“Receiving the
UJ Prize for Translation marks the culmination of a process that began in 1979; my final year as a BA Languages student at the then University of the Orange Free State, when I studied the play in both the French and English departments. It was then that I discovered the playwright Samuel Beckett and the concept of self-translation,” said
Prof Naòmi Morgan, Research Associate in the
Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the University of the Free State (UFS).
She was honoured with this award for her translation Ons wag vir Godot, based on the iconic French text En attendant Godot (1952, Les Editions de Minuit) by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, during the UJ prize-giving function in Johannesburg on 29 August 2025.
“When Prof Karen de Wet, chairperson of the selection committee for the UJ Translation Prize, Afrikaans, phoned, I thought at first that she wanted me to review a submission. When she announced that I had actually won the prize, I was quite overwhelmed. It is the biggest prize for translation in South Africa, and the competition is tough,” said Prof Morgan.
During her acceptance speech, she noted, “I did not wait for this or any other prize. As a translator, you immediately measure your work against the great masters whose names appear on the cover. It is their honour that you must protect.”
“Nothing prepares you for an award like this. It feels as if a circle has been completed, one you did not even know you were part of. You take French at school, you study Beckett in French and English at university, you later specialise in drama because it is dialogue – and one day you are asked to translate En attendant Godot into Afrikaans. And that work wins the UJ Prize. Unexpected.”
The UJ Prize for Translation was established to recognise outstanding translations from any language into one of South Africa’s official languages. This year, the judges received a remarkable variety of entries from languages such as Dutch, Greek, Latin, Italian, and French. Yet it was Prof Morgan’s work that rose to the top, confirming her place as one of the country’s most respected literary translators.
A translation that carries sound, rhythm, and humour
The judges singled out Prof Morgan’s translation as a rich rendering of a concentrated literary text that preserves the performability of the original work. Her version of En attendant Godot seamlessly integrates sound, rhythm, and humour, weaving Afrikaans idioms, references, and wordplay into the text without disrupting the flow. “Every word finds its place; every rhythm carries meaning. The result is a text that communicates effortlessly in Afrikaans and fully engages the audience,” the judges noted.
In her formal commendation,
Dr Johanna Steyn, Lecturer in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the UFS, echoed the judges’ assessment, noting that
En attendant Godot, written in 1952, now exists for the first time in a published Afrikaans translation, titled
Ons wag vir Godot.
Dr Steyn praised Prof Morgan for ‘domesticating’ the text for a South African audience; adapting references, such as replacing the Eiffel Tower with the notorious Van Staden’s Bridge and weaving in Afrikaans expressions such as ‘daar’s as op jou toon’, ‘dis so maklik soos botter en brood’, and ‘ons praat die donkie se agterbeen af’. The translation also sparkles with humour and intertextual references to Afrikaans authors such as Eugène Marais, AG Visser, and C Louis Leipoldt. According to Dr Steyn, the Afrikaans audience not only discovers an iconic French text but also rediscovers aspects of their own culture and literature.
Acknowledging the difficulty of capturing Beckett’s essence, Dr Steyn said: “To translate Beckett is like trying to catch the morning mist with a butterfly net. The words are elusive, the silences are loaded, and the absurdity is endless.” Yet, she concluded that Prof Morgan’s genius lies in managing to remain faithful to Beckett while enriching the text for Afrikaans audiences. “It is a translation true to the original,” Dr Steyn said, “but one that also involves the Afrikaans reader and spectator in the conversation.”
Prof Morgan has long been a familiar name in the world of literary translation and theatre. Her Afrikaans translations of French texts have deeply resonated with South African audiences. These include translations such as Oskar en die Pienk Tannie, Monsieur Ibrahim en die Blomme van die Koran, Madame Pylinska en die Geheim van Chopin and the translation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Die Klein Prinsie. With Ons wag vir Godot, published by Naledi as part of the Afrikaans 100 celebrations marking Afrikaans’ official language status, she continues this proud tradition of cultural enrichment.
Upon receiving the prize, Prof Morgan explained that Ons wag vir Godot was primarily translated to be performed. She thanked Walter Strydom and Dion van Niekerk for including her in the production, as well as the cast of actors who made history by bringing this unforgettable play to the stage. Their performance won five Vrystaat Arts Festival awards, including Best Festival Production, Best Literature Festival Seller for the book edition published by Naledi, Best Director, Best Ensemble, and Best Supporting Actor. The production also received the prize for Best Adaptation of a Text at the kykNET Fiëstas, as well as Best Director (Dion van Niekerk) and Best Actor in a supporting role (Gerben Kamper).
Also acknowledging this exceptional award was Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation at the UFS. “My heartfelt congratulations to Prof Morgan. “This is recognition for her important, dedicated, and outstanding contributions to the art of translation. She is not only a brilliant translator but also a remarkable person and academic.” Prof Hester C. Klopper, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS, emphasised: “Indeed, a most fitting recognition of her exceptional work. Prof Morgan is a model of academic excellence and of the ability to expand the horizons of our literature.”
A colleague, Prof Johann Rossouw, Professor of Philosophy and Classics at the UFS, also expressed his appreciation for Prof Morgan’s award. According to him, following Prof Louise Cilliers’ victory in 2024, this award shows that the UFS has become an unlikely yet powerful centre of translation excellence. Prof Cilliers, Research Fellow in Philosophy and Classics and long-time head of Classics at the UFS, won the UJ Translation Prize in 2024 for her translation of Konstantinos Cavafy’s poems, From Alexandria to Ithaca (Naledi, 2023).
More time, more stories
Prof Morgan noted that she has never translated a novel or play that she did not like. For her, other writers have been the greatest influence during her career. “Literary translation is like getting a masterclass from a great novelist or playwright. I consider that I have been ‘coached’ by the authors I admire most: Samuel Beckett, Annie Ernaux, Jean-Marie Le Clézio, Yasmina Reza … the list goes on!”
Now retired, Prof Morgan has more time for her passion: translation. Since 2024, she has translated Yasmina Reza’s Art (Kuns), staged at the 2025 KKNK, as well as Die Ander Dogter, an autobiographical novella by Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux, scheduled for stage adaptation with Sandra Prinsloo in 2026. She is currently working on an Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt novella, planned as a ‘reunion’ production with Chris van Niekerk and Leon Snyman. As she puts it, she has plenty ‘on her plate’.
She said that as a translator, she hopes that she has given a few readers a more personal, even intimate, access to the authors on her personal Mount Olympus: “I tried to be as faithful as possible to the source text, but every word choice involuntarily said something about me. I would like to be viewed as a bridge between the two most important languages and cultures in my life – the one I was born into, the words I learnt from my mother, and the one I chose and dedicated my life and work to.”
“I love the theatre, performance: if I can be remembered as someone who brought French plays and ‘chansons’ to the Afrikaans stage, it will be enough.”