Gabrielle Mudiwa was awarded the Achmat Dangor Literary Prize 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
Achmat Dangor was a South African writer, poet, and development professional. His most important works include the novels Kafka’s Curse and Bitter Fruit. He was also the author of three collections of poetry, a novella, and a short story collection. Dangor was born in Johannesburg, Union of South Africa. The South African passed away in 2020 and his widow Audrey Elster initiated a new prize in his honour to ensure the enduring legacy of Achmat Dangor. This will be done by offering previously disadvantaged writers the financial support needed to pursue an MA in Creative Writing at Wits (University of Witwatersrand).
The first edition of the award was handed out at the William Cullen Library, University of Witwatersrand on October 30. The shortlist which highlighted the diversity and vibrancy of South African literature included Veli Mnisi, Phelani Makhanya, Vuyokazi Ngemntu, Lerato Sibanda waga Matsomela, and Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi.
Gabrielle Mudiwa is a 28-year-old writer completing a joint Honours in African Literature and Creative Writing at Wits. Her winning entry stood out of nearly 40 applications for its unique narrative voice and command of language, capturing themes of memory, displacement, and continuity in South Africa.
Writer and Distinguished Professor in Creative Writing at Wits, Ivan Vladislavić spoke on Dangor’s contributions to South African literature. He noted, “Dangor’s work resonates profoundly in our present. His concern with the fluidity and mutability of identity, intergenerational trauma and the burdens of memory, his bold and sometimes disquieting eroticism, and his interest in spirituality, mysticism and Muslim identity will strike a chord with many contemporary readers and writers.”
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