Afrikaans

The Hertzog prize

What is the Hertzog prize?

• The Hertzog Prize is an annual award given to Afrikaans-language writers by the South African Academy for the Sciences and Arts (Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns)

• It is seen as the most prestigious prize in Afrikaans literature.

The origin of the prize

• “The prize was named after one of the great champions of Afrikaans, Gen J B M Hertzog. It was launched in 1914 with a donation of 1 200 pounds by Gen Hertzog. The money did not come from his pocket, but was the result of a libel action in which the General was involved in 1910. The court case was fought over his battle to have Dutch taught in Free State schools. Afrikaner people contributed to a fund to cover Hertzog's legal costs, and what was left from this he put under control of the Council of the South African Academy with the stipulation that interest on the amount be used for a literary award for Afrikaans.”

(http://myfundi.co.za/e/South_African_literature_VI_Awards)

The prize was first established in

1914

• The first winner was Totius for his

1915 poetry collection Trekkerswee (Trekker s' Grief). The prize is awarded in the categories of poetry, prose, and drama.

Hertzog prize winners

There are 3 different categories:

1.Poetry2.Drama3.Prose

PoetryTotius, A G Visser, C M van den Heever, C LouisLeipoldt, W E G Louw, I D du Plessis, N P vanWyk Louw (several times), Elisabeth Eybers(more than once), DJ Opperman, Ernst vanHeerden, Uys Krige, Boerneef (posthumously forall his volumes), Sheila Cussons, BreytenBreytenbach (several times), T T Cloete (twice),Antjie Krog, Ina Rousseau, Wilma Stockenström.

DRAMA

• H A Fagan, C L Leipoldt, Gerhard Beukes (a controversial choice), W A de Klerk, D J Opperman (more than once), N P van Wyk Louw, P G du Plessis, Bartho Smit, Henriette Grové, Uys Krige, Chris Barnard, Reza de Wet (twice), and André P Brink.

Prose

• Jochem van Bruggen , D F Malherbe ,C J Langenhoven, the Hobson brothers , Sangiro (twice), Mikro, C M van den Heever, MER, Elize Muller, N P van Wyk Louw ,F A Venter, Etienne Leroux (twice), Karel Schoeman (three times), Chris Barnard, Anna M Louw, Hennie Aucamp, Henriette Grové, Etienne van Heerden, Wilma Stockenström, Elsa Joubert.

Works cited:

• http://www.vriendevanafrikaans.co.za/images/artikels/roundtable_21Okt_2010.pdf

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertzog_Prize• http://myfundi.co.za/e/

South_African_literature_VI_Awards