The Central News Agency Literary Award (CNA Literary Award, CNA Prize) was a major annual literary award in
South Africa. It was named for the
CNA chain of bookstores. Founded by Phillip Stein,
it recognised works in prose and poetry, and in both the
English language and
Afrikaans.
The last award was presented in 1996,
although CNA later launched a "Book of the Year" award for popular bestsellers of any genre.
Zapiro and Wilbur Smith Make the CNA "Book of the Year" Shortlist Books LIVE
/ref>
Past winners (incomplete list)
This list is based on multiple sources that may contain errors.Karel Schoeman
Karel Schoeman (, 26 October 1939 – 1 May 2017) was a South African novelist, historian, translator and man of letters. Author of twenty novels and numerous works of history, he was one of South Africa's most honoured writers. Schoeman wrote ...
, , ''Hierdie Lewe''
, -
, 1993, , Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
, , '' Long Walk to Freedom'', , Chris Barnard
Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation. On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident ...
, , ''Moerland''
, -
, 1992, , Damon Galgut
Damon Galgut (born 12 November 1963) is a South African novelist and playwright. He was awarded the 2021 Booker Prize for his novel '' The Promise'', having previously been shortlisted for the award in 2003 and 2010.
Early life and education
Ga ...
, , ''The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs'', , , ,
, -
, 1991, , , , , , John Miles, , '' Kroniek uit die Doofpot: Polisieroman''
, -
, 1990, , Nadine Gordimer
Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writin ...
, , ''My Son's Story
''My Son's Story'' is the ninth novel by South African novelist Nadine Gordimer. It was written towards the end of the State of Emergency and first published in 1990. The very next year, Gordimer was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, and th ...
'', , , ,
, -
, 1989, , Christopher Hope, , ''White Boy Running'', , , ,
, -
, 1986, , Etienne van Heerden, , ''Ancestral Voices'', , , ,
, -
, 1985, , Ellen Kuzwayo , , Call me Woman , , T.T. Cloete, , ''Allotroop''[NB-Uitgewers: http://www.nb.co.za/authors/2338 {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328085848/http://www.nb.co.za/authors/2338 , date=2016-03-28 ]
, -
, 1984, , Douglas Livingstone , , ''Selected Poems'' , , , Wilma Stockenström
Wilma Johanna Stockenström (born 7 August 1933) is a South African writer, translator, and actor. She writes in the Afrikaans language, and along with Sheila Cussons, Elisabeth Eybers, Antjie Krog and Ina Rousseau, she is one of the leading fe ...
, Monsterverse
, -
, 1983, , J. M. Coetzee, , Life and Times of Michael K , , Breyton Breytenbach, , ''(YK): Die vierde bundel van die ongedanste dans''
, -
, 1982, , André Brink
André Philippus Brink (29 May 1935 – 6 February 2015) was a South African novelist, essayist and poet. He wrote in both Afrikaans and English and taught English at the University of Cape Town.
In the 1960s Brink, Ingrid Jonker, Etienne Lerou ...
, , ''A Chain of Voices
''A Chain of Voices'' is a 1982 novel by Afrikaans writer André Brink. The novel is a historical novel which recounts the roots of the apartheid system during the early part of the 19th century. The novel focuses on a slave revolt center in th ...
'', , Elisabeth Eybers , , Bestand
, -
, 1981, , Nadine Gordimer
Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writin ...
, , '' July's People'', , Sheila Cussons , , Die Woedende Brood
, -
, 1980, , J. M. Coetzee, , '' Waiting for the Barbarians'', , No award , ,
, -
, 1979, , Nadine Gordimer
Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writin ...
, , '' Burger's Daughter'', , D.J. Opperman
Diederik (or Dirk) Johannes Opperman, commonly referred to as D.J. Opperman ( 29 September 1914 – 22 September 1985) was an Afrikaans poet.
Biography
He was born on 29 September 1914 in Dundee in Natal, where he grew up. He went to school in ...
, , ''Komas Uit 'N Bamboesstok''
, -
, 1978, , André Brink
André Philippus Brink (29 May 1935 – 6 February 2015) was a South African novelist, essayist and poet. He wrote in both Afrikaans and English and taught English at the University of Cape Town.
In the 1960s Brink, Ingrid Jonker, Etienne Lerou ...
, , '' Rumours of Rain'', , Elsa Joubert, , Die Swerfjare van Poppie Nongena
, -
, 1977, , J. M. Coetzee, , '' In the Heart of the Country'', , Elisabeth Eybers , , Einder
, -
, 1976, , Anthony Delius , , Border , , Etienne Leroux, , ''Magersfontein, O Magersfontein!''
