Jacob Dlamini, Jamil F Khan and Rešoketšwe Manenzhe were revealed to be the winners of the University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English 2021 on October 13, 2021.
The University of Johannesburg Prize for South African Writing in English, also known as the UJ Prize, was instituted in 2006. It comprises of a main prize and a debut prize, given annually for “the best original creative work in English published in the previous calendar year”. The prizes are judged by a panel of four members of the Department of English at the University of Johannesburg, two academics from other universities and one member of the media or publishing industry. The prizes are not linked to a specific genre. Some of the previous winners have been Nthikeng Mohlele and Mohale Mashigo; Gabeba Baderoon and Mphuthumi Ntabeni among many others.
The judging panel for this chaired by Sikumbuzo Mngadi (chair) is peopled by Ronit Frenkel (coordinator), Thabo Tsehloane, Minesh Dass, and Rebecca Fasselt. On October 6, they revealed the shortlisted writers from the sixty entries in the two categories. They have announced the winners and they are;
2021 UJ Main Prize (R75 000)
- Jacob Dlamini, Safari Nation
2021 UJ Debut Prize shortlist (joint winners sharing R35 000)
- Rešoketšwe Manenzhe, Scatterlings
- Jamil F Khan, Khamr: The Making of a Waterslams
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