Jarred Thompson, author of UJ Debut Prize winner, The Institute of Creative Dying. (Supplied/Thango Ntwasa) The University of Johannesburg has announced the winners of its annual UJ Prize, with Morabo Morojele winning the main prize for his novel Three Egg Dilemma. Jarred Thompson won the debut prize for his novel The Institute for Creative Dying, praised for its originality and craftsmanship.
The main prize winner will receive R75 000, while the debut prize winner will be awarded R45 000. The University of Johannesburg has announced the winners of its annual UJ Prize for a South African work (usually fiction) and a debut award. Morabo Morojele won the main UJ Prize for his novel Three Egg Dilemma (published by Jacana), and Jarred Thompson won the debut prize for The Institute for Creative Dying (published by Pan Macmillan).
The debut prize winner, Jarred Thompson's The Institute for Creative Dying , was described by Professor Ronit Frenkel, head of the English Department and chair of the judging panel, as an "extraordinarily original and beautifully crafted novel that heralds the emergence of a new literary star in South Africa." Asked to comment about what makes the novel outstanding, Frenkel said: "The novel centres on five people as they navigate the idea of how to 'die delightfully' while exploring the limits of how they have lived. Thompson investigates big metaphysical questions, along with what he calls the 'crisis of the ordinary,' through these vastly different char.