GALLERY: Publishers and booksellers shine at awards
PARKTOWN – Sefika awards celebrate publishers and booksellers for the hard work that they do.
The annual Sefika Awards were held on 26 August at a dinner gala at Sunnyside Hotel in Parktown. The theme for the evening was 50 Shades of Colour. Members of the SA Booksellers Association and the Publishers’ Association of South Africa (Pasa) were congratulated and celebrated for the work that they do in promoting literacy.
The booksellers awards were voted for by their colleagues in the publishing sector. Van Schaik Bookstore won Best Academic Bookseller of the Year. Adams Booksellers and Stationers took home the Best Education Bookseller of the Year award, Hargraves Library Service won the Best Library Supplier of the Year award, Exclusive Books was awarded for the Best Trade Bookseller of the Year (chain store), and The Book Lounge took home the award for Best Trade Bookseller of the Year (Independent).
Winning publishers were:
- Best Academic Publisher of the Year
Oxford University Press Southern Africa
- Best Education Publisher of the Year (Large)
MacMillan Education South Africa
- Best Education Publisher of the Year (Small)
Berlut Books CC
- Best Trade Publisher of the Year
Pan MacMillan South Africa
The final award handed out on the evening was the Nielsen Booksellers Choice Award, which 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 award was taken by Marguerite Poland for her book The Keeper, published by Penguin Books South Africa. She said she was delighted at having won the award. “In the circumstances you can imagine how wonderful it is to have this acknowledgement of my work. It is a great honour and a privilege to have been chosen and is enormously valued,” Poland said.
