Founded by the wRite associates, in partnership with the then national Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) in 2005, the main aim of the South African Literary Awards is to pay tribute to South African writers who have distinguished themselves as groundbreaking producers and creators of literature, while it celebrates literary excellence in the depiction and sharing of South Africa’s histories, value systems and philosophies and art as inscribed and preserved in all the languages of South Africa, particularly the official languages.
The SA Literary Awards continue to become the most prestigious and respected literary accolades in the South African literary landscape.
The main aim of the South African Literary Awards is to pay tribute to South African writers who have distinguished themselves as groundbreaking producers and creators of literature, while it celebrates literary excellence in the depiction and sharing of South Africa’s histories, value systems, philosophies and art as inscribed and preserved in all eleven official languages of South Africa. The Awards aim to become the most prestigious and respected accolades in the South African literary arena.
Having started with one (1) category – the South African National Poet Laureate Prize – in 2005, to date, SALA boasts sixteen (16) categories, with the newest additions being the Regional/Provincial Poet Laureate, and Local Poet Laureate Prize.
SALA accepts all eleven (11) SA’s official languages and has to date, honoured over three hundred (300) authors.
Selections are made from published authors whose primary input is in imaginative writing – fiction as well as creative non-fiction. The work must demonstrate good linguistic presentation, the nation’s identity, societal values, universal truths, and cultural aesthetics. It must also contribute to social cohesion, nation building and transcendence of time.
The Awards honour our living literary practitioners, legends and, where appropriate, others posthumously. To date, the South African Literary Awards has honoured 133 authors and they are becoming the most prestigious and respected literary accolades in South African literature.
(Chairperson)
(Deputy Chairperson)
