South African writer beat two Nigerian authors to win the 2016 Caine Prize for African Writing

The 2016 Caine Prize for African Writing has been won by South African writer Lidudumalingani for his beautiful story 'Memories we Lost’ published in Incredible Journey: Stories That Move You (Burnet Media, South Africa, 2015).

The writer, filmmaker and photographer beat 4 other writers including Nigeria's Tope Folarin, who won the Caine prize for African writing in 2013, and Lesley Nneka Arimah whose writing defies generic category—a mashup of scifi, fantasy, and speculative fiction.

Ms. Arimah made the shortlist for her work ‘What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky’ published in Catapult (Catapult, USA, 2015) and Mr. Folarin was shortlisted for his work ‘Genesis’ published in Callaloo — Johns Hopkins University Press, USA, 2014.

The other writers include Abdul Adan from Somalia/Kenya and Bongani Kona from Zimbabwe.

The prize was announced at a dinner held earlier this evening at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

As a Caine Prize winner, Lidudumalingani 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.

In addition to a £10,000 prize, he’ll also be invited to speak at the Library of Congress and receive invitations to take part in Cape Town’s Open Book Festival, Nairobi’s Storymoja and Nigeria’s Ake Festival. Okay Africa reported.

Chair of judges Delia Jarrett-Macauley praised his story, saying, "The winning story explores a difficult subject - how traditional beliefs in a rural community are used to tackle schizophrenia. this is a troubling piece, depicting the great love between two young siblings in a beautifully drawn Eastern Cape. Multi-layered, and gracefully narrated, this short story leaves the reader full of sympathy and wonder at the plight of its protagonists".

The Caine Prize for African Writing is a literature prize awarded to an African writer of a short story published in English.

The prize was launched in 2000 to encourage and highlight the richness and diversity of African writing by bringing it to a wider audience internationally. Today, it is recognized as a leading African literary institution.

Read Lesley Nneka Arimah's story here and the other shortlisted story here.

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