, -
, 1975, , Guy Butler, , ''Selected Poems'', , Anna M Louw , , Kroniek van Perdepoort
, -
, 1974, , Nadine Gordimer
Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writin ...
, , '' The Conservationist'', , Leon Rousseau, , Die Groot Verlange
, -
, 1973, , Alan Paton
Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. His works include the novels ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' and '' Too Late the Phalarope''.
Family
Paton was born in Pietermaritzbu ...
, , ''Apartheid and the archbishop: The life and times of Geoffrey Clayton, Archbishop of Cape Town'', , Elisabeth Eybers , , Kruis of Munt
, -
, 1972, , Sheila Meiring Fugard, , ''The Castaways'', , Karel Schoeman
Karel Schoeman (, 26 October 1939 – 1 May 2017) was a South African novelist, historian, translator and man of letters. Author of twenty novels and numerous works of history, he was one of South Africa's most honoured writers. Schoeman wrote ...
, , Na die Geliefde Land
, -
, 1971, , Jack Cope
Robert Knox ″Jack″ Cope (3 June 1913 – 1 May 1991) was a South African novelist, short story writer, poet and editing, editor.
Life
Jack Cope was born in Natal Province, Natal, South Africa and home-schooled by tutors. From the age of 12, ...
, , The Rain Maker , , Elsa Joubert
P G du Plessis
, Bonga
Siener in die Suburbs
, -
, 1970, , John McIntosh, , ''The Stonefish'', , Breyten Breytenbach , , Lotus
, -
, 1969, , No award , , , , Breyten Breytenbach, , ''Kouevuur''
, -
, 1968, , Siegfried Stander, , ''The Horse'', , Chris Barnard
Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation. On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident ...
, , ''Duiwel-in-die-bos''
, -
, 1967, , Laurens van der Post, , ''The Hunter and the Whale'', , Breyten Breytenbach, , ''Die huis van die dowe''
, -
, 1966, , Thelma Gutsche
Thelma Gutsche (7 January 1915 – 5 November 1984) was a South African filmmaker, film historian, writer, and arts patron, referred to as "South Africa's most accomplished early cinema historian" by a later film scholar.
Early life and education ...
, , ''No Ordinary Woman'', , Henriette Grové, , ''Jaarringe''
, -
, 1965, , Godfrey LeMay, , ''British Supremacy in South Africa, 1899–1907'', , André Brink
André Philippus Brink (29 May 1935 – 6 February 2015) was a South African novelist, essayist and poet. He wrote in both Afrikaans and English and taught English at the University of Cape Town.
In the 1960s Brink, Ingrid Jonker, Etienne Lerou ...
, , ''Olé''
, -
, 1964, , Alan Paton
Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. His works include the novels ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' and '' Too Late the Phalarope''.
Family
Paton was born in Pietermaritzbu ...
, , ''Hofmeyr'', , Etienne Leroux, , ''Een vir Azazel''
, -
, 1963, , Laurens van der Post, , ''The Seed and the Sower'', , D.J. Opperman
Diederik (or Dirk) Johannes Opperman, commonly referred to as D.J. Opperman ( 29 September 1914 – 22 September 1985) was an Afrikaans poet.
Biography
He was born on 29 September 1914 in Dundee in Natal, where he grew up. He went to school in ...
, , ''Dolosse''
, -
, 1962, , Mary Renault, , '' The Bull from the Sea'', , N.P. van Wyk Louw
Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw (11 June 1906 in Sutherland, Cape Colony – 18 June 1970 in Johannesburg), almost universally known as N.P. van Wyk Louw, was an Afrikaans-language poet, playwright and scholar. He was the older brother of Afrikaans ...
, , ''Tristia: en ander verse voorspeleren vlugte''
, -
, 1961, , Siegfried Stander, , ''The Desert Place'', , Chris Barnard
Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation. On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident ...
, , ''Bekende onrus''
, -
See also
* Alan Paton Award
* Amstel Playwright of the Year Award
The Amstel Playwright of the Year Award, an independent non-governmental prize, was launched in South Africa in 1978. It recognised South African playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is ...
* Hertzog Prize
* W.A. Hofmeyr Prize
Notes
9 From the menu for the CNA Literary Awards for 1986
South African literary awards
South African literary events
Awards disestablished in 1996
1996 disestablishments in South Africa