Picture: provided
Today, on the seventh anniversary of André Brink’s death, we pay tribute to his life and work and announce that the Philida Literary Award, established in his memory last year, goes to Mary Watson and is awarded to her for an oeuvre of literary excellence.
Mary Watson is from Cape Town and now lives on the west coast of Ireland. She’s worked as an art museum guide, library assistant, theatre duty manager, and an actor in children’s musicals. She has a PhD from the University of Cape Town where she taught for many years. She won the Caine Prize in 2006 and writes short stories, contemporary fiction and young adult fantasy. The Wren Hunt (Bloomsbury, 2018), was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards and her latest, Blood to Poison, is out in April 2022.
The Philida Literary Award is awarded annually to a writer mid-career for an oeuvre of between three to five books of any genre. Established in 2020 by Karina M Brink (writing under her maiden name Szczurek) in memory of her late husband, renowned author André Brink, the award recognises a writer with a consistent record of publishing works of excellence and aims to encourage them further in their pursuit of a literary career.
The award announcement takes place annually on the anniversary of André’s death, 6 February.
The award is named after a historical figure, the slave woman Philida van de Caab, a knitting woman, who entered South Africa’s archival records because of laying an official complaint against her masters, Francois and Cornelius Brink, distant relatives of André’s. She became the protagonist of André’s last published novel, Philida (2012). André’s rendition of her courage and resilience continues to inspire readers and writers around the world.
The 2022 Philida Literary Award judges were Sally Partridge, Karina M Szczurek, Lester Walbrugh and Christy Weyer.
Each winner receives an award certificate designed by Debbie Minné and an amount of money that was first determined by the royalties earned from the sales of You Make Me Possible: The Love Letters of Karina M. Szczurek and André Brink (Protea Book House, 2018). As Karina wrote in her Note on the publication, with André’s encouragement and support she was able to acknowledge the fact that she was a writer; he was an inspiration to many other writers and was always generous with his time and expertise in furthering the literary careers of others. The Philida Literary Award continues this legacy.
Mary Watson on accepting the Philida Literary Award: “I was thinking of André a little while earlier … How I never dreamed how incredibly supportive he’d be when I summoned up the nerve to pop those pages [of Moss] in his pigeon hole. So thank you so very much. I am truly, truly honoured.”
– Karina M Szczurek
For more information please see: www.philidaliteraryaward.com