Pen your way to cool literary prize

THE Dinaane Debut Fiction Award, which seeks to unearth new South African literary talent, opens for submissions from April 1 until May 31 this year.

For the past 13 years the books that have been published under this award have reflected the many strands of conversation that are woven together in the common language of fiction.

The overall winner, selected by a panel of judges, stands a chance to win R35 000, be published by Jacana Media, get coverage as a debut author and be part of Exclusive Books’ Homebru campaign.

The Jacana Literary Foundation will also present the Kraak Writing Award, dedicated to the memory of Gerald Kraak.

Valued at R20 000, this offers mentoring and intensive coaching from a published author, editor or a publishing expert, enabling the winning author to refine and develop their work further.

The submitted work has to be a work of fiction, and the author must not have had a novel or novella published prior to the award. Manuscripts should be a minimum of 40 000 words in length. Short stories do not qualify.

Inquiries can be directed to: awards@jacana.co.za.