Caine Prize Shortlist Announced

The final shortlist for the 2019 Caine Prize for African Literature has been announced, and only one is a gentleman.

The shortlisted authors are from Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Kenya.

From Nigeria, Lesley Nneka Arimah, author of Skinned, has made the shortlist alongside Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor, the author of All our lives.

Cameroonian author Ngwah-Mbo Nana Nkweta has been nominated for It takes a village some say, while Ethiopia’s Meron Hadero has made the shortlist with The Wall.

The shortlist is rounded up by Kenya’s Cherrie Kandie, author of Sew my mouth.

“Without exception, past Caine Prize winners have been revolutionary and evolutionary— breaking fresh ground, while pushing the African story from the margins to the mainstream of world literature.

The five writers on this year’s shortlist carry on with that tradition, not just in their inventiveness in imagining the world, but also in tackling the ordinary in an extraordinary manner, in a wide-range of issues: gender and generation; home and exile; sexuality and religion; love and hate; happiness and heartbreak,” said Dr. Peter Kimani, chair of the 5-panel judge that will decide the ultimate winner.

The winner will receive a £ 10,000 prize at a ceremony to be held on 8^th July in London.

Last year’s price went to Kenya’s Makena Onjerika, whose short story, Fanta BlackCurrant, narrated the experiences of street children in Nairobi.