Namwali Serpell, Winner of the 2015 Caine Prize for African Writing
Congratulations to Namwali, and the other shortlisted writers. To be a part of this esteemed list of writers, click here to find out how to enter your books for the 2016 Caine Prize. Deadline is January 31, 2016.
Oh,
and if you’re interested in African writing, and discussions based on
African writing, you should check out the Guardian Q&A session with
the 2015 Caine Prize Shortlisters {HERE}
Sixteenth Caine Prize for African writing shortlist announced
Zoë Wicomb
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Chair of judges, Zoë Wicomb described the shortlist as, "an exciting crop of well-crafted stories."
"For all the variety of themes and approaches, the shortlist has in common a rootedness in socio-economic worlds that are pervaded with affect, as well as keen awareness of the ways in which the ethical is bound up with aesthetics. Unforgettable characters, drawn with insight and humour, inhabit works ranging from classical story structures to a haunting, enigmatic narrative that challenges the conventions of the genre."
She added, "Understatement and the unspoken prevail: hints of an orphan’s identity bring poignant understanding of his world; the reader is slowly and expertly guided to awareness of a narrator’s blindness; there is delicate allusion to homosexual love; a disfigured human body is encountered in relation to adolescent escapades; a nameless wife’s insecurities barely mask her understanding of injustice; and, we are given a flash of insight into dark passions that rise out of a surreal resistance culture."
"Above all, these stories speak of the pleasure of reading fiction. It will be no easy task to settle on a winner."
Each shortlisted writer receives £500 and the winner of the £10,000 prize will be announced at an award ceremony and dinner at the Weston Library, Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, on Monday 6 July.
The 2015 shortlist comprises:
- Segun Afolabi (Nigeria) for “The Folded Leaf” in Wasafiri (Wasafiri, London, 2014)
Caine Prize winner 2005 for “Monday Morning”
Read "The Folded Leaf" - Elnathan John (Nigeria) for “Flying” in Per Contra (Per Contra, International, 2014)
Shortlisted in 2013 for “Bayan Layi”
Read "Flying"
- F. T. Kola (South Africa) for “A Party for the Colonel” in One Story (One Story, inc. Brooklyn, New York City, 2014)
Read "A Party for the Colonel" - Masande Ntshanga (South Africa) for “Space” in Twenty in 20 (Times Media, South Africa, 2014)
Read "Space" - Namwali Serpell (Zambia) for “The Sack” in Africa39 (Bloomsbury, London, 2014)
Shortlisted in 2010 for “Muzungu”
Read "The Sack"
Each of these stories will be published in New Internationalist’s Caine Prize 2015 Anthology in July and through co-publishers across Africa, who receive a print ready PDF free of charge from New Internationalist.
Read a short biography of the five shortlisted writers here.
View this press release as a PDF here...
- Elnathan John (Nigeria) for “Flying” in Per Contra (Per Contra, International, 2014)
Shortlisted in 2013 for “Bayan Layi”
Read “Flying”
- Masande Ntshanga (South Africa) for “Space” in Twenty in 20 (Times Media, South Africa, 2014)
Read “Space”
- Namwali Serpell (Zambia) for “The Sack” in Africa39 (Bloomsbury, London, 2014)
Shortlisted in 2010 for “Muzungu”
Read “The Sack”
- F. T. Kola (South Africa) for “A Party for the Colonel” in One Story (One Story, inc. Brooklyn, New York City, 2014)
Read “A Party for the Colonel”
- Segun Afolabi (Nigeria) for “The Folded Leaf” in Wasafiri (Wasafiri, London, 2014)
Caine Prize winner 2005 for “Monday Morning”
Read “The Folded Leaf”
(The biographies for the shortlisted candidates can be found – here).
To be honest, I was a bit disappointed that
this year’s countries shortlist was more of a dichotomy between Nigeria
and South Africa. I expected a more diverse pool of stories to enjoy.
But hey! Its the stories that matter, right?
I read Namwali Serpell’s story ‘The Sack‘, as it is one of the short stories in the Africa39 anthology
that I own. I don’t know how I feel about her story…It’s a little
confusing to me! From what I gather, the story is about the protagonist
(I don’t know if this is a boy or girl) having nightmares about being
killed, while the men he/she lives with use a young black orphan to go
fishing and later debate whether the orphan should live with them or
not. There also seems to be a feud between the men in the house, as one
is elderly and seems to be sick and grumpy. Humph! If anyone has read
the story and understands it, please do explain!
Elnathan’s use of metaphors in comparing human appearances to animals gave the story some spice. I mostly appreciated how readers can get the full scope of Tachio’s wavering feelings of being a dorm leader, wanting to be mischievous with his friends, to wanting to please Aunty Ketura, seeking advice and comfort from Aunty Ketura etc. I’m yet to read the last three stories on the shortlist, but ‘Flying’ is the most enjoyable story to me thus far. It’s simple, understandable and moving.
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