The shortlist has been announced for the
2019 Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award.
From the long list of poems selected by
this year’s judging panel for publication of volume 9 of the anthology,
Professor Mongane Wally Serote (chair of both the panel and the Jacana Literary
Foundation) has selected the three finalists for the 2019 Award.
Serote, the South African Poet Laureate, a
Black Consciousness icon, poet and writer, is a renowned member of the Soweto
poets – a group which advocated for black literary voices in South Africa the
tumultuous 1970s. His poems of that time speak of the realities of apartheid,
and have been invaluable in provoking thought about oppression, as well as
capturing the truths of the era. Similarly, the Sol Plaatje European Union
Poetry Award aims to reveal the political and social attitudes of our time.
“…the poems scream and ask: what must done?
That question can only be attended to, it can only find answers if the
political centre is holding, if the nation is anchored in hope and optimism…” says
Mongane Serote
In alphabetical order, the three
shortlisted poems are:
Motherhood by Zukiswa Muriel Adonis
Sea
Boy by Beatrice Willoughby
The
Herbalist by Wesley Rood
How these poems have placed, and the
overall winner will be announced and cash prizes awarded (R6,000 for first
place, R4,000 for second place and R2,000 for third place) in October 2019.
For more information, contact the Jacana
Literary Foundation on awards@jacana.co.za
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