•ISSUE NUMBER ONE*  1397

Mary  Jay

Managing the NOMA
THE  1996 Noma Award  for  Publish

tious, unscrupulous politician. The web of in-
teractions  between  the dire  conditions  of the
urban poor eking out an existence in the shanty
towns, set against the blatant corruption and
decadence of the ruling elite. The sharp socio-
political satire is illuminated with subtle irony,
and the sustained use of the  monologue form
enables the author to confront  his social theme
from a new, multiple perspective. It is an intel-
lectual novel, but firmly based in reality; a po-
litical novel at the level at which society is at
the  hear  of politics;  and  is  sustained  by  an
imaginative nerve and inventiveness.

Other titles, all published  in  1995, which
were  honoured  were  Women &  Geometry in
Southern Africa: Some Suggestions for Further
Research by Paulus Gerdes, published by the
Universidade  Pedagogica  in  Mozambique,
which  won Special  Commendation;  and  four
further titles which were awarded Honourable
Mention: The Law of Interpretation in Ghana
(Exposition & Critique) by S. Y. Bimpong-Buta,
published by Advanced  Legal Publications  in
Ghana; Rope of Sand: The Rise and Fall of the
Zulu Kingdom in  the Nineteenth Century  by
John Laband, published by Jonathan Ball Pub-
lishers in South Africa; Ways of Dying, a novel
by Zakes Mda (previously better  known  as a
playwright), published  by Oxford  University
Press,  Southern  Africa;  and  Presence of the
Earth, New Poems  by Stephen  Watson,  and
published by David Philip of South Africa.

The jury have been increasingly concerned
about  production  standards  of many  entries
over recent years. Standards are deteriorating,
and whilst conscious of the difficult  manufac-
turing conditions prevailing in many  parts of
Africa, nonetheless we take the view that stan-
dards in many cases were unacceptably low in
1996 and  not accounted for by lack of facili-
ties. This  aspect will receive more critical at-
tention from the jury in future. The other mat-
ter which concerned the jury in  1996 was the
number  of entries  made by some publishers.
Of course we are keen to attract  entries, and
to encourage African publishers - the prize be-
ing to honour African writers and publishers -
to pit  their best  against  each  other.  But  the
Award  is  for  an  outstanding  new  book pub-
lished  in the previous year, and in some cases
publishers seemed to be sending in  a large part
of their list in the hope that something would
hit the jackpot! This does not helpthe task of
the jury, let alone the administrative costs. So

ing  in Africa  attracted  an  all-time
record number of 176 titles entered,
from  72  publishers,  from  19 coun-
tries,  and  in  16 African  languages. The win-
ner  was  Kitia  Toure  for  his  novel  in  French
Destins Paralleles,  published  by Nouvelles
Editions Africaines  of Cote  d'lvoire  in  1995.
This is the second time in the Award's sixteen-
year  history that  the winning book has been
published in Cote d'lvoire, and the third  that
a novel in the French language has won. The
Award - the only pan-African book (as opposed
to solely  literary prize - is worth US$10,000,
and is sponsored by Kodansha Ltd, one of the
world's biggest publishing houses with head-
quarters in Japan. The president of Kodansha,
Mrs.  Sawako Noma, carries on the tradition of
her  father  who  founded  and  endowed  the
Award, in supporting the Award with personal
commitment  and  enthusiasm  for  the  task of
encouraging African  writers  and  publishers,
and  bridging  the  gap  between  North  and
South.

The jury is chaired by Walter Bgoya from
Tanzania, one of  Africa's  most distinguished
and respected publishers, with wide knowledge
of both African  and international  publishing.
The other members are Adewale Maja-Pearce,
Nigerian writer and critic, Kay Raseroka, Uni-
versity  Librarian  of  the  University  of
Botswana, a children's book expert, and head
of the African Section of the International Fed-
eration  of Library  Associations  (IFLA); Dr.
Thandike  Mkandawire, a noted  social  scien-
tist and until recently head of the Council for
the  Development  of Social  Science  Research
in Africa (CODESRIA) in Senegal; and myself,
Mary Jay. The jury cited the winning title as:
'a remarkably subtle and sophisticated novel,
extremely  original  both  in  concept  and  con-
struction. The vigour of the writing and use of
language is executed with tremendous confi-
dence. It is a book about Africa  in a very pro-
found sense; traditional values and approaches
to the resolving of problems are explored; and
the impact of the West is portrayed with more
discernment  than  is  usual.'  The novel con-
structs  the  narrative  development  around
three characters with the same name and iden-
tical life backgrounds, but with divergent for-
tunes (the 'parallel destinies' of the title). The
three  namesakes,  Ki-Ca,  are  a  ten-year-old
orphan,  an ambitious student,  and  an ambi-

