Two local authors won prizes in the Maskew Miller Longman literature awards ceremony held at Artscape in Cape Town last Thursday evening. They were awarded in the genre of drama for indigenous languages.
In the Tshivenda category, Khalirendwe Nekhavhambe (26) received the first prize with her first published drama, Ganuko a li vhuisi Tshalo.
Mr Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho (30) scooped the second prize in the same category, with his first Tshivenda drama, Nwananga nandi.
Both entered the competition for the first time this year. The publishers received 117 entries in the drama genre this year and winners were seleected in seven language categories. The winner of each category received R10 000 and the runners-up R3 500. The winning entries were also published by Pearson South Africa Learning Resources.
As part of the event, Pearson invited a prominent South African author, Sindiwe Magona, to speak on “The Writer's Three Rs: Reading and Writing, Respect and Responsibility”.
The executive director of Pearson South Africa Learning Resources, Mr Brian Wafawarowa, said they were proud to be part of the annual celebration of ethnic language literature in South Africa’s official languages. “Literature is an important element in improving literacy in our country. We encourage people to read and enjoy literature in their mother tongue. We support all initiatives that will help to improve education in some way,” said Wafawarowa.
Ms Nekhavhambe from Dopeni and Khalavha in Nzhelele said she was very nervous when she entered the competition. “I know that Maskew-Miller Longman has experienced entrants each year and competing with Given Mukwevho was a challenge, and I thought I didn’t have any chance of winning,” she said.
She said she was proud to be counted among the authors who write in their mother tongue. After winning the award, she was convinced that there was a career for her as an author. Apart from writing, Nekhavhambe is also an entrepreneur and owns her own hair salon. It took her a year to finish her award-winning drama. “Writing is hard and if you are not a full-time writer, you must be committed and when the muse seizes you, you just write,” she said.
Mukwevho is a correspondent of Limpopo Mirror. He believes that the prize confirms his role in the Tshivenda literature. He said most Tshivenda publishers and experienced writers had ignored him when he attempted to sought their help.
Despite Nwananga Nandi, Mukwevho also has already published other two books in English. His first book was a collection of short stories entitled: A traumatic revenge and earlier this year a novel, The violent gestures of life, was published by the University of KwaZulu Natal Press.
At the time of our going to press, Mukwevho was busy preparing for a journey to Mpumalanga as he is currently doing research for a Tshivenda novel, titled Lwendo lwanga.
