SA editor to work on Peer Gynt novels

Malawi Writers Union (Mawu) has identified a South African editor Pam Phornley to work on three manuscripts that won the Peer Gynt Literary Award last year.

Three novel manuscripts, Azotus by Shadreck Chikoti, Evil Assignment by Ananiya Ponje and Pilgrims Together by Jonathan Mbuna, emerged the top three winners.

Part of the prize for the manuscripts was to publish them into novels.

For the past three months, the manuscripts have been in the hands of local editors who were tasked to improve the manuscripts to suit international standards.

Speaking when unveiling the development, Mawu president Sambalikagwa Mvona said they settled for Phornley because of her reputation in editing.

Phornley, who runs Pam Phornley Editorial Services in South Africa, has worked as an editor and managing editor for the South African based Penguin Books for over 20 years.

“We are happy to inform the nation that we have identified the final editor of the manuscripts. We had many names, but we wanted someone with vast experience in book editing and Phornley is the right candidate,” he said.

He said Mawu has since signed a contract with Phornley Editorial Services and the novels will be ready in three months.

Mawu, and sponsors Norwegian Embassy, assigned the novels to a set of local editors before submitting them to a final editor to improve them after it was observed that manuscripts were below standard.