Sarah Lubala is shortlisted for the Gerald Kraak Award for her poem ‘6 Errant Thoughts on Being a Refugee’ published on Brittle Paper.

The Gerald Kraak Award has announced its 2018 shortlist, comprising 15 pieces of journalism, fiction, nonfiction, photography, and poetry.

Founded in 2016, the Gerald Kraak Award aims to honour works that focus on experiences of gender, social justice and sexuality. The award is given in honour of the late activist Gerald Kraak.

The inaugural award went to Ugandan-born Kenyan photographer Sarah Waiswa and Kenyan writer Farah Ahamed. The anthology was launched in May. It is titled Pride and Prejudice: African Perspectives on Gender, Social Justice and Sexuality.

Chike Frankie Edozien, author of Lives of Great Men, has been shortlisted for the Gerald Kraak Award.

Here is their 2018 shortlist:

  • ‘Facing the Mediterranean’ by Isaac Otidi Amuke (journalism, Kenya)
  • ‘Full Moon’ by Jayne Bauling (fiction, South Africa)
  • ‘Sailing with the Argonauts’ by Efemia Chela (non-fiction, South Africa)
  • ‘Princess’ by Carl Collison (photography, South Africa)
  • ‘Africa’s Future Has no Space for Stupid Black Men’ by Pwaangulongii Dauod (non-fiction, Nigeria)
  • ‘Existence as Resistance’ by Wandile Dlamini (photography, South Africa)
  • ‘The Shea Prince’ by Chike Frankie Edozien (non-fiction, Nigeria)
  • ‘The Man at the Bridge’ by Kiprop Kimutai (fiction, Kenya)
  • ‘Portrait of a Girl at the Border Wall’, ‘6 Errant Thoughts on Being a Refugee’ and ‘Notes on Black Death and Elegy’ by Sarah Lubala (poetry, South Africa)
  • ‘Human Settlements’ by Tshepiso Mabula (photography, South Africa)
  • ‘Borrowed by the Wind’ by David Medalie (fiction, South Africa)
  • ‘Drowning’, ‘In Jail’ and ‘Things That Will Get You Beaten in a Black Home’ by Thandokuhle Mngqibisa (photography and poetry, South Africa)
  • ‘XXYX Africa: More Invisible’ by Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko (fiction, Tanzania)
  • ‘We Are Queer, We Are Here’ by Chibuihe Obi (non-fiction, Nigeria)
  • ‘Reclamation’ by Hapuya Ononime (poetry, Nigeria)
Kiprop Kimutai, who has been featured and interviewed by us, is shortlisted for the Gerald Kraak Award.

The judging panel comprised: Sisonke Msimang, winner of the Brittle Paper Award for Essays; Sylvia Tamale; and Mark Gevisser. Here are Msimang’s comments on their choices:

“We are really proud of this selection. It represents some excellent writing and thinking, and reflects the diversity of experiences across the continent. It also mirrors many of the themes that continue to dominate the lives of queer people and of African women: depression, harassment, violence, love and joy. There is a fierceness in many of the pieces we selected – a fight-back but also a quirky and authentic take on the world that manages somehow not to
be defined by the larger often horribly oppressive contexts in which they were written.”

Efemia Chela, who has been featured by Brittle Paper, is shortlisted for the Gerald Kraak Award.

Brittle Paper is happy to see both writers and writing we published honoured on the shortlist. South Africa’s Efemia Chela, Nigeria’s Pwaangulongii Dauod, who was shortlisted for the Brittle Paper Award for Creative Nonfiction, Kenya’s Kiprop Kimutai, and Nigeria’s Frankie Edozien, author of the memoir Lives of Great Men, have been featured by us. Chibuihe Obi’s ‘We Are Queer, We Are Here’ was published by us and awarded the Brittle Paper Anniversary Award. Sarah Lubala’s ‘6 Errant Thoughts on Being a Refugee’ was also published by us. Special congratulations to them.

The winner will receive a cash prize of R25 000, and will be announced at an award ceremony in May 2018, hosted by the Other Foundation and attended by selected shortlisters.

Congratulations to the shortlisted 15 artists.