Five African short story writers have been shortlisted for the Caine Prize 2019 award, ahead of the awards ceremony to be held in London in July.
The shortlisted writers sourced from five African countries were announced on May 20. 131 eligible submissions from 21 countries entered into the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing.
The competition is to feature stories that tackle “the ordinary in an extraordinary manner”.
Dr Peter Kimani, an award-winning Kenyan journalist and author of the Dance of the Jacaranda, is leading a team of five judges in deciding the winner.
The other judges are Sefi Atta of Nigeria, Margie Orford of South Africa, Sierra Leonean Olufemi Terry and Prof Scott Taylor.
According to the organiser, there will be a cash prize of £10,000 for the winning author and a travel award for each of the short-listed candidates.
The shortlisted candidates will also receive a prize of £500 and the winner will be invited to go to three literature festivals in Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria.
The shortlisted stories will be printed by New Internationalist in a special publication to mark the twentieth Caine Prize award dinner.
It will be achieved through co-publishers in 16 African countries that have received a print-ready PDF free of charge.
Here are the five authors on the race to bag the £10,000 cash prize and the Caine Prize 2019 award.
Lesley Nneka Arimah
The Nigerian author was shortlisted for her short story titled - Skinned. The book was published in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Issue 53 (2018).
Meron Hadero
The Ethiopian writer was shortlisted for her short story titled - The Wall. The book was published in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Issue 52 (2018).
Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor
The Nigerian author was shortlisted for his short story titled - All Our Lives. The book was published in ID Identity: New Short Fiction from Africa (2018).
Ngwah-Mbo Nana Nkweti
The Cameroon author was shortlisted for her short story titled -It Takes A Village Some Say. The book was published in The Baffler (2017).
Cherrie Kandie
The Kenyan writer was shortlisted for her short story titled, Sew My Mouth, which was published in ID Identity: New Short Fiction From Africa (2018).
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