In 2017, Africa Writes, the UK’s biggest festival celebrating African literature, moved beyond London for the first time, organizing pop-up events across the country in Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Bristol. With the Bristol event proving the most successful in terms of audience and partner engagement, the Festival decided to plan and develop it as an independent […]
Tag Archives: caine prize
The Caine Prize Announces 2019 Shortlist
Five writers—from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria—have been shortlisted for the 2019 Caine Prize, for short stories that explore “the ordinary in an extraordinary manner.” Founded in 2000, and named after the late Sir Michael Caine, former Chairman of Booker Plc and Chairman of the Booker Prize, the £10,000 Caine Prize “is awarded for a […]
Influential Publisher, Editor & Critic Ellah Wakatama Allfrey Is the New Chairperson of the Caine Prize
The influential publisher, editor, critic, and broadcaster Ellah Wakatama Allfrey is now Chairperson of the Caine Prize for African Writing. Allfrey, who is Zimbabwean, and is a Trustee of the Prize, will be replacing Dr Delia Jarrett-Macauley in her role as Chair of the Board of Trustees and of the Advisory Council of the Caine […]
Tope Folarin’s Debut Novel Is Set for Summer 2019 Release
Tope Folarin’s debut novel is titled A Particular Kind of Black Man and is set for a summer 2019 release by American publisher Simon and Schuster. Folarin became one of the break out stars of African literature in 2013 after he won the Caine Prize for African Writing. His winning short story titled “Miracle” is […]
Five Beautiful Acts of Generosity by African Writers
In the midst of the pressure to deliver under that heavy tag “African Writer,” in the back and forth between critics and between writers and between critics and writers, in the midst of big novels and million-dollar book deals and accumulating prizes, it is easy to lose sight of community and what it means to […]
Ikhide R. Ikheloa: The Caine Prize Has Degenerated into Mediocrity Again, Struggles to Be Relevant
In a Twitter chat on SynCity’s “Literary Lords and Ladies” series, Ikhide R. Ikheloa said that the Caine Prize “has degenerated into mediocrity again,” “has regressed,” and “struggles to be relevant.” Here is an excerpt from the interview, conducted by SynCity founder Cynthia Osuchukwu. INTERVIEWER The whole world read your rants when the shortlist was released […]
Makena Onjerika to Donate a Tenth of Her Caine Prize £10,000 to Help Rehabilitate Kenyan Street Children
In an absolute act of authorial philanthropy, 2018 Caine Prize winner Makena Onjerika will be donating a tenth of her £10,000 prize money to street children in Kenya. Onjerika, who is the fourth Kenyan to take the prize, won for her short story “Fanta Blackcurrant,” published in Wasafiri in 2017, in which a street child in Nairobi, who makes […]
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