Bank Windhoek has reaffirmed its support for arts as the official sponsor of the second Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards, with a total contribution of N.dollars 400 000 to date.
The awards, set for November this year, recognise Namibian talents in the fields of writing (fiction and nonfiction), poetry, and visual arts, and were created by the Doek! Literary Magazine (Doek!), an online literary magazine produced in Namibia and founded in 2019 to create a diverse literary culture in Namibia.
Bank Windhoek’s executive officer for marketing and corporate communication services, Jacquiline Pack, on Tuesday said the bank recommitted to using its extensive national footprint across the country via its branches, social media platforms, and website to reach a wider audience and solicit submissions for the awards from talented minds across the country.
Pack added that the fundamental qualification for entry into the 2023 Doek! Literary Awards is to be a Namibian, whether in the country or in the diaspora, and to present a work of art in at least one of the four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual arts. If an entry is published, the artist is automatically entered for the awards.
She explained that there would be a shortlist of 12 artists, three in each category, who will each get different rewards, while the top prize of N.dollars 5 000 will be handed to the winner of each category.
“The prizes will evaluate publications for the two previous and two next editions of Doek, giving two extra chances to enter,” she said.
The magazine’s co-founder, Rémy Ngamije, dubbed the prizes a “literary tradition that Bank Windhoek helped kick start.”
Ngamije expressed gratitude for the assistance, which he believes allows truly Namibian stories to be honoured and shared with a wider audience.
Entries for the Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards opened on Tuesday.
Source: Namibia Press Agency