The Caine Prize for African Writing, probably the most prestigious and coveted literary awards for African writers, has as soon as once more spotlighted the continent’s literary abilities with its 2024 shortlist. The prize, established in 2000, continues to recognise distinctive quick tales from African authors, selling their works on a world stage. This yr’s shortlist, that includes three Nigerian writers, is a various array of voices, reflecting the richness and complexity of latest African literature.
The 2024 Shortlist
5 distinctive tales with completely different views and narrative types have been shortlisted. The shortlisted tales discover a variety of themes, from identification and migration to like and loss.
Listed here are the shortlisted writers and their tales for the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing:
Tryphena Yeboah (Ghana) – The Dishwashing Women
is a Ghanaian author and the writer of the poetry chapbook, A Mouthful of Dwelling (Akashic Books). Her fiction and essays have appeared in Narrative Journal, Commonwealth Writers, and Lit Hub, amongst others. She is at the moment a Ph.D. pupil on the College of Nebraska-Lincoln, learning English with an emphasis in Inventive Writing.
Nadia Davids (South Africa) – Bridling
Nadia Davids is a South African author, theatre-maker and scholar. Her performs (At Her Toes, What Stays, Maintain Nonetheless) have been staged all through Southern Africa and in Europe. Her debut novel An Imperfect Blessing was shortlisted for Pan-African Etisalat Prize for Literature. Nadia’s quick fiction and essays have appeared in The American Scholar, The Los Angeles Overview of Books, Astra Journal, The Georgia Overview, the Johannesburg Overview of Books and Zyzzyva Journal. She’s held residencies at Hedgebrook, Artwork Omi and The Girls’s Venture, and was a 2023 Aspen Phrases Author. Nadia has taught at Queen Mary College of London and the College of Cape City and is the President Emeritus of PEN South Africa.
Samuel Kolawole (Nigeria) – Adjustment of Status
Samuel Kolawole is the writer of a brand new, critically acclaimed novel, The Highway to the Salt Sea. His work has appeared in AGNI, New England Overview, Georgia Overview, The Hopkins Overview, Gulf Coast, Washington Sq. Overview, Harvard Overview, Picture Journal, and different literary publications. He has obtained quite a few residencies and fellowships and has been a finalist for the Graywolf Press Africa Prize, Worldwide E-book Award, and shortlisted for UK’s The First Novel Prize, and gained an Editor-Author Mentorship Program for Various Writers. He’s a graduate of the MFA in Writing and Publishing at Vermont Faculty of Positive Arts; and earned his PhD in English and Inventive Writing from Georgia State College. He has taught artistic writing in Africa, Sweden, and america, and at the moment teaches fiction writing as an Assistant Professor of English and African Research at Pennsylvania State College.
Uche Okonkwo (Nigeria) – Animals
Uche Okonkwo has tales printed in A Public House, One Story, the Kenyon Overview, Ploughshares, The Finest American Nonrequired Studying 2019, and Lagos Noir, amongst others. She is the writer of the debut story assortment A Form of Insanity: Tin Home (2024); Narrative Panorama (2024); and VERVE Books (2025). A former Bernard O’Keefe Scholar on the Bread Loaf Writers’ Convention and resident at Artwork Omi, she is a recipient of the George Bennett Fellowship at Phillips Exeter Academy, a Steinbeck Fellowship, and an Elizabeth George Basis grant. Okonkwo grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and is at the moment pursuing a artistic writing PhD on the College of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Pemi Aguda (Nigeria) – Breastmilk
Pemi Aguda is an MFA graduate from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program on the College of Michigan and the winner of the 2020 Deborah Rogers Basis Award. Her writing has been printed in One Story, Granta, Ploughshares, American Quick Fiction, Zoetrope, and different publications, and has been awarded the O. Henry Prize for brief fiction in 2022 and 2023. She is the writer of a group of tales, Ghostroots (W.W. Norton, 2024; Virago Press, 2024; and Masobe Books, 2024).
The winner of the 2024 Caine Prize shall be introduced at an award ceremony scheduled for September 2024. For extra details about the prize, go to here.
