Emile Joubert is the overall winner of the 2024 Woordfees Short Story Competition. The announcement was made on 28 September at the launch of the ninth
Stellenbosch Woordfees Short Story Collection in Stellenbosch.
Emile, who has featured in the collection once before, Emile, won the top prize of R30
000 with the compliments of EasyEquities for his rural dream story “Die berghaan het sy seer laat val”.
Over the past nine years, the competition has gone from strength to strength. This year we received 368 submissions. All of the writers featured in the collection received an award of R5 000 (Click here for information on the other 21 writers whose stories were included in this year’s collection, and here to learn more about the Woordfees short story project.)
“In a world that has become frantic, and constantly driven by the speed of technology, “Die berghaan het sy seer laat vaal” hits with its absolute simplicity. A boy lives safely with his parents and schoolmates in a barren Karoo landscape, but he also feels trapped by it. When he saves an injured Bateleur eagle, it changes his entire life. The magical-realism of the ending is technically brilliant and makes this story unforgettable. Dr. Frederick Botha, one of the main selectors, remarked: “There is a fragility but also a charm in the narrative that charmed me so much that I immediately wanted to read it again,” says Suzette Myburgh, who has been the convenor of the selection panel since 2016.
The other two members of the judging panel were Valda Jansen and Marius Swart.
An incredible honour
A surprised Emile said: “For someone like me, a writer who does not specialize in fiction, I seized the opportunity to sit down and write out of my comfort zone and dream different kinds of stories. Over the years, the Woordfees collection has been a great incentive for me to pursue this writing-dreaming exercise. I have entered four times, made the shortlist once in 2020, and now end up on the winners’ podium. It may be a cliché but it is nonetheless true to say that I was as surprised to win as I was delighted.”
“It’s an incredible honour, especially after I learned on Saturday night before the announcement how thoroughly Suzette Myburgh and her fellow selectors work to compile the shortlist and arrive at the winner. My story is about a country boy who dreams of what lies on the other side of his repressive horizons, who one day comes across an injured Bateleur eagle, and realises that he can soar above his current circumstances. The inspiration for the story was my friend, the wine legend Danie de Wet, who also named his best Chardonnay wine after the Bateleur eagle, creating something that soars far above the world in a state of unerring, soul-elevating peace.”
Emile is a born-and-bred Capetonian who works as a marketing and media consultent in the wine industry.
All of the writers featured in the Collection also receive a free EasyEquities account which allows them to participate in several investment activities. EasyEquities has been the sponsor of the EasyEquities Writers Festival at the Woordfees since 2022 and also provides all writers who participate in that programme with EasyEquities accounts.
The collection always carries the title of the Woordfees theme. This year it is Play, which connects to the spontaneity and freedom with which writers are encouraged to approach the competition, remarked Saartjie Botha, Director of the Stellenbosch Woordfees.
“How do writers play? With words, yes, but also in the more intimate, complicated games they play with readers. A game of stillness, sometimes accompanied, and with several moments in which they tread paths together. The short story is an excellent playmate in a hectic world,” writes Botha in her foreword to the Play volume.
Botha congratulated all the writers, especially Emile Joubert, on their achievements.
For the duration of the Woordfees, until October 6, the Collection is available at the ATKV Book Shop at the festival. Thereafter it will be available at Exclusive Books’ Somerset West branch.
Many thanks also to the Hiemstra Trust and PEN Afrikaans who made it possible to publish this year’s volume.
Contact Candice Jantjies for more information or to arrange an interview with Emile: candice@woordfees.co.za or 078 837 7999.
Find the Stellenbosch Woordfees program here.
