The shortlist for the 2021 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing has been announced. On the list are five writers whose stories made it out of hundreds of others, from over 22 African countries. They are Doreen Baingana (Uganda), Rémy Ngamije (Rwanda and Namibia), Meron Hadero (Ethiopia and United States), Troy Onyango (Kenya) and Iryn […]
4 years ago
The shortlist for the 2021 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing has been announced. On the list are five writers whose stories made it out of hundreds of others, from over 22 African countries. They are Doreen Baingana (Uganda), Rémy Ngamije (Rwanda and Namibia), Meron Hadero (Ethiopia and United States), Troy Onyango (Kenya) and Iryn Tushabe (Uganda and Canada). Read the shortlisted stories here.
The AKO Caine Prize for African Writing was founded in the year 2000, in the UK. The Prize was created in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine, the former Chairman of Booker plc, and the ‘Africa 95’ arts festival, held in Europe and Africa in 1995. He was also the chairman of the Booker Prize management committee for nearly 25 years. It was originally called The Caine Prize for African Writing.
For years, the Prize has existed to showcase the best of African writing, and Africa itself, to the world. The Prize is awarded for a short story written in or translated into English by an African writer, whether or not they reside on the continent. The judges are often sourced from various fields of study, always with a relationship to literature and the literary world. This year, the judges include Goretti Kyomuhendo, a Ugandan novelist; Nick Makoha, founder of The Obsidian Foundation; Razia Iqbal, BBC News Presenter; Victor Ehikhamenor, multimedia artist and photographer, and Georgina Godwin, an independent broadcast journalist.
According to Goretti, the submissions this year “speak about the African experience from a multitude of perspectives and forms.” She also said that submissions from local literary journals had increased encouragingly. The five shortlisted stories were deliberated and agreed upon virtually by the five judges. Each story is expected to be of great literary skill and captivating narratives.
The winner of the Prize will be announced in July 2021. Each of the shortlisted writers stands to get a £500 prize, while the winner goes home with £10,000. The award ceremony will be held virtually this year.
