Shortlisted candidates for the Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards announced
The Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards (BWDLA) recently announced its shortlist candidates, showcasing the depth and breadth of Namibian literary talent published in Doek! Literary Magazine.
In the fiction category, Filemon Iiyambo – a 2022 – 2023 Doek Collective member – makes his second appearance on the Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards prize circuit. He is joined by fellow Doek Collective members Charmaine //Gamxamus and Kay-Leigh De Sousa, featured writers at the 2022 Doek Literary Festival, another literary initiative supported by Bank Windhoek.
//Gamxamus, De Sousa, and Iiyambo also have short stories that will be published in the forthcoming Doek Anthology. Other notable local writers whose works are in the running for the hotly contested literary prize are Emmerita Ambata, Roxane Bayer – also a member of the Doek Collective, Karin Eloff, Maria Iita, Delila Katanga, and Andelaine Tsowases, whose works have added more texture and depth to the Namibian writing.
The nonfiction category offers two talented writers who are no strangers to the Awards’ longlist. In 2021, Frowin Becker was longlisted for nonfiction, while Nina Van Zyl contested the visual arts category. This year, both have had their poignant essays longlisted for consideration.
Poetry remains one of the magazine’s most competitive sections for publication, with each issue attracting some of the country’s most creative poets. This year’s longlist features Ros Limbo – who was longlisted in the same category in 2021 – alongside BWDLA debutants Kina Indongo, Veripuami Nandee Kangumine, Frieda Mukufa, Vivian Tjijandeua Ojo, Tjizembua Tjikuzu, and Keith Vries. Each poet’s work has resonated in the national, continental, and international literary spheres.
The fiction, nonfiction, and poetry categories will be adjudicated by Dr Nelson Mlambo, a lecturer and African literature expert from the University of Namibia, and Natasha Uys, whose journalistic writings are well-known to the Namibian reading public; she was also the inaugural nonfiction winner of the 2021 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards.
The visual art category encompasses the works of Namibian creatives both at home and abroad. For Katherine Hunter, a member of the Doek Collective, and Jean-Claude Tjitamunisa, this longlisting is a second outing in the Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards. Both Hunter and Tjitamunisa have previous publishing experience with Doek! Literary Magazine. For Nicola Brandt, who divides her time between Namibia and Germany, this will be her first appearance on the longlist.
All three visual artists have produced wonderful works that will pose interesting questions for the selecting judge, Namafu Amutse, the inaugural visual arts winner of the Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards.
Arranged by section and alphabetical order, the following Namibian literary artists were published in Doek! Literary Magazine is longlisted for the 2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards:
• Fiction: Charmaine //Gamxamus; Emmerita Ambata; Roxane Bayer; Kay-Leigh De Sousa; Karin Eloff; Maria Iita; Filemon Iiyambo; Delila Katanga and Andelaine Tsowases.
• Nonfiction: Frowin Becker and Nina Van Zyl.
• Poetry: Kina Indongo, Veripuamu Nandee Kangumine, Ros Limbo, Frieda Mukufa, Vivian Tjijandjeua Ojo, Tjizembua Tjikuzu and Keith Vries.
• Visual art: Nicola Brandt, Katherine Hunter, and Jean-Claude Tjitamunisa.
For more information please, read more about the 2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards at the following link: https://doeklitmag.com/awards/.
Remy Ngamije, cofounder and editor-in-chief of Doek! Literary Magazine.
