The Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) released The Top 20 South African Books, 1994-2014 list earlier this week.
Thanks to LIASA for sharing and our best wishes for a wonderful South African Library Week (it begins tomorrow).
From the Introduction to the List:
The Library and Information Association of South African (LIASA) has adopted the theme “Celebrating libraries in 20 years of democracy” for its activities in 2014, which includes The Librarians Choice: Top 20 South African books, 1994 – 2014.
In celebrating this theme, librarians across South Africa were invited to identify the Top 20 books published during these 20 years that
- were written by a South African author in one of our official languages
- were published for the first time between 1994 and 2014
- reflect South African life by South Africans
- focus on issues of democracy or contribute to the consolidation of our democracy
- examine who we are and where we are heading as a nation.
The nominations were open to all genres of literature from fiction to non-fiction, adult and children’s books.
The invitation to identity the Librarian’s Choice went out late last year and by mid-January 253 books were nominated by librarians across South Africa.
The first three titles on the list (in chronological order) are:
- Long walk to freedom by Nelson Mandela, published by Macdonald Purnell, 1994
- Country of my Skull by Antje Krog, published by Random House, 1998
- I have life: Alison’s story by Marianne Thamm, published by Penguin, 1998
Review All 20 Titles Here