So, this just happened! The Shining Girls won the prestigious 2013 UJ literary prize.
The judges said: “This highly innovative novel blends time travel, serial killers, mystery and the evolution of Chicago in the 20th century, all within the framework of Beukes’s magical imaginings, rendered in beautifully constructed prose… Beukes’s foray into fresh themes and settings in her third novel sparkles with light and interest.”
I’m crazy thrilled.
Congratulations to Dominique Botha who won best debut novel for False River (which just so happens to also be in the shortlist for The Sunday Times Fiction Prize along with The Shining Girls and several other very fine novels)
Additional trivia: The University of Johannesburg logo was designed by none other than brilliant, super award-winning cover designer, Joey Hi-Fi, who also happens to have illustrated the covers for all the South African editions of my books, including the upcoming Broken Monsters.