Media24 Books Literary Awards

Media24 Books Literary Awards
Awarded forExcellent books published under Media24
CountrySouth Africa
Presented byMedia24
Formerly calledVia Afrika Awards
Nasboek Literary Awards
Reward(s)R35 000

The Media24 Books Literary Awards (known before 2011 as the Via Afrika Awards, and before that as the Nasboek Literary Awards)[1][2] are a group of five South African literary prizes awarded annually by Media24, the print-media arm of the South African media company Naspers. They are open to authors whose books are published within the Media24 Books stable (previously known as the Via Afrika stable), which includes NB Publishers, Jonathan Ball Publishers, LuxVerbi-BM, NVA, and Van Schaik Publishers.[3] Each award is worth R35 000.[4] The awards comprise:

  • The W.A. Hofmeyr Prize, a long-established prize for Afrikaans literature;
  • The Herman Charles Bosman Prize for English literature;
  • The Recht Malan Prize for non-fiction;
  • The MER Prizes for illustrated children’s books and youth literature;
  • The Elisabeth Eybers Prize for poetry.

The Jan Rabie Rapport Prize, for debut works in Afrikaans, was awarded annually at the same awards ceremony as the Media24 prizes from 2004 to 2014, but was open to all South African publishers.[5][6] The M-Net Literary Awards were also awarded at the same ceremony until 2010.[7]

The 2020 awards were heavily criticised for their lack of diversity. The winners included six white males and one white female, while the 18 judges included of only two people of colour.[8][9][10]

  1. ^ "2010 Jan Rabie Rapport and Via Afrika Literary Awards Shortlists". Sunday Times Books. 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  2. ^ "Young author wins prestigious prize". ArtSmart. 2003-07-20. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  3. ^ "2009 Jan Rabie Rapport and Via Afrika Prizes Shortlists". Sunday Times Books. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  4. ^ "Shortlists for 2020 Media24 Books Literary Prizes announced". Sunday Times Books. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  5. ^ "Winners of the 2012 Jan Rabie Rapport Prize and Media24 Books Literary Awards". Sunday Times Books. 2012-06-11. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :29 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Eloff, Herman (20 June 2020). "Media24 Books apologise after outcry over lack of diversity in its annual book awards". Arts. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  9. ^ "Writers condemn the lack of diversity in the 2020 Media24 Books Literary Prizes". The Johannesburg Review of Books. 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  10. ^ Williams, Ben (2020-07-01). "We need new (literary) awards". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2021-11-23.