Maskew Miller Longman launched a new competition, the Maskew Miller Longman Literature Award, in 2006. Entries for original and unpublished youth novels are invited in all 11 official South African languages.

The Maskew Miller Longman Literature Award is unique in that it is the only award that gives equal weighting to all 11 official languages.

The Maskew Miller Longman Literature Award will be an annual event with a different genre being explored each year. The focus for 2006 is novels for young South Africans today.

The total prize money exceeds R150 000 in cash with the winning entry in each language category receiving R10 000 and runners-up R5 000 each. All winning entries will be published and the runners-up also stand the chance of having their work published. Experts on youth literature will screen all entries submitted while final judging will be performed by prominent literary figures.

Maskew Miller Longman will be conducting writers' workshops countrywide, including a special workshop at the Cape Town International Bookfair in June 2006, to assist aspirant writers.