Jacana Media Publishing House has announced the winner of its 2024 Dinaane Debut Fiction Award, and it’s South African writer, Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani with her novel, Buried in the Chest.
The 2024 Dinaane Debut Fiction Award adjudication panel had this to say:
‘Buried in the Chest deals with familiar themes in South African writing, but with an approach that is astonishingly fresh and accomplished. The author interrogates the painful history of apartheid with a unique literary approach, and the book will linger in the heart and mind long after reading. This poetic novel is the kind of inventive truth telling South Africa urgently needs as we continue to grapple with the past and imagine a better future for all.’
Buried in the Chest is a poignant tale of self-discovery, love, and community set against the backdrop of post-apartheid South Africa. The story follows Unathi’s journey as she searches for her mother, Mavis, while navigating her identity. Raised by her grandmother, Gogo, in the village of Moya, where mothers are eerily absent, Unathi must confront the complexities of her sexuality, cultural heritage, and sense of belonging. As she explores lesbian love, interracial relationships, and the quest for her mother’s truth, Unathi must also contend with the harsh realities of identity politics and the masks she must wear to survive.
Lindani has an MFA in Creative Writing from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. In May 2017, she received a doctoral degree in Mass Communication and Media Arts from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her terminal degrees were, in April 2011, preceded by an MA in Media Studies from Nelson Mandela University. While creative non-fiction is her real love, Lindani sometimes dabbles in fiction writing, as she does in this competition entry, her debut novel. She hopes to write poetry one day, but not soon. When she is not writing or observing one or another social or cultural phenomenon that she knows will end up in one of her stories, she is teaching because that is what English Professors do – they teach and help to shape young and all minds.
Buried in the Chest is due for publication by Jacana in October of 2024.
Jacana is a ground-breaking and fiercely independent publisher, producing books in the fields of the arts, natural history, lifestyle, fiction, South African history, current affairs, memoir and biography, children’s books and public health. They publish work from some of the most imaginative, award-winning and clear-thinking minds of our time. They have made it a proud tradition to publish in all 11 official South African languages.
The Jacana Literary Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, runs literary awards; the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award for best poetry in all languages, the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award and the Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology—a collection of exceptional works which explore, interrogate, and celebrate the topics of gender, sexuality and human rights. Jacana is the original publishers of The Caine Prize for African Writing anthologies.
Congratulations to Lindani on the excellent achievement!
Bongiwe T. Maphosa
Bongiwe Maphosa is a budding author with a passion for storytelling. With her thought-provoking narratives, she takes her readers on a literary adventure. Bongiwe's works on the human condition from a fresh perspective have earned her recognition and publications in the Avbob Poetry Anthology of 2019, The Writer's Club of South Africa 2021, and JAY Lit in 2021. She hopes to cement her place in the literary community.
