The Olive Schreiner Prize has been awarded annually since 1961 to emerging writers in the field of drama, prose, or poetry. It is named after Olive Schreiner, the South African author and activist. It rewards promising novice work, by writers who are not yet regarded as "established" in the genre. It rotates annually among the genres of drama, prose, and poetry. The prize for each genre is therefore triennial, and is open to work published in the three years since it was last awarded. The Prize was established in 1961 by the

Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns The Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK) (literally ''South African Academy for Science and Arts'') is a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to promoting science, technology and the arts in Afrikaans, as well as promoting ...

(SAAWK), and was transferred to the English Academy of Southern Africa in 1972. The Prize was previously sponsored by Shell South Africa, and later by FNB, and under SAAWK was open only to works published in South Africa or

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of So ...

by a writer from one of those countries. It is now open to works published in

southern African Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

countries by citizens of southern African countries generally. It is not highly remunerated – by 1987, it was worth only R500, and in 2010 was worth R5 000 – but is considered prestigious. As of 2018, the Prize could not be awarded to the same writer more than twice. To date, this disqualifies only two writers: Rustum Kozain, who has won the poetry prize twice, and

Zakes Mda Zakes Mda ( ), legally Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda (born 1948) is a South African novelist, poet and playwright and he is the son of politician A. P. Mda. He has won major South African and British literary awards for his novels and plays. He i ...

, who has won for both drama and prose.

Prizewinners

References

{{Reflist, 30em South African literary awards Awards established in 1964 Poetry awards Fiction awards Dramatist and playwright awards South African literary events 1964 establishments in South Africa