Libyan-born poet Sarah Uheida wins Ingrid Jonker debut prize

Sarah Uheida, who fled conflict in North Africa for South Africa at the age of 13, has been named the winner of the Ingrid Jonker debut poetry prize for her collection, Not This Tender.

According to AJ Opperman, writing for Netwerk 24, Uheida, now 28 and living in Stellenbosch, said the award had reinforced her sense that South Africa was home. Having learnt English after arriving in the country, she said she felt both grateful and tender, particularly as much of her poetry explores questions of belonging.

Not This Tender, published by Dryad Press, also drew inspiration from the story of poet Ingrid Jonker, after whom the annual prize is named.

Uheida said the poems had taken a long time to write, with the collection developed over an extended period. She described the process as one of carefully shaping something artistic and tender, adding that the work was deeply personal.

Winning the award was a privilege, she said, particularly because the response from other poets had made her feel that her work – and, by extension, her experiences – had been understood.

Jonker drowned at Three Anchor Bay in Cape Town in 1965. Following her funeral, friends and fellow writers held what became known as a “second” funeral, where writer Jan Rabie announced the establishment of the prize that now bears her name.

The award is presented annually, alternating between Afrikaans and English debut poets. English-language collections were eligible this year.

The other shortlisted poets were Lucienne Argent for Self-portrait of a Guava (Karavan Press), Shari Daya for Land | Lines (Karavan Press), Zeenit Saban-Jacobs for Inside an Eyeball (Botsotso Publishing), Siphokazi Jonas for Weeping Becomes a River (Penguin) and Frank Meintjies for A Place to Night In (Botsotso Publishing).

The judging panel said Not This Tender displayed a strong intellectual quality and was delicately written. The collection explores loss, longing and family, particularly through the perspective of a migrant, while rewarding repeated reading, the judges said.

They added that carefully controlled bitterness and anger ran through the poems, set against the wounded dignity of the speaker's voice, with forced migration forming an important backdrop to the work.

This year's judges were Vangile Gantsho, Brian Walter and Simon van Schalkwyk.

The prize will be presented on 12 September at the Breytenbach Centre during the Garden of Poets festival in Wellington.