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Tag: Caine Prize

  • The Caine Prize shortlist

    A few weeks ago, the Caine Prize (for African writing) released the names of the five writers whose short stories have been shortlisted for the big prize in July.  In the shortlist are three Nigerians out of the five. They are Nonyelum Ekwempu, Olufunke Ogundimu and Wole Talabi. The other two are Stacy Hardy (South Africa) and Makena Onjerika (Kenya).

    The prize, which was instituted 18 years ago, is devoted to rewarding authors of short stories that must have been published and entered for the competition. It is only dedicated to short stories. Unlike the Commonwealth Short Stories competition, which don’t have to have been published before being entered for the prize, the Caine administrators insist submissions must have been published to be qualified for entry.

    Nigeria’s showing in the 2018 shortlist (three out of five) is not the first time. In 2007, Nigeria had three out of the five (Uwem Akpan, EC Osondu (who eventually won in 2009) and Ada Udechukwu. Also in 2013, there were four Nigerians out of the five: Elnathan John (who like Osondu made a second appearance in 2015), Tope Folarin (who won and made the shortlist again in 2015 along with Elnathan John), Abubakar Adam Ibrahim and Chinelo Akparanta.

    In the 18 years of the Caine Prize, 23 Nigerian writers have been shortlisted. Out of these, Segun Afolabi has been nominated twice (2005 won and 2015), Elnathan John (2013 and 2015), Tope Folarin (2013 won and 2016), EC Osondu (2007 and 2009 won).

    Nigeria, no doubt has been having it good on the shortlist. This might not be far from the fact of our large population and that apart, the truth is that lots of writings are coming out of our country – both at home and abroad. Literature is blooming and the government would do well to focus on that sector to show that we can export our intellect too, and not only oil.

    Although some may argue that a majority of our writers that have been shortlisted for the prize are resident abroad, that is true but it does not take away the fact that they are Nigerians. Majority of Indians and other nationals’ biggest writers also reside abroad! So, rather than it being a minus, it should be an asset. Literature is any country’s biggest investment and a veritable window to its soul and world. That is why today, any Nigerian who travels abroad, questions are asked about Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka etc. Just as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has become the poster-child of new Nigerian literature around the world.

    The Caine Prize, no matter what anyone might say about it, has been a shot in the arm for creative writing in Africa. It has served as a lever to propel the career of new writers who may be testing their art and craft with short story writing before leaping into the complex and long world of novel writing. This we can see in some of those that have in the past been shortlisted and have today published a novel or two to critical wide acclaim both at home and abroad.

    Nigeria has won the prize five times: First in 2001 (Helon Habila), 2005 (Segun Afolabi), 2009 (EC Osondu), 2012 (Rotimi Babatunde), and 2013 (Tope Folarin). With Nigeria’s three on the 2018 shortlist of five, the vote can go either way. But whichever way it goes, Nigeria has continued to show that we have compelling stories to tell and we are not short of creative and compulsive writers who can build a world of mansion with words.

    In the weeks ahead, I promise to read all the five shortlisted stories and wait for the judges to proclaim a winner and see if it tallies with mine.  Till then, keep reading.

     

     

  • Nigerian writers are obsessed with the Caine Prize

    Nigerian writers are obsessed with the Caine Prize

    Since you won the Caine prize in 2010, what has been your preoccupation in the area of writing these past years?

    I won the prize in 2010 and I moved to Germany to join my partner who I have since married and I continue to write. I have done residencies and fellowships, published more short stories and essays in the United States, Europe, Kenya and South Africa. I have also judged the Miles Morland scholarship prize for two years running and written a Zimbabwean-German theater production Kuenda 2015, which will tour Germany this year. Right now, I live in the United States and I am trying, very slowly to write a novel.

    How long have you been into writing?

    I started writing in 2006.

    What do you think about the Caine prize?

    The Caine prize has grown. The winner of the 2013 Caine prize who grew up in the United States, Tope Folarin goes to far more festivals and book readings events than I did. The reach and the influence of the Caine prize have grown. I think it plays a very important role in the development of writers. That said Binya is right when he says that folks here in Nigeria are obsessed with the Caine prize.

    Why did you say that?

    There are Nigerian writers and commenters who seem to think you can win the prize by writing in a particular way.

    Many have criticised the Caine prize, whether it is an African prize, or Africans should be interested in the Caine prize. What is your take on that?

