Sefika Awards – Celebrating brilliance

Members of the SA Booksellers Association and the Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA) gathered at the Sunnyside Park Hotel in Parktown, Johannesburg on the 26th August to celebrate the publishing and bookselling industry. The annual Sefika awards commends both booksellers and publishers for the roles they play in promoting literacy and a culture of reading by producing and selling quality books in South Africa.

Winning Independent Trade Bookseller of the year Mervyn Sloman of the simply wonderful Book Lounge said, “It’s always special to receive recognition from publishers with whom we work so closely. This kind of affirmation of what we do means a lot to my staff and I.”

Olinka Nel from Exclusive Books, who won best Chain Store Trade Bookseller of the year said, “Benjamin Trisk and his partners bought Exclusive Books 20 months ago with one idea in mind: to return the chain to its former glory as curators of the national taste. We are proud that our hard work to realise this vision is recognised not only by our customers, but also the industry.”

Stephan Erasmus, MD of Van Schaik Books, who won best Academic Bookseller said, “I received the award on behalf of the 344 people employed by Van Schaik. It is a great privilege to work with my staff in helping students, from all parts of South Africa, to access world class textbooks. My thanks to all the publishers for creating quality products and acknowledging our contribution with this award.”

Adams Books a family business that has been in operation for 150 years, won Best Education Bookseller of the Year and Hargraves Library Suppliers won the library supplier of the year yet again. “It is always a nice accolade,” said Richard Hargraves.

Best Academic Publisher of the Year went to Oxford University Press Southern Africa. “We are thrilled that booksellers again saw fit to give this award to OUPSA, and that the books we’re producing, our presence in the market, and the support we give booksellers continues to be of a high standard. We really value our partnership with booksellers – this gets quality educational materials into the hands of South African students. Thank you so much for your confidence in us,” said Marian Griffin Kloot, Director of Higher Education and Trade, Oxford University Press Southern Africa.

Best Large Education Publisher of the Year went to MacMillan Education South Africa, Best Small Education Publisher of the Year went to Berlut Books CC and Best Trade Publisher of the Year was awarded yet again to Pan MacMillan South Africa.

“We were delighted to once again be chosen as Trade Publisher of the Year. This is testament to the strong team at Pan Macmillan and the rich array of authors whose books contribute to our success. Congratulations are also due to Macmillan South Africa, which won Education Publisher (Large Company) of the Year. We celebrate together with our Pan Macmillan colleagues globally as Pan Macmillan UK and Pan Macmillan Australia also won Publisher of the Year awards in their territories. A big thank you to all of the booksellers who have shown us such great support and who continue to promote reading in South Africa,” said Terry Morris, MD, Pan Macmillan SA.

The final award for the evening, the Nielsen Booksellers Choice Award is bestowed upon a local author for a South African published book that booksellers most enjoyed selling or that sold so well that it made a difference to the bottom line of booksellers across the country. This is a very special award and the industry as a whole celebrated Marguerite Poland who won this year with her book The Keeper, published by Penguin Books South Africa.

“Last night I got a message that thrilled and uplifted me incredibly! Penguin sent a message to let me know that my novel, The Keeper, had won the Booksellers and Publishers Choice Award. I am absolutely delighted and it is the highlight of my career. I so wish I had been at the dinner but I am not well enough to travel. In the circumstances you can imagine how wonderful it is to have this acknowledgement of my work,” said this venerated author in a message sent from her home.

“I thank all concerned for choosing me and for supporting my work in this wonderful way. It is a great honour and a privilege to have been chosen and is enormously valued.”

The awards evening forms part of the SA Booksellers Association and PASA’s joined AGM. Updates and key learning from the event can be found on twitter under the hashtags #saba #sefika or by following @SA Booksellers.

Organisers would like to thank sponsors Nielsen (in its 15th year of sponsoring this event), Paarl Media (the print division of Novus Holdings, which recently listed on the JSE, is the print sponsor of the 2015 Sefika Awards), SAPnet, Geodis Wilson, On the Dot, Sasfin Premier Logistics, Adams Booksellers (towards the wine for the evening in celebration of their 150th birthday celebration) and SMD Technologies (for providing each guest with a powerbank) for their contributions without which the awards would not be possible.