The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) recently announced the winners of the 2025 Humanities Book Prize Awards.  These awards recognise and celebrate outstanding scholarly contributions to humanist knowledge and intellectual discourse in South Africa.

• Prof Sandra Swart’s book (The Lion’s Historian) received an honourable mention in the 2025 humanities ASSAf book awards. Prof Swart is the Chair, Department of History, Stellenbosch University.

Awarded biennially, the ASSAf Humanities Book Prize celebrates exemplary contributions to the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Performing Arts. In 2024, 52 nominations were received for books published in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The awards continue to highlight the depth and excellence of South African humanities research, recognising works that challenge, inspire, and contribute to global intellectual discourse.