The British writer is expected to visit the country in March next year to launch the competition. Arts Residency Centre (ARC) Botswana director, Ann Gollifer, said in a statement that prizes for the competition are sponsored by the legendary writer.
Gollifer also said P5,000 top prizes will be given for a short story and a set of poems. She stated there would also be a P2,500 prize to be awarded for a short story submitted by a young writer under the age of 18. McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books, which are set in Botswana, are a global success. The series began in 1998 and features the character Mma Precious Ramotswe and it has been adapted for radio and television as well as film. Gollifer said after achieving so much over the years, McCall Smith now wants to help and inspire other writers with “The No. 1 New Writing Award”, in collaboration with the Gaborone-based ARC. Meanwhile McCall Smith said: “I find it hard to believe it’s been 25 years since I started.
It’s the greatest possible privilege to act as a chronicler of a fictional character who seems to have spoken to so many people. I am so looking forward to being back in Botswana, a country for which I have such great admiration. I am also looking forward to reading the winning entries in this competition”. This competition will be open to all citizens and residents of Botswana. To compete, one must send an original and unpublished piece of work to ARC before December 1, 2023. All submissions will be judged anonymously.
Submission guidelines can be found at [email protected]. “We are very happy at ARC to have this opportunity and to be represented by two literary experts as judges, Dr Leloba Molema and Dr Mary Lederer. We look very much forward to hosting this event that will highlight the richness of the Botswana creativity of today,” said Gollifer. The prize-giving event will include a public reading by the winners and McCall Smith, followed by a dialogue on contemporary literature in Botswana. There will also be an open-mic session, where other works can be presented. It will take place at Linneaus Sanitas Garden in Gaborone.
