A question that sat at the heart of the Safal Kiswahili Prize for African Literature when it was founded in 2014: why were there major international prizes for African writers working in English, French, and Portuguese, but nothing comparable for creative writing in Kiswahili, one of the most widely spoken languages on the continent, with a rich literary history, a vast readership, and an established place within African scholarship? That question, posed by co-founders Dr. Lizzy Attree and Professor Mukoma wa Ngũgĩ, produced a prize. Ten years later, that prize has produced a community, a publishing pipeline, and a growing body of contemporary Kiswahili literature that is now finding readers well beyond East Africa.

This week, as the prize marks its tenth anniversary, it announced the shortlist for its 2025 edition nine manuscripts across three categories, selected from 230 submissions received from seven countries. The overall winners will be announced at a ceremony in Dar es Salaam on July 24.

Since it was established, the prize has awarded over $135,000 to writers for both poetry and prose, and more than twenty books have entered the literary marketplace, some of which have been translated into English. The relationship with Mkuki na Nyota Publishers in Tanzania has been central to this, ensuring that winning manuscripts are not simply celebrated and shelved but professionally edited, published, and distributed throughout the region. This year, Mkuki na Nyota is marking the anniversary with two new published editions compiling short stories and poetry from previous prize winners, available at the affordable prices of 8,000 and 10,000 Tanzanian shillings. The prize has also fed directly into translation: Ali Hilal Ali’s winning novel Mmeza Fupa (The Swallower of Secrets), translated by Meg Arenberg, won a PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant and will be published by the University of Georgia Press in 2027. Mohammed K. Ghassani’s winning poetry collection, translated by the same hand, was published by the University of Nebraska Press.

In her reflection on the prize’s decade published this week in Publishing Perspectives, co-founder Dr. Attree describes the prize’s greatest achievement not as the ceremonies or the headlines but as the community that has grown around Kiswahili literature — writers, publishers, readers, and scholars drawn together by a shared conviction that the language deserves this. Professor Mukoma wa Ngũgĩ, in announcing the shortlist, pointed to the publishing ecosystem that has developed over the last decade and issued a direct challenge: “We are grateful for Safal, which has set a precedent for African philanthropy that grows African cultures. We challenge African governments and their respective ministries of culture to create an ecosystem for each African language.”

The judges for this edition, Professor Rayya Timammy of the University of Nairobi, Dr. Masoud Mohammed of the State University of Zanzibar, and Professor Austin Bukenya, formerly of Makerere University, noted that the competition was exceptionally intense, with the large volume and high quality of submissions making the selection genuinely difficult. In the prize’s early years, fewer than fifty manuscripts were submitted. This year there were 230.The nine shortlisted works across fiction, poetry, and short story collections are:

Fiction: Ziaka Imetoboka by Mathew Theuri Maina (Kenya); Mwanamkasi Ndio Basi by Salim Hussein Ng’anzi (Tanzania); Shamba la Mawe by Dickson Damas Mtalaze (Tanzania).

Poetry: Diwani ya Vizikwa Vya Kale by Ali Hilal Ali (Tanzania); Zigo la Kichwa by Maimuna Hashim Maalim (Tanzania); Rima la Miiko na Balaa by Lenard Barnaba Mtesigwa (Tanzania).

Short Story Collections: Mbunge Mtarajiwa na Hadithi Nyingine by Dominic Maina Oigo (Kenya); Koti la Karani na Hadithi Nyingine by Stallone Joyfully (Tanzania); Siri ya Mama na Hadithi Nyingine by Sophia Said Puta (Tanzania).

Among the shortlisted writers, Mathew Theuri Maina, Ali Hilal Ali, Lenard Barnaba Mtesigwa, and Stallone Joyfully have either won or been shortlisted in previous editions of the prize. The overall winners will be announced on July 24 in Dar es Salaam. The prize money, $5,000 each for the top fiction and poetry prizes, and $2,500 each for two runner-up prizes in any genre, remains among the most meaningful direct financial support available to writers working in African languages anywhere on the continent.

Congratulations to the Safal Kiswahili Prize, and to everyone on this shortlist!