From being passionate about reading, to having read only one book this year, the lovely thing about literature is that there is something to suit everyone’s tastes.
These are five award-winning authors based in our very own city. Not only have these books been recognised in exceptional ways, they will also feel familiar to readers.
See what you can add to your reading list:
1. Mputhumi Ntabeni
Mphuthumi Ntabeni is a nationally and internationally published author who translates his passion for South African history, specifically the wars of land dispossession, into stories.
His debut novel, The Broken River Tent, won the University of Johannesburg Debut Novel Prize in 2019, and Ntabeni was also one of six writers from the African continent whose work was included in the anthology of African writing, Africa Fresh! New Voices From The First Continent, that was published in the US.
Two of his plays, following the lives of Xhosa chiefs Maqoma and his half-brother Sandile, were featured in South Africa’s National Arts Festival after he worked with the Rhodes University Drama department to stage them.
His most recent novel, The Wanderers, was published last year.

2. Mia Arderne
Mia Arderne is a writer, reporter, and artist who lives in Cape Town. Through her thoughtful writing, she looks at the politics of gender, race, identity, sexuality, and mental health.
Arderne has bylines in New Frame, Mail & Guardian, The Vrye Weekblad, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, VISI, GQ, City Press and more.
Her debut novel, Mermaid Fillet, was published in 2020, and was longlisted for the Sunday Times-CNA Literary Awards. It has also been prescribed for study at the University of Cape Town.

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3. Irma Venter
Although originally from the East Rand, Irma Venter now lives in Cape Town and works as a journalist and crime writer. Her first book, Skoenlapper, was published in 2012.
Since then, she has written eight more books, of which five have been translated into English.
Venter’s writing tells thrilling stories of women and men navigating right and wrong, and how that space can be affected by identity.
Her crime threads are complex and nuanced, and her female characters are as richly rounded as male characters in thrillers usually are.
Her most recent novel is the second in a series in which crime journalist Ami Prinsloo is the main character. Venter has become South Africa’s crime queen.

4. Damon Galgut
Damon Galgut is an award-winning novelist and playwright who wrote his first novel when he was 17.
Galgut draws on his personal experiences with religion, illness and sexuality to show how these parts of life interact and shape relationships.
His books have won a number of awards, and his novel The Quarry has been made into a feature film twice. In addition to his novels, Galgut has written various plays.
His novel The Promise won the Booker Prize in 2021, making him only the third South African writer to do so, after Nadine Gordimer and JM Coetzee.

5. C.A. Davids
C.A. Davids is an author and editor whose debut novel, The Blacks of Cape Town, received widespread acclaim and success.
The novel was shortlisted for the Edinburgh Book Fest’s First Book Award, the University of Johannesburg Debut Writing Prize, and the SALA First-Time Published Author Award, among others.
Her writing has appeared in anthologies including Twist, an anthology of short stories by South African women, and African Pens: New Writing from Southern Africa.
Her latest book, How to Be a Revolutionary, has just been released this year.
Buy any of these authors’ books online via Exclusive Books, Wordsworth or the Book Lounge.

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Picture: Unsplash