Caine Prize for African Writing 2013 Shortlist Announced

It's that time of year again for the Caine Prize annual shortlist for African writing. It was announced today and the Chair of judges, Gus Casely-Hayford, described the shortlist, from 96 countries and 16 African countries, saying:

"The five contrasting titles interrogate aspects of things that we might feel we know of Africa - violence, religion, corruption, family, community - but these are subjects that are deconstructed and beautifully remade. These are challenging, arresting, provocative stories of a continent and its descendants captured at a time of burgeoning change."

The winner of the £10,000 prize is to be announced at a celebratory dinner at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, on Monday 8 July.

Here are this year's shortlisted authors:

• Elnathan John (Nigeria) ‘Bayan Layi’ from Per Contra, Issue 25 (USA, 2012)
• Tope Folarin (Nigeria) ‘Miracle’ from Transition, Issue 109 (Bloomington, 2012)
• Pede Hollist (Sierra Leone) ‘Foreign Aid’ from Journal of Progressive Human Services, Vol. 23.3 (Philadelphia, 2012)
• Abubakar Adam Ibrahim (Nigeria) ‘The Whispering Trees’ from The Whispering Trees, published by Parrésia Publishers (Lagos, 2012)
• Chinelo Okparanta (Nigeria) ‘America’ from Granta, Issue 118 (London, 2012)

Congratulations to all shortlisted authors and more on the Caine Prize shortlist here.

A few questions on my mind to end this post: 4 of 5 of the shortlisted author's are Nigerians, will another Nigerian take it (last year's winner was Rotimi Babatunde), or will Pede Hollist from Sierra Leone be the overall winner? When does Blogging the Caine Prize, 2013 begin? And will 3bute be collaborating with the Caine Prize again this year to adapt all shortlisted stories? Oh and who will be reading this year's shortlisted stories?

When Life Takes Over: Sorry for the Silence

I haven't done a confessional post in a while. Although this is less a confessional post, and more an apology for my silence over the past few weeks. This is due to me being at what is called the "End Game" of a long and arduous process, also known as the PhD, which I began almost four years ago. I won't bore you with details of my research, but I am very happy to say that I am coming to the end of it. However, finishing it demands seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and months of commitment, which in turn requires tough decisions and sacrifices. 

I will still be blogging and posting, but it won't be as regular as I would like it to be. This is where I ask for patience (and prayers, for those out there who pray), as in exactly 20 weeks (yes, I have been counting), I can say goodbye to the thesis (minus oral defense) and hello to whatever the world has for me on the other side of my thesis. 

Another New Release for 2013: Mukoma Wa Ngugi's "Black Star Nairobi"

Book two in the action-packed crime series set in Nairobi featuring an American cop teamed up with a Kenyan Partner, will be published in June 2013.

When a bomb explodes in a downtown Nairobi hotel, private detectives Ishmael and Odhiambo quickly make the connection to a murder case they're investigating. It's the first big break for their new detective agency, Black Star, formed after they were teamed together as policemen and they tracked down a Rwandan war criminal through the violent Kenyan underworld.  

But then the CIA and the local police claim the bombing was the work of Al Qaeda, though it's clear to Ishmael and O that something else is going on. They're under pressure to back up from the investigation, until a startling violence tips the scales - and the detectives take off on a round-the-globe pursuit of the shadowy forces that appear to be behind it all.

With Kenya riven with ethnic violence, following the disputed elections of 2007, and Obama on the campaign train in the United States, Ishmael, an American cop who'd made a new life for himself in Africa, confronts a changed world, where everything he though he knew gets thrown into doubt - and the only way to find the answers is to go to extremes.

A thrilling, hard-hitting sequel to Nairobi Heat, from a major new crime talent.

                                                                                        - Synopsis from Melville House Books

The works of Buchi Emecheta

"Emecheta’s writings document the author’s multi-layered yet intersecting identities: the diasporic single woman, the sociologist observing grim urban realities, the best-selling novelist, the narrator of African myths and traditions that clash against modernization, the re-creator of her continent’s enslaved traumatic historical past".  British Council Literature

A couple of weeks ago, I read Buchi Emecheta's Second Class Citizen (review to come shortly). Having also read The Joys of Motherhood it is clear why she is so highly regarded. I may have only read two of her novels, but  the way she writes about African women and the issues they face at home and abroad is amazing. I could go on and on, but I won't. Instead, here's my celebration of some of her novels. A list of all her works can be found on Sable LitMag.

 

 

ABC on The Millions

I am such a huge, huge fan of The Millions, an online magazine covering all things literature. It's one of my favourite websites to visit and get lost in.  So imagine my shock late last night when I was reading their Guide to Artistic and Literary Tumblrs, Part III and I saw African Book Covers on the list. I was surprised they knew my tumblr existed and really excited that it made it on a list with really cool tumblrs. 

