Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards 2023 shortlists announced

The shortlists for Namibia’s Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards 2023 were announced in Windhoek on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.

The Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards was introduced to the African literary community in 2021 by Doek. The first winners of the bi-annual awards in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry were Ndawedwa Denga Hanghuwo, Natasha Uys, and Pauline Buhle Ndhlovu.

The jury for 2023 comprising Dr Nelson Mlambo and Natasha Uys (Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry) as well as Namafu Amutse (Visual Arts) was made public on July 6. The jury announced its longlist on Friday, September 8 before the shortlist was announced today. Those still in the running are;

Fiction

• Roxane Bayer: Letters To Chloe (Issue 7: November, 2021)
• Karin Eloff: One Man’s Trash (Issue 9: September, 2022)
• Filemon Iiyambo: Their Mother’s Words (Issue 10: May, 2023)

Nonfiction

• Frowin Becker: Deliver Me, Anvil (Issue 9: September, 2022)
• Nina Van Zyl: Motherhood (Issue 8: May, 2022)

Poetry

• Kina Indongo: “Windhoek” Issue 7: November, 2021), How Things Are And How They Happen, and Our Last Conversation (Issue 10: May, 2023)
• Veripuamu Nandee Kangumine: Daughters Of A Witch and There Isn’t A Word In Your Language For Being Touched (Issue 7: November, 2021); The Jackal Who Prepares You For Marriage” (Issue 10: May, 2023)
• Keith Vries: Jamal and Who Did You Leave Under The Sea (Issue 10: May, 2023)

Visual Art

• Nicola Brandt: When The Land Speaks (Issue 8: May, 2022)
• Katherine Hunter: How Frankenstein Created A Character (Issue 11: September, 2023)
• Jean-Claude Tjitamunisa: The Gift (Issue 9: September, 2022)

The winners in each category, who get a cash prize of NAD5000 sponsored by Bank Windhoek, will be revealed at a ceremony in December. They will also presented with a unique trophy commissioned from a Namibian artist.