The shortlist for the 2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards is out and it is absolutely stunning! Featuring a range of talented Namibian writers and artists, this year’s competition looks intense.
The Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards are awarded every two years to celebrate the works of four Namibian literary artists—two writers (fiction and nonfiction), a poet, and a visual artist—published in Doek! Literary Magazine. Sponsored by Bank Windhoek, the awards seek to bring a wider Namibian and international audience to the selected works, writers, poets, and visual artists.
Each winner is awarded NAD5000 in cash and presented with a trophy commissioned from a Namibian artist. All longlisted, shortlisted, and winning literary artists are provided with unique opportunities within their particular fields of creation such as book prizes, publication in select anthologies, offers of representation, appearances at literary festivals, and more.
The shortlist for the second edition spotlights works with Namibian and universal themes: family, friendship, and motherhood; trauma and the graceful endurance of the human spirit; the histories and territories of generational loss; questions of land and belonging; and the gifts of reconnecting with life and the living ancestors.
Rémy Ngamije, the Editor-in-Chief of Doek Literary Magazine, shared his excitement about this year’s awards:
This shortlist represents some of the most talented storytellers in the country. Some of the names appeared in the running in 2021 – it is encouraging to see that talent in the arts is not once-off but that it is continuous and sustained.
Check out the stunning shortlist below:
Fiction
Roxane Bayer – “Letters to Chloe”
Karin Eloff – “One Man’s Trash”
Filemon liyambo – “Their Mother’s Words”
Nonfiction
Frowin Becker – “Deliver Me, Anvil”
Nina Van Zyl – “Motherhood”
Poetry
Kina Indongo – “Windhoek“, “How Things Are And How They Happen“, and “Our Last Conversation”
Veripuami Nandee Kangumine – “The Jackal Who Prepares You For Marriage“, “Daughters of a Witch“, and “There Isn’t a Word in Your Language for Being Touched”
Keith Vries – “Who Did You Leave Under The Sea” and “Jamal”
Visual Art
Nicola Brandt – “When the Land Speaks”
Katherine Hunter – “How Frankenstein Created A Character”
Jean-Claude Titamunisa – “The Gift”
Congrats to all the shortlisted writers and artists! The award ceremony will take place in December.