It's pretty amazing that something I love and enjoy doing gets a mention on The Millions. I have so much fun looking for different African book covers, and always get excited when I find them - whether they are classics or new. Here's to celebrating and appreciating the African book cover, and sharing it along the way. So thank you for the mention Millions. 

Check out the list and links to all the other Tumblrs mentioned here . If you haven't already, my tumblr, African Book Covers. 

Kwani? Manuscript Prize Longlist

"To celebrate the African novel and its adaptability and resilience, Kwani Trust announces a one-off new literary prize for African writing".  

April 2012, Kwani? announced its call for submission of unpublished fiction manuscripts from African writers across the continent and in the Diaspora. One year later, the long list of 30 has been selected from 280 submissions and 19 African countries. Congratulations to all longlisted authors!!!
Kwani? writes:

'The longlist of 30 has been selected, without the author’s name attached, by a panel of 9 readers, made up of writers, editors and critics from East, West and Southern Africa, as well as the UK and the US. The longlist represents 10 African countries and showcases literary fiction across and between a range genres from fantasy to crime to historical fiction. Kwani Trust’s Managing Editor, Billy Kahora said: 

“This longlist begins the actualization of a long-held Kwani? ambition - to build a significant novel series of new original voices across the continent. To replicate the work we’ve been doing for the last 10 years with the short fiction form, creative non-fiction, spoken word and poetry in East Africa when it comes to the novel form.”

The longlist has now been passed to our panel of judges, chaired by Sudanese novelist Jamal Mahjoub. Working with him will be deputy editor of Granta magazine Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, leading scholar of African literature Professor Simon Gikandi, Chairman of Kenyatta University’s Literature Department Dr. Mbugua wa Mungai, editor of Zimbabwe’s Weaver Press Irene Staunton and internationally renowned Nigerian writer Helon Habila. The manuscripts will be read and debated anonymously by this high profile panel, as the judges look for new voices that explore and challenge the possibilities of the ‘African novel’.

A shortlist will be announced at the beginning of June 2013 and the three winners announced at the end of June 2013. The top three manuscripts will be awarded cash prizes totaling Ksh 525,000 (c. $6000). Kwani Trust’s Executive Director, Angela Wachuka said:

“This prize speaks to a core pillar of our institution; the identification, development and production of literary talent. Our short story competition in 2010 introduced 15 new voices from Kenya, and this prize aims to increase opportunities for contemporary writers on the continent and elsewhere when it comes to the novel.”

In addition, Kwani Trust plans to publish 3-5 of the longlisted manuscripts by April 2014, and will be appointing an in-house editor to work with authors through this process. The Trust will also be partnering with regional and global agents and publishing houses to secure high profile international co-publication opportunities'.

You can find out more about the Kwani? Manuscript Project here.

Book Review: A. Igoni Barrett's "Love is Power, Or Something Like That"

It's either I'm starting to like short stories, or this is a just a really good collection. Out May, Love is Power or Something Like That is a new collection of nine short stories by A. Igoni Barrett. I would also like to say a big thank you to Chatto & Windus for providing me with a review copy.

Nigeria forms the backdrop of this collection in which an ailing old woman, an internet fraudster, an impoverished young boy, a corrupt police officer, a commuter, a wealthy civil servant and a traveller all show us the different ways love, or "something like that" manifests itself. 

In the opening story The Worst Thing That Happened an ailing old woman, who has to make her way yet again to an operating room, travels across town to visit her daughter. But what she feels on arrival is abandonment in spite of "all the years she had given, the sacrifices, the worrying, the love" (p.16). In The Dream Chaser, all is not what it seems, as a young boy spends his days in a cyber cafe pretending to be a woman online. The Shape of a Full Circle, shows another young boy, but in different circumstances - he is responsible for his family. The title story takes us into the world of a corrupt, abusive police officer trying to understand his different actions as a police officer and a family man. My Smelling Mouth Problem tells of the daily troubles a young commuter faces getting around Lagos as a result of literally his smelling mouth. The Little Girl with Budding Breasts and a Bubblegum Laugh might be a mouthful of a title, but it tells of forbidden love.  From pre-Independence, through Nigeria's many coup d'etats, the Nigerian Civil War, and even the "War Against Indiscipline" (WAI) a family's story is told in Godspeed and Perpetua. This isn't a rags-to-riches story, but one of a man who goes from being a wealthy senior civil servant to a lesser version of himself. Through it we see the impact all these events have had on him, his wife, and their relationship (with each other and also with their daughter).

These different characters and stories show that whether real or fake, right or wrong, one thing that cannot be denied is love's presence in people's lives. Love really is power, or something like that, but what we do with it is an entirely different story. And one that I think this collection of stories captures quite well. 

4.5 out of 5