    Until someone in Lagos or in Nairobi or in Johannesburg is willing to put up ten thousand pounds for a literary prize that will be based in Africa. It’s fatuous to complain about the Caine prize.

    Do you think the location in which the Caine Prize is being awarded every year should remain?

    If the money comes from London, it should be in London. When the money comes from Lagos it can be in Lagos, when the money comes from Nairobi then it can be in Nairobi.

    What do you think about writers critiquing the Caine prize?

    They are entitled to their opinions and the process of reading and picking a winner is a subjective one.

    What kind of short stories will you like to read?

    Hmm, I want to read ground breaking stories that are innovative, curious and works that engage us. I find unfortunately that real deep imagination seem to be lacking in our stories. There are exceptions of course but as much as eighty-five percent of our stories that come out today, I have no time for.

    Including the ones in the Caine Prize shortlist?

    I think there are some good stories on the Caine Prize shortlist.

    Which do you consider the greatest African novel that has ever been written?

    I am going to say, controversially, Heart of Darkness, A bend in the river and J.M Coetzee’s Disgrace. But I’d also include The poor Christ of Bomba by Mongo Beti.

    What is your next novel about?

    The only thing I can say is that it is set in South Africa.

    You were once a journalist before you became a writer. What was the experience like?

    Yes. I was a freelance journalist in Kenya and South Africa.

    The experience was fine. I went to primary school in Nigeria.

    Was that why you are named Olufemi?

    I was given that name in Sierra Leone.

    Can you speak Yoruba?

    No I cannot.

    When did you leave Nigeria?

    I left Nigeria in 1987, but in  1982 I had been going to boarding school in England, so I was in Nigeria for only two or three months every year.

  • Caine Prize shortlist announced

    The shortlist for the 2014 Caine Prize for African Writing has been announced on Tuesday 22 April by Nobel Prize winner and Patron of the Caine Prize Professor Wole Soyinka, as part of the opening ceremonies for the UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 celebration in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

    To commemorate fifteen years of the Caine Prize this year, £500 will be awarded to each shortlisted writer.

    The winner of the £10,000 prize is to be announced at a celebratory dinner at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, on Monday 14 July.

    The 2014 shortlist comprises:

    *   Diane Awerbuck (South Africa) “Phosphorescence” in Cabin Fever

    (Umuzi<http://www.randomstruik.co.za/struik-umuzi.php>, Cape Town. 2011)

    *   Efemia Chela (Ghana/Zambia) “Chicken” in Feast, Famine and Potluck (Short

    Story Day Africa<http://shortstorydayafrica.org/>, South Africa. 2013)

    *   Tendai Huchu (Zimbabwe) “The Intervention” in Open Road Review, issue 7, New

    Delhi. 2013 http://www.openroadreview.in/the-intervention-by-tendai-huchu/

    *   Billy Kahora (Kenya) “The Gorilla’s Apprentice” in

    Granta<http://www.granta.com/> (London. 2010)

    http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/The-Gorillas-Apprentice

    *   Okwiri Oduor (Kenya) “My Father’s Head” in Feast, Famine and Potluck (Short

    Story Day Africa<http://shortstorydayafrica.org/>, South Africa. 2013)

    As always the stories will be available to read online on our website

    www.caineprize.com<http://www.caineprize.com>.  For the first time an audio version

    of Tendai Huchu’s story is also available

    http://www.openroadreview.in/the-intervention-by-tendai-huchu/

    The book of the 2014 prize will be published with the this year’s workshop stories in our forthcoming anthology which will be launched at the award dinner in July 2014 and published by New Internationalist (978-1-78026-174-4 print; 978-1-78026-175-1 ebook) and seven co-publishers in Africa.

    Alongside Jackie on the panel of judges this year are the distinguished novelist and playwright Gillian Slovo, Zimbabwean journalist Percy Zvomuya, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Georgetown Dr Nicole Rizzuto and the winner of the Caine Prize in 2001 Helon Habila.

    Once again, the winner of the £10,000 Caine Prize will be given the opportunity of taking up a month’s residence at Georgetown University, as a Writer-in-Residence at the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice.

    The award will cover all travel and living expenses. The winner will also be invited to take part in the Open Book Festival in Cape Town in September 2014, the Storymoja Hay Festival in Nairobi and the Ake Festival in Nigeria.

