The biennial Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature award has been a source of local young adult publications since its inception in 1980. Over the years some changes were made to the competition to ensure relevance to readers and the South African literary and social landscape. The most significant change was to open entries to all 11 official languages of SA, thus ensuring that more writers and readers benefit from the competition.
Michelle Cooper, publisher and head of children’s and youth literature at Tafelberg, says: “I cherish each Sanlam award-winning book we’ve published. They represent the best of local writing for young adults. Our latest batch of winners covers themes that are right on trend with international YA (young adult) and I know readers will be enthralled.”
Debut authors compete on level ground against established writers in this anonymously judged competition and some have gone on to succeed as published authors in other genres as a result of winning. With a few exceptions, a Sanlam winner is prescribed in schools regularly and some have been turned into films. Sanlam award-winners have also gone on to win other local literary prizes, like the Media24 Books Literary Awards and the Percy FitzPatrick Prize.
“Sanlam believes that learning provides the foundation for building a world of Wealthsmiths. Our investment in this competition for almost 40 years has resulted in thousands of young people getting access to books ‒ laying the foundation for living their best lives, now and for the next generation,” says Elena Meyer, senior manager of sponsorships at Sanlam.
Puku congratulates the authors and celebrates their stories.
