The Brittle Paper Literary Awards is our way of recognizing the finest, original pieces of literature by Africans available online for free. We announced it to mark our seventh anniversary. Its five categories—Fiction ($200), Poetry ($200), Creative Nonfiction/Memoir ($200), Essays/Think Pieces ($200), and the Anniversary Award ($300) for writing published by us—reflect our efforts to […]
The Brittle Paper Award for Fiction: Meet the Nominees
To mark our seventh anniversary on August 1, 2017, we announced the inaugural Brittle Paper Literary Awards, to recognize the finest, original pieces of African writing published online. The awards come in five categories: Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, Essays/Think Pieces, and the Anniversary Award for works published on our blog. The winners in the fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction and essays/think pieces […]
The Political Lyricality of Namwali Serpell’s “Triptych: Texas Pool Party”
In January, on Facebook, 2015 Caine Prize-winner Namwali Serpell announced a new short story titled “Triptych: Texas Pool Party.” Published in Triple Canopy, it narrates the 2015 McKinney, Texas pool party incident in which a police man tackles and restrains a 15-year-old black girl. What draws us to this story is how, while being political fiction at its […]