The Bessie Head Literature Awards

The Bessie Head Heritage Trust organises an annual national writing competition, backed by principal financial sponsor, Pentagon Publishers of Gaborone. Together we offer substantial prizes for best novel, short story, and poetry. In the forthcoming 2010 competition, the category "Children's Story" replaces "Poetry".

In the future, the prize for Poetry will be offered in odd-numbered years, and the prize for Children's Story in even-numbered years.

The most recent competition, in 2009, attracted a record number of entries. See the Trusts's Announcement of Winners and also the Programme of the Awards Ceremony held in July 2009 in Gaborone.

The first competition was held in 2007. A devoted Committee undertook the work of organising the inaugural contest and judging the entries even before we became a Trust. The first awards were presented at the BessieFest 2007 in Serowe, and a number of the winning entries have since been published by Pentagon Publishers.

Please note that the prizes for 2010 comprise P2500, P1250, and P1250 for novel, short story, and children's story, respectively; that anyone can enter; and that that four printed copies of each manuscript must be submitted together by post. There are other important rules; please read them!

Why we honour Bessie Head
The Bessie Head Literature Awards are sponsored by Pentagon Publishers and administered by the Bessie Head Heritage Trust. The Trust was established in June 2007 to promote the life and work of Bessie Head both here and abroad. We believe this competition is important for two reasons: (a) to help preserve Bessie Head's legacy in Botswana, since she is our country’s most famous writer who has gained broad recognition overseas; and (b) to encourage the development of local literature in various genres in English.

Bessie Head herself was generous with her time when students asked her for assistance and advice, and we believe that this generosity is best reflected in a vigorous effort to promote literature and reading in Botswana.