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from 1997 entries from any one publisher are
limited to three titles - which can  come from
any of the three eligible categories: scholarly
or academic, literature, and children's titles.
The  1996 Award was presented  to  Kitia
Toure in Accra, during the  First  Ghana  In-
ternational  Book Fair  - a  fitting  occasion,
since the Award presentation ceremony is al-
ways associated with a book event in Africa,
and it brought valuable exposure to an event
worthy  of  support.  I
worked  with  the  Ghana
Trade Fair Authority (the
organisers  of  the  Book
Fair)  to plan  the  event.
There were times when I
suspected that they won-
dered  what  they  had  let
themselves  in  for!  My
faxes flew constantly, and
I was always assured that
all  would  be  well.  Cer-
tainly, the event was very
well  attended  - publish-
ers,  booksellers,  librar-
ians,  political  and  civic
dignitaries  were  our
guests  at  the  ceremony
and  a  splendid  dinner.
Three  senior  executives
represented the sponsors,
and  the  President  of
Ghana had been billed to
come  although  alas  he
was unable to do so at the
last minute due to govern-
ment  commitments.  The  Chairman  of  the
Council of State - the second most senior per-
son in the government - presented  the Award
in his place, and was also able to acknowledge
personally  S.  Y.  Bimpong-Buta,  the  legal
scholar who won an Honourable Mention, and
who was present. The event was broadcast live
on television in Ghana, Togo and Cote d'lvoire,
and there was certainly much evidence the next
day in the market that Ghana had been watch-
ing, because traders were offering  me 'special
prices' because they had seen me on television!
The presentation  ceremony is an occasion
for reflection on the state of African publishing
and books, and their context is the wider cul-
ture. Kitia Toure is the Artistic Director of the
Centre  National  des Arts  et  de la  Culture in
Abidjan, and well known as an award-winning
film-maker. He spoke movingly about the debt
he owes to his humble father,  and his  family
who succoured his talent. Interestingly, he ex-
horted other writers who use the French lan-
guage in their literary works to 'set the same
pace  as  their  anglophone  colleagues'.  The
Chairman  of the  Award,  Walter  Bgoya,  ad-

21.1

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21

dressed fundamental  issues about the state of
intellectual life in Africa today, and the contri-
bution the Noma Award is making to contem-
porary African  scholarship and literature. He
placed Kitia Toure in the group of young intel-
lectuals and creative writers he called 'the third
generation' - those who did not live in the colo-
nial experience, or were born in the last years
of colonialism, and who do not carry the nos-
talgia of the great movement for colonial free-
dom.  They  do not  claim
special places in the sun
and can look at their Af-
rica without personal and
national  failure  being
blamed  on  colonialism
alone. Research amongst
this  group  is  producing
new  insights  and  inter-
pretations,  greatly  en-
riching  African  history,
and battling  with issues
in literature  such as  the
language  question  and
the object of literature it-
self.  Whilst  recognising
some weaknesses, he ap-
plauded the third genera-
tion' as  being capable of
delivering Africa to itself
because they rely on their
own creativity. Using the
situation  in  the  Great
Lakes  region  as  an  ex-
ample,  he  launched  an
appeal of Africa scholars,
writers and artists to provide leadership in re-
thinking Africa in the next millennium.

Such a full  year of work leading up to the
jury  meeting,  and  then  the  presentation  cer-
emony, would  leave one with  a sense of flat-
ness, were it not for the fact that planning the
mailing  to  publishers  for  the  1997  Award
started  even  before  the  1996 ceremony  had
taken  place! And now that  we are into 1997,
entries are already coming in and the challenge
and interest of seeing where it will lead us by
the  end of the  year  starts  again.  Interesting
new publishing ventures, emerging trends in
writing or scholarship, challenging new writ-
ers... we start the task again of seeking the book
published in Africa by an African writer in the
previous year which will set a benchmark  for
the future. The task for writers and publishers
is to be in the forefront,  meeting the challenges
set out by the Chairman.

Mary Jay is Secretary to the NOMA Awards Managing
Committee as well as coordinator of ABC
administration in Oxford

21.1
Kitia Toure