THE South African Literary Awards celebrate its fourth anniversary by adding a category of "First-time Published Author", thanks to a newly-struck nation-building partnership with the National Arts Council (NAC).

THE South African Literary Awards celebrate its fourth anniversary by adding a category of "First-time Published Author", thanks to a newly-struck nation-building partnership with the National Arts Council (NAC).

South African writers are invited to submit their work, in any genre, for "First-time Published Author" in any of South Africa's 11 official languages.

The closing date of submissions is January 29, 2010 and no late submissions will be considered.

The First-time Published Author category -serves to contribute to the broader strategic objective of the NAC and the SA Literary Awards to create a coordinated strategy aimed at leaving an everlasting and developmental legacy for the literary artistic community through a soon-to-be-announced creative writing skills development programme.

The other categories of the awards are the:

lNational Poet Laureate Prize, currently held by KW Kgositsile;

lPosthumous Literary Award;

lLiterary Journalism Award;

lSello K Duiker Memorial Literary Award;

lNadine Gordimer Short-story Award for Writing in African Languages;

lLiterary Translators Award; and

lThe Poetry Award.

The SA Literary Awards endeavour to pay long-overdue homage to living literary practitioners, legends and, where appropriate, to others posthumously through the nation-building partnership of the national Arts and Culture Ministry, wRite Associates, Sowetan and Nutrend Publishers and the National Arts Council.

Sowetan has made the awards a part of the youth and community development portfolio of the Aggrey Klaaste Nation Building Foundation. Since its inception in 2005, the award has honoured 56 literary icons, 43 of whom were honoured between 2005 and 2007. Samples of their work appear in the commemorative compilation titled Band of Troubadours.

Some of the writers who have been honoured through the awards are Es'kia Mphahlele, Noni Jabavu, Ellen Khuzwayo, Nadine Gordimer, Denis Brutus, James Matthews, TN Maumela, Miriam Tlali, ES Madima, Modikoe Dikobe, Ephraim Lesoro, Toek Blignaut, DBZ Ntuli, Lauretta Ngcobo, Ronnie Govender, Andre Brink, Peter Abrahams and Lewis Nkosi, Don Mattera, Karel Schoeman, Gladys Thomas, Wally Serote, Oswald Mtshali, Mafika Gwala, Sipho Sepamla, Sindiwe Magona, Athol Fugard, Max Marhanele, Victor Dlamini, Bongani Madondo, Felix Thuketana, Otty Nxumalo Stephen Gray, Njabulo Ndebele, Miriam Makeba, Chris van Wyk, DM Modise, Adam Small and Dora Taylor.

The South African Literary Awards 2009 ceremony will be held on March 27, 2010.

For more information about the awards, you can contact the wRite associates at: info@writeassociates.co.za or else you can telephone 011-791-3585 or 011-791-4102 or fax 086-605- 3642.

l The writer is with wRite Associates and is the awards project manager