Dinaane Debut Fiction Award

SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED.

Non-fiction takes the lion’s share of sales of books made in South Africa, with fiction limited to a very small percentage of all sales of locally published books. Many locally published novels sell just a few hundred copies, making it difficult for publishers to recoup the costs of publication from sales.

Sometimes wonderful, illuminating and challenging fiction doesn’t get published because publishers are more and more constrained by market forces. It is heart-breaking to silence these voices, as fiction is the one genre where the heartbeat of southern Africa is documented in an uncensored manner. We cannot allow it to disappear.

Accordingly, Dinaane, the only award of its kind, aims to promote new southern African fiction that speaks to both a local and international audience. It encourages new writers and new readers by publishing material which would likely otherwise not have been selected – for purely commercial reasons – by local publishers of literature.

The winning title is supported by Exclusive Books.

The winner is awarded R 35,000 and publication by Jacana Media.

Winners of the European Union Literary Award include:

The Mourning Bird by Mubanga Kalimamukwento (2018/2019)
Selling LipService by Tammy Baikie (2016)
Dubsteps by Andrew Miller (2014)
The Story of Anna P, as Told by Herself by Penny Busetto (2013)
Khalil’s Journey by Ashraf Kagee (2011/12)
Deeper than Colour by James Clelland (2010)
Saracen at the Gates by Zinaid Meeran (2009)
Till We Can Keep an Animal by Megan Voysey-Braig (2008)
Coconut by Kopano Matlwa (2007)
Bitches’ Brew by Fred Khumalo and Ice in the Lungs by Gerald Kraak (2005)
The Silent Minaret by Ishtiyaq Shukri (2004)

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RULES

• Submissions dates for 2021 will be released in 2020.

• Although the entries must be primarily in English, we welcome innovative writing and the exploration of languages capturing the multilingual landscape in the continent and the world.

• You may only enter once; all subsiquent entries after the first submission will be disqualified.

• Only permanent residents or citizens of South Africa and other southern African countries may apply.

• Authors must not have had a work of fiction (novel or novella) formally published prior to the award. Self published authors may apply, provided that the work was published only online and no physical copies made. Should the work be shortlisted, such online version must be taken down.

• An electronic copy of the manuscript, along with a short biography (100 words or less) and author details should be submitted to Jacana Media via the form below.

• In addition, three printed and individually bound copies of the manuscript must be sent to Jacana Media, addressed to:

THE DINAANE DEBUT FICTION AWARD

C/O JACANA MEDIA

10 ORANGE STREET

SUNNYSIDE

AUCKLAND PARK

2092

JOHANNESBURG

SOUTH AFRICA

• Please bind all three hard copies that you submit to us and print back to back.

• The award is judged blind, so hard-copy manuscripts that feature the author’s name or details by which they may be identified will be disqualified. The hard-copy manuscript should be marked with the title of the work only.

• Incomplete entries will be disqualified.

• Please number your pages; use a font size of 12, Times New Roman and 1.5 spacing (avoid unneccessary formatting such as borders).

• Manuscripts should be a minimum of 40 000 words in length. Short stories do not qualify.

• Intertextuality and references must be appropriately attributed and permissions from copyright holders obtained. This includes poems; song lyrics; quotes and excerpts from books, newspapers, magazines, journals; and reproductions of artwork, photographs or other forms.

• Submissions must have been authored by one person. Co-authored pieces or works of collaboration do not qualify.

• By entering their manuscript, authors agree not to submit their work for publication to any other avenues until the announcement of the shortlist. Any entries which secure a publishing deal before the shortlist has been confirmed will be disqualified.

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Results 1 - 9 of 9

Dinaane Debut Fiction Award

Selling LipService

Dub Steps

The Story of Anna P, as Told by Herself

Khalil's Journey

Till We Can Keep an Animal

Deeper Than Colour

Saracen at the Gates

Ice in the Lungs

Coconut