiwe Gloria NdlovuThe Quality of MercyYewande OmotosoAn Unusual GriefMark WinklerThe Errors of Dr Browne2022Tshidiso MoletsaneJunxWonKaren JenningsAn Island Joanne JosephChildren of SugarcaneThenjiwe MswaneAll Gomorrahs Are The SameDamon GalgutThe Promise2021Marguerite PolandA Sin of OmissionWonDawn GarischBreaking MilkSiphiwe Gloria NdlovuThe History of ManRešoketšwe ManenzheScatterlingsMark WinklerDue South of Copenhagen2020No award due to the COVID-19 pandemic2019Siphiwe Gloria NdlovuThe Theory of FlightWonJohn HuntThe Boy Who Could Keep a Swan in His HeadNozizwe Cynthia JeleThe Ones with PurposeClaire RobertsonUnder GlassMark WinklerTheo & Flora2018Harry KalmerA Thousand Tales of JohannesburgWonMaxine CaseSoftness of the LimeS. J. NaudéThe Third ReelLesego RampolokengBird-Monk SedingFrancois SmithThe Camp Whore2017Zakes MdaLittle SunsWonBronwyn Law-ViljoenThe PrintmakerKopano MatlwaPeriod PainYewande OmotosoThe Woman Next DoorMark WinklerThe Safest Place You Know2016Nkosinathi SitholeHunger Eats a ManWonAlastair BruceBoy on the WireCraig HigginsonThe Dream HouseClaire RobertsonThe Magistrate of GowerHenrietta Rose-InnesGreen Lion2015Damon GalgutArctic SummerWonImraan CoovadiaTales of the Metric SystemMasande NtshangaThe ReactiveElaine ProctorThe Savage HourZoë WicombOctober2014Claire RobertsonThe Spiral HouseWonLauren BeukesThe Shining GirlsDominic BothaFalse RiverSongeziwe MahlanguPenumbraEben VenterWolf Wolf2013Karen JayesFor the Mercy of WaterWon"Karen Jayes Wins the Sunday Times Fiction Prize for For the Mercy of Water", Books Live, 29 June 2013.Imraan CoovadiaThe Institute for Taxi PoetrySteven Boykey SidleyEntanglementChris WadmanThe Unlikely Genius of Dr Cuthbert KamazumaJames WhyleThe Book of War2012Michiel HeynsLost GroundWonH.J. GolakaiThe Lazarus EffectHenrietta Rose-InnesNinevehYewande OmotosoBom BoyAdam SchwartzmannEddie Signwriter2011Sifiso MzobeYoung BloodWonShaida Kazie Ali Not a Fairy TaleJames ClellandDeeper than ColourDeon MeyerThirteen HoursIvan VladislavicDouble Negative2010Imraan CoovadiaHigh Low In-betweenWonJ. M. CoetzeeSummertimeZinaid MeeranSaracen at the GatesKgebetli MoeleThe Book of the DeadSally-Ann MurraySmall Moving Parts2009Anne LandsmanThe Rowing LessonWonTracey FarrenWhiplashDamon GalgutThe ImpostorMichiel HeynsBodies PoliticMandla LangaThe Lost Colours of the Chameleon2008Ceridwen DoveyBlood KinWonJustin CartwrightThe Song Before it is SungJ. M. CoetzeeDiary of a Bad YearAndrew GrayThe FenceNiq MhlongoAfter Tears2007Marlene van NiekerkAgaat (trans. Michiel Heyns)Won"Marlene van Niekerk", Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.Imraan CoovadiaGreen-Eyed ThievesMorabo MorojeleHow We Buried PusoDavid MedalieThe Shadow Follows2006Andrew BrownColdsleep LullabyWonJ. M. CoetzeeSlow ManAndré BrinkPraying MantisRussel BrownleeGarden of the PlaguesConsuelo RolandThe Good Cemetery Guide2005Justin CartwrightThe Promise of HappinessWon2004Rayda JacobsConfessions of a GamblerWon2003André BrinkThe Other Side of SilenceWon2002Ivan VladislavicThe Restless SupermarketWon2001Zakes MdaThe Heart of RednessWon
Non-fiction winners