By the time you read this, the Caine Prize for African literature has released the 2018 shortlist. The Caine Prize is always awarded to the best short story by an African writer in English(where a story was not originally written in English, the English translation is awarded).
This prize has been tagged the Holy Grail of African writing. And since its inception in 2000, Nigerians have continued to dominate the shortlists. This shows that we still hold sway in the art of storytelling around here.
Being shortlisted for the Caine Prize can shoot a writer into stardom. We have seen a lot of writers who only came to African limelight after being listed for the prize.
Three Nigerians made the list this year. The other two being a South African and a Kenyan. The winner will go home with £10,000.
I will be reading all five stories in the coming days. If time permits, I will write reviews on each of them.
Below is the shortlist:
Nonyelum Nkwempu(Nigeria) for American Dream.
Stacy Hardy(South Africa) for Involution.
Olufunke Ogundimu(Nigeria) for The Armed Letter Writers.
Makena Onjerika(Kenya) for Fanta Blackcurrant.
Wole Talabi(Nigeria) for Wednesday's Story.
These stories are all available online. Read them too.
Cheers.