We are delighted to announce that four of our authors have been longlisted for the Sunday Times Prize in South Africa.

WEEPING WATERS by Karin Brynard (translated by Isobel Dixon and Maya Fowler), A SPORTFUL MALICE by Michiel Heyns and RACHEL’S BLUE by Zakes Mda are on the longlist for The Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize, formerly the Sunday Times Fiction Prize. Now in its fifteenth year, this prize is awarded annually to a novel that is of ‘rare imagination and style, evocative, textured and a tale so compelling as to become an enduring landmark of contemporary fiction.’

In the non-fiction category, DIVIDED LIVES by Lyndall Gordon has been longlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Non-Fiction Prize. This award, now in its twenty-sixth year, is awarded to non-fiction with ‘compassion, elegance of writing, and intellectual and moral integrity.’

Previous Blake Friedmann winners of these prizes include Ivan Vladislavić (who has won both the fiction and non-fiction prizes for PORTRAIT WITH KEYS and THE RESTLESS SUPERMARKET), Marlene van Niekerk for AGAAT (translated by Michiel Heyns), Zakes Mda (HEART OF REDNESS) and Hugh Lewin for STONES AGAINST THE MIRROR.

The shortlists are usually announced at the Franschhoek Literary Festival. For more information on both prizes, check out:

http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2015/04/06/the-2015-sunday-times-barry-ronge-fiction-prize-longlist/

http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2015/04/06/the-2015-sunday-times-alan-paton-award-longlist/

The Book Lounge in Cape Town will be hosting the launch for A SPORTFUL MALICE, Michiel Heyn’s latest novel at 6 pm on June 4. Michiel will be in conversation with the Book Lounge's Mervyn Sloman.

A SPORTFUL MALICE is a witty and surprising story of vanity and artistry, Caravaggio and social media, and love and revenge under the Tuscan sun. It’s published in South Africa by Jonathan Ball, who have published all of Michiel’s novels.

There are some strange characters following Michael on his research trip around Tuscany. An old man, who cuts in front of him in the airport queue, and an elegant elderly woman who sat near him on the plane both keep appearing in unexpected places around Florence. But worst of all Cedric, the belligerent London bouncer with no taste for high culture, deliberately checks into the same hotel and insists on crashing at the countryside villa he has rented. Things take a turn for the stranger when Michael arrives at his villa and finds that that the old man from the airport is in fact its owner, and the mysterious woman is his artist partner. And there is a painting of a man uncannily like himself, though they insist it was painted many years ago. Unnerved by this series of coincidences, Michael begins to fear for his life. What’s really going on in this foreign country, and who can he really trust?

Michiel Heyns has received wide acclaim, with his novel LOST GROUND winning the Sunday Times Fiction Award (2012) as well as the Herman Charles Bosman Prize (2012.) He was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize for African Writers for THE TYPEWRITER’S TALE (2006), and for the Booksellers’ Choice Award for THE RELUCTANT PASSENGER (2003) and THE CHILDREN’S DAY (2002). THE CHILDREN’S DAY also was No. 2 on French chain FNAC’s list of 30 best books of 2010 and several of his novels including LOST GROUND and THE TYPEWRITER’S TALE have been published by Editions Philippe Rey in France. He has won the Sol Plaatje Prize and the South African Translators’ Institute Prize for his translation of AGAAT by Marlene Niekerk, and his translation of Eben Venter’s WOLF, WOLF is currently shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Award 2014.

Further events for A SPORTFUL MALICE include:

Sunday 8 June – Book Launch at the V&A Waterfront, in conversation with Gorry Bowes Taylor and Wordsworth Books

Tuesday 10 June – Book launch at Kalk Bay Books

Friday 13 June, 3 pm – In conversation with author of The Spiral House, Claire Robertson

Saturday 14 June, 2 pm – In conversation with Andrew Brown discussing fun and fiction.

Praise for Michiel Heyns:

'LOST GROUND is among the finest books to have been published in the last few years. Well-written, engaging and almost perfectly paced.' -- M Blackman, Sunday Independent

‘Michiel Heyns is part magician, part juggler and fine linguist.’ – Jane Rosenthal, Mail & Guardian

Visit Michiel Heyns’ website.