ZOO CITY by Lauren Beukes and DOUBLE NEGATIVE by Ivan Vladislavić have both been shortlisted for the M-Net Literary Awards. With categories in place to represent all of South Africa's indigenous languages, ZOO CITY and DOUBLE NEGATIVE are both on the English language short list. The list also includes Craig Higginson's LAST SUMMER, and IN A STRANGE ROOM by Damon Galgut. The winners will be announced on Saturday, 18 June, at a gala event in Cape Town.

This is the twentieth year of the M-Net Literary Awards, the prestigious awards celebrating the writing of South African authors in all of their indigenous languages. The prize money for each of the category winners has been increased to R50,000 (from R30,000 last year). Previous winner of the Film Category, a novel which is believed to have the biggest potential for a screenplay, was Deon Meyer's 13 HOURS.

ZOO CITY is published by Angry Robot in the UK and the USA, and by Jacana in South Africa. It was the winner of the 2010 Arthur C. Clark Award for science fiction novel of the year.

DOUBLE NEGATIVE is the latest novel from Ivan Vladislavić, whose work has received many awards including the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and most recently, the 2010 University of Johannesburg Award. DOUBLE NEGATIVE is published by Umuzi/ Random House (South Africa).

Praise for Lauren Beukes:

'Beukes's energetic noir phantasmagoria...crackles with original ideas...Beukes skilfully employs all the twists of first-rate noir...powerful indeed.' -- Jeff Vandermeer, The New York Times

'Beukes delivers a thrill ride that gleefully merges narrative styles and tropes, almost single-handedly pulling the "urban fantasy" subgenre back towards its groundbreaking roots.' -- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Praise for Ivan Vladislavić:

'Vladislavić is without doubt the most significant writer in South Africa today.'-- Focus on Africa

'Vladislavić is a rare, brilliant writer. His work eschews all cant. Its sheer verve, the way it burrows beneath ossified forms of writing, its discipline and the distance it places between itself and the jaded preoccupations of local fiction, distinguish it.' -- Sunday Times (SA)