We are delighted that five Blake Friedmann authors are on the longlist for the South African Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards. OKAY OKAY OKAY by Finuala Dowling, THE BOOK OF MALACHI by T. C. Farren, A POOR SEASON FOR WHALES by Michiel Heyns, THE ZULUS OF NEW YORK by Zakes Mda and THE DISTANCE by Ivan Vladislavić are all on the longlist for the Fiction Prize. In its 20th year, the Fiction Prize is awarded to ‘a novel of rare imagination and style, evocative, textured and a tale so compelling as to become an enduring landmark of contemporary fiction.’
The fiction and non-fiction prizes are awarded annually to writers who are either South African citizens or residents, with two years’ worth of books being considered in 2021 due to a hiatus in 2020 due to Covid-19. Past winners of the Fiction Prize include Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Harry Kalmer and Nkosinathi Sithole, as well as Blake Friedmann authors Michiel Heyns in 2012 with LOST GROUND, Marlene van Niekerk in 2007 with AGAAT. Zakes Mda has won the Prize twice, in 2017 with LITTLE SUNS, as well as the inaugural award in 2001 with THE HEART OF REDNESS. Ivan Vladislavić won the Fiction Prize in 2002 with THE RESTLESS SUPERMARKET and the Non-Fiction Prize in 2007 with PORTRAIT WITH KEYS.
OKAY OKAY OKAY by Finuala Dowling
When a strike by the University of Adamastor’s technical staff coincides with a lull in sound operator Vida’s employment, she agrees to stage-manage a university event. There she meets the Head of Effective Communication, Simon Landor. He is caught up in a massive student protest and his communication is anything but effective. Vida, who rescues strays, whether pets or people, steps in. A host of engaging characters populate this novel exploring communication and connection in a complex world.
OKAY OKAY OKAY was published in South Africa by Kwela in 2019.
THE BOOK OF MALACHI by T. C. Farren
Malachi is mute and disconnected from human beings when he gets a mysterious and tempting job offer, with the promise of the restoration of his power of speech. Flown out to an old oilrig, he finds himself a carer and jail keeper in a secretive organ farming operation. But are all the prisoners as evil as the pharmaceutical company says? Sentenced to death anyway, do they deserve their fate, in the service of good people in need? As doubt starts to grow, Malachi is faced with a terrible dilemma. Must he leave them to this medical nightmare or risk his life and set them free?
Malachi may have no tongue, but his voice is one readers will never forget – sharply ironic, vividly descriptive and leavened with humour. He is a compelling guide through the twists and turns of this gripping and ultimately redemptive thriller with a speculative twist. And the great overarching question: What would you do?
THE BOOK OF MALACHI was published by Kwela in South Africa in 2019. It was published in the UK and US by Titan Book and by Bolinda in audio. TV rights have been optioned by Little Island. THE BOOK OF MALACHI was also longlisted for the Nommo Awards for Speculative Fiction in 2020.
A POOR SEASON FOR WHALES by Michiel Heyns
Margaret Crowley, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly fifty-six years in the world with very little to distress or vex her. It was therefore hardly to be foreseen that in her fifty-sixth year she would kill a man with a kitchen knife.
When, after twenty-six years of marriage, Margaret Crowley’s husband leaves her for a younger man, she has to rethink her priorities and consider her options. Opting to leave behind her support system of family and friends, she moves to a seaside town with her dog, Benjy, intent upon a simple, uncluttered existence. But simplicity, it seems, can be a complicated affair. When the charismatic young Jimmy Prinsloo-Mazibuko enters her life and her home, apparently intent upon establishing himself as a general-purpose handyman and cook, she finds herself torn between distrust and attraction. Is he merely the helpful, cheerful young man he seems, or is there a darker purpose to his assistance?
A POOR SEASON FOR WHALES was published in 2020 by Jonathan Ball.
THE ZULUS OF NEW YORK by Zakes Mda
The impresario Farini introduced Em-Pee and his troupe to his kind of show business, and now they must earn their bread. In 1885 in bustling New York City, they are the performers who know the true Zulu dances, while all around them fraudsters perform silly jigs. Reports on the Anglo-Zulu War portrayed King Cetshwayo as infamous, and audiences in London and New York flock to see his kin. What the gawking spectators don't know is that Em-Pee once carried nothing but his spear and shield, when he had to flee his king. But amid the city's squalid vaudeville acts appears a vision that leaves Em-Pee breathless: in a cage in Madison Square Park is Acol, a Dinka princess on display. For Em-Pee, it is love at first sight, though Acol is not free to love anyone back.
THE ZULUS OF NEW YORK was published by Penguin Random House South Africa in 2020. It was also shortlisted for the Adult Fiction Prize at the SA Book Awards 2020.
THE DISTANCE by Ivan Vladislavić
In the spring of 1970, a Pretoria schoolboy, Joe, becomes obsessed with Muhammad Ali. He begins collecting daily newspaper clippings about him, a passion that grows into an archive of scrapbooks. Forty years later, when Joe has become a writer, these scrapbooks become the foundation for a memoir of his childhood. When he calls upon his brother, Branko, for help uncovering their shared past, meaning comes into view in the spaces between then and now, growing up and growing old, speaking out and keeping silent.
THE DISTANCE was published in South Africa in 2020 by Penguin Random House South Africa, and in the UK and US by Archipelago, with audio by Tantor.
