{{Short description|South African journalist, editor, writer and educator}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Use South African English|date=August 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Niq Mhlongo | image = | caption = | birth_name = | other names = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1973}} | birth_place = Midway-Chiawelo, Soweto, South Africa | occupation = Journalist, editor, writer and educator | education = Malenga High School; University of the Witwatersrand; University of Cape Town | yearsactive = | awards = | spouse = | children = | website = }}
'''Niq Mhlongo''' (born 1973)<ref>{{Cite web |title=NB Publishers {{!}} Authors |url=https://www.nb.co.za/au/authors?authorId=303 |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=www.nb.co.za}}</ref> is a South African journalist, editor, writer and educator.
==Early life and education== Mhlongo was born in Midway-Chiawelo, Soweto, the seventh of nine children, and raised in Soweto. His father, who died when Mhlongo was a teenager, worked as a post-office sweeper. Mhlongo was sent to Limpopo Province, the province his mother came from, to finish high school. Initially failing his matriculation exam in October 1990,<ref name=Donadio/> Mhlongo completed his matric at Malenga High School in 1991.
He studied African literature and political studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, gaining a BA in 1996. In 1997, he enrolled to study law there, transferring to the University of Cape Town the following year. In 2000, he discontinued university study to write his first novel, ''Dog Eat Dog''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oulitnet.co.za/youngwriters/niq_mhlongo.asp|title=My Voice: Distributing the word to the kwaito generation|first=Niq|last= Mhlongo|website=LitNet Young Voices|date=15 November 2004}}</ref>
==Writing== Mhlongo was described by Rachel Donadio in ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most high-spirited and irreverent new voices of South Africa's post-apartheid literary scene".<ref name=Donadio>{{cite news|first1=Rachel|last1=Donadio|access-date=2021-11-23|title=Post-Apartheid Fiction|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/magazine/03novelists.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=3 December 2006|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Mhlongo has presented his work at the Caine Prize Workshop and the Zanzibar International Film Festival, and was a 2008 International Writing Program fellow at the University of Iowa.<ref>[http://iwp.uiowa.edu/writers/niq-mhlongo Niq Mhlongo - 2008 Resident], University of Iowa. He has also been an artist in residency with different institutions including, The Sylt Foundation in Germany in 2005,Akademie der Kunst De Welt Cologne in Germany, Literarisches Colloquium Berlin, Mellon Foundation Artist residency University of Pretoria, Mellon Foundation Artist-in-Residency University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is currently living in Berlin as a 2020 DAAD Artist in residence.</ref> His work has been translated into Spanish, German, French, Dutch and Italian.
Mhlongo's writing has a post-apartheid backdrop. He is influenced by his hometown of Soweto; he pens his novels in Soweto, about Soweto and in Soweto dialect. His book ''Way Back Home'' was launched in Soweto. Xenophobia is another theme explored in Mhlongo's work.<ref>[http://chimurengachronic.co.za/home-and-away/ "Home and away"], ''Archive, Books & Oration'', ''CHRONIC'', 1 June 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2014.</ref>
==Publications== * ''Dog Eat Dog'' (Kwela, 2004) * ''After Tears'' (Kwela, 2007) * ''Way Back Home'' (Kwela, 2013) * ''Affluenza'' (Kwela, 2016) * ''Soweto, Under The Apricot Tree'' (Kwela, 2018) * ''Black Tax'' (Jonathan Ball, 2019) * ''Paradise in Gaza'' (Kwela, 2020) * ''Joburg Noir'' (Jacana, 2020) * '' Hauntings'' (Jacana, 2021) * ''For You, I'd Steal a Goat'' (Kwela, 2022) * ''The City is Mine'' (Kwela, 2024)
==Awards== * 2006 La Mar de Letras (Spanish literary award) for ''Dog Eat Dog''<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2025-02-27|title=El marroquí Mohamed Nedali gana el VII Premio Internacional Novela de la Diversidad La Mar de Letras|url=https://www.murcia.com/cartagena/noticias/2009/05-27-marroqui-mohamed-nedali-gana-vii.asp|date=27 May 2009|website=Murcia.com|first=|last=}}</ref> * 2019 Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award for ''Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree''<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2025-02-26|title=[The JRB Daily] 2019 South African Literary Awards winners announced—The JRB collects three|url=https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2019/11/07/the-jrb-daily-2019-south-african-literary-awards-winners-announced-the-jrb-collects-three/|date=7 November 2019|website=johannesburgreviewofbooks.com|first=Jennifer|last=Malec}}</ref> * 2019 Media24 Books Literary Prize: Herman Charles Bosman Prize for ''Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winners of 2019 Media24 Books Literary Prizes announced |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/books/news/2019-06-13-winners-of-2019-media24-books-literary-prizes-announced/ |date=13 June 2019|access-date=2020-06-19 |website=TimesLIVE |language=en-ZA}}</ref> * 2021 National Institute for Humanities and Social science Awards (HSS Awards), Best Fiction Edited Volume for ''Joburg Noir''<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2021-11-23|title=[The JRB Daily] 2021 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards winners announced—including The JRB's Makhosazana Xaba and Niq Mhlongo|url=https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2021/04/01/the-jrb-daily-2021-humanities-and-social-sciences-awards-winners-announced-including-the-jrbs-makhosazana-xaba-and-niq-mhlongo/|date=1 April 2021|website=johannesburgreviewofbooks.com|first=Jennifer|last=Malec}}</ref> * 2022 HSS Awards, Best Fiction Edited Volume for ''Hauntings''<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2025-02-26|title=[The JRB Daily] 2022 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards winners announced—‘casting a celebratory light on those whose work often goes unnoticed’|url=https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2022/04/01/the-jrb-daily-2022-humanities-and-social-sciences-awards-winners-announced-casting-a-celebratory-light-on-those-whose-work-often-goes-unnoticed/|date=1 April 2022|website=johannesburgreviewofbooks.com|first=Jennifer|last=Malec}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{wikiquote}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mhlongo, Niq}} Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:People from Soweto Category:South African journalists Category:South African male novelists Category:International Writing Program alumni
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