Read all about it: our literary prize shortlists for 2026

The Sunday Times Literary Awards shortlist season has arrived!

First up, the fiction prize, where “the winner should be a novel of rare imagination and style, evocative, textured and a tale so compelling as to become an enduring landmark of contemporary fiction”.

Craig Higginson, chair of the judging panel, says: “South African literary fiction continues to thrive and this year’s five shortlisted novels are a wonderful example of the innovation and experimentation that is currently happening — regarding literary form as much as content.”

A good story, no matter how sad, never ceases to be told and can literally travel a distance—  Shylock Matsunyane, chair of judges

In the nonfiction category, chair of the judges Shylock Matsunyane says: “A good story, no matter how sad, never ceases to be told and can literally travel a distance.

“The shortlisted titles this year, with their porous truthfulness and delicacy, made our decision both challenging and intriguing. As a reader, you feel the need to be the one telling the story and travelling along.”