    Last year the Caine Prize was won by Nigerian writer Tope Folarin.

    He has subsequently signed up with the Lippincott Massie McQuilkin literary agency and is working on his first novel The Proximity of Distance.

     

     

  • Tope Folarin wins 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing

    Tope Folarin wins 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing

    Nigeria's Tope Folarin has won the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing, described as
Africa's leading literary award, for his short story entitled 'Miracle' from
Transition<http://dubois.fas.harvard.edu/transition-magazine>, Issue 109 (Bloomington, 2012).

The Chair of Judges, Gus Casely-Hayford, announced Tope Folarin as the winner of the
£10,000 prize at a dinner on Monday evening at the Bodleian Library in Oxford according
to a statement by organisers. 

'Miracle' is a story set in Texas in an evangelical Nigerian church where the
congregation has gathered to witness the healing powers of a blind pastor-prophet.
Religion and the gullibility of those caught in the deceit that sometimes comes with
faith rise to the surface as a young boy volunteers to be healed and begins to
believe in miracles.

Gus Casely-Hayford praised the story, saying: "Tope Folarin's 'Miracle' is another
superb Caine Prize winner - a delightful and beautifully paced narrative, that is
exquisitely observed and utterly compelling".

Tope Folarin is the recipient of writing fellowships from the Institute for Policy
Studies and Callaloo, and he serves on the board of the Hurston/Wright Foundation.
Tope was educated at Morehouse College, and the University of Oxford, where he
earned two Master's degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. He lives and works in Washington,
DC.
    Also shortlisted were:

·         Pede Hollist (Sierra Leone) 'Foreign Aid' from Journal of Progressive
Human Services<http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wphs20#.UZOV4bVlk_g>, Vol. 23.3
(Philadelphia, 2012)
www.tandfonline.com/loi/wphs20#.UZOV4bVlk_g<http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wphs20#.UZOV4bVlk_g>

·         Abubakar Adam Ibrahim (Nigeria) 'The Whispering Trees' from The Whispering
Trees<http://www.parresiapublishers.com/>, published by Parrésia Publishers (Lagos,
2012) www.parresiapublishers.com<http://www.parresiapublishers.com>

·         Elnathan John (Nigeria) 'Bayan Layi' from Per
Contra<http://www.percontra.net/issues/25/fiction/bayan-layi/>, Issue 25 (USA, 2012)
www.percontra.net<http://www.percontra.net>

·         Chinelo Okparanta (Nigeria) 'America' from Granta<http://www.granta.com/>,
Issue 118 (London, 2012) www.granta.com<http://www.granta.com>

The panel of judges is chaired by Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, art historian and
broadcaster, who presented the eight part documentary series 'Lost Kingdoms of
Africa' on the BBC. He is currently a Research Associate at SOAS and consultant to
the King's Cultural Institute. Gus sits on the Tate Britain Council and the National
Portrait Gallery Board of Trustees.

Alongside Gus on the panel of judges this year are award-winning Nigerian-born
artist, Sokari Douglas Camp; author, columnist and Lord Northcliffe Emeritus
Professor at UCL, John Sutherland; Assistant Professor at Georgetown University,
Nathan Hensley and the winner of the Caine Prize in its inaugural year, Leila
Aboulela. This is the first time that a past winner of the Caine Prize has taken
part in the judging.

Once again the winner of the £10,000 Caine Prize will be given the opportunity to
take up a month's residence at Georgetown University, as a Writer-in-Residence at
the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice and will be invited to take part
in the Open Book Festival in Cape Town in September.

Last year the Caine Prize was won by Nigerian writer Rotimi Babatunde. He recently
co-authored Feast, a Royal Court/Young Vic co-production which ran at the Young Vic
as part of World Stages for a World City.

Previous winners are Sudan's Leila Aboulela (2000), Nigerian Helon Habila (2001),
Kenyan Binyavanga Wainaina (2002), Kenyan Yvonne Owuor (2003), Zimbabwean Brian
Chikwava (2004), Nigerian Segun Afolabi (2005), South African Mary Watson (2006),
Ugandan Monica Arac de Nyeko (2007), South African Henrietta Rose-Innes (2008),
Nigerian EC Osondu (2009), Sierra Leonean Olufemi Terry (2010) and Zimbabwean
NoViolet Bulawayo (2011).