UJ Prize Shortlist Revealed

The University of Johannesburg has unveiled the shortlist for its prestigious UJ Prize for South African Writing. Celebrating excellence across genres, the prize recognises outstanding books published in 2024. In the Debut Prize category: Khumisho Moguerane’s Morafe, Siphokazi Jonas’s Weeping Becomes a River, and Anna Stroud’s Who Looks Inside. For the Main Prize: Uhuru Portia Phalafala’s Keorapetse Kgositsile and the Black Arts Movement, Barbara Boswell’s The Comrade’s Wife, and Shubnum Khan’s The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil. Winners will be announced later this month, with R75,000 for the main prize and R45,000 for the debut. Phemelo speaks to UJ’s Associate Professor in the Department of English, Siphiwo Mahala about the power of South African storytelling.