The shortlist for the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing has been announced, showcasing a diversity of themes and a wealth of literary talent. The five-writer shortlist was unveiled by this year’s Chair of judges, award-winning Ethiopian-American author, Dinaw Mengestu.

Dinaw Mengestu, former Lannan Foundation Chair in Poetics at Georgetown University, said: “The best short stories have a subtle, almost magical quality to them. They can contain through the rigour of their imagination and the care of their prose more than just a glimpse into the complicated emotional, political, and social fabric of their characters’ lives. The stories submitted for this year’s Caine Prize contained worlds within them, and nothing was perhaps as remarkable as finding that in story after story, writers across the continent and in the diaspora had laid waste to the idea that certain narratives belonged in the margins.

“The politics and aesthetics of gender, sexuality, corruption and silence were a constant presence throughout many of the stories submitted, particularly those on our shortlist. These five remarkable narratives are proof that nowhere is the complexity and diversity of Africa and African lives more evident than in the stories we tell.”

The shortlisted writers for the 2018 Caine Prize are:

Nonyelum Ekwempu (Nigeria) for ‘American Dream’, published in Red Rock Review (2016) and republished in The Anthem (2016).
Read ‘American Dream’
Stacy Hardy (South Africa) for ‘Involution’, published in Migrations: New Short Fiction from Africa, co-published by Short Story Day Africa and New Internationalist (2017).
Read ‘Involution’
Olufunke Ogundimu (Nigeria) for ‘The Armed Letter Writers’, published in The New Orleans Review (The African Literary Hustle, 2017).
Read ‘The Armed Letter Writers’
Makena Onjerika (Kenya) for ‘Fanta Blackcurrant’, published in Wasafiri (2017).
Read ‘Fanta Blackcurrant’
Wole Talabi (Nigeria) for ‘Wednesday’s Story’, published in Lightspeed Magazine (2016).
Read ‘Wednesday’s Story’
Joining Dinaw Mengestu on the 2018 judging panel are: Henrietta Rose-Innes, South African author and winner of the 2008 Caine Prize; Lola Shoneyin, award-winning author and Director of the Ake Arts and Books Festival; and Ahmed Rajab, a Zanzibar-born international journalist, political analyst and essayist.

The winner of the £10,000 prize will be announced at an award ceremony and dinner in the Beveridge Hall at Senate House, SOAS, on Monday 2 July 2018 – in partnership with the Centre for African Studies. Each shortlisted writer will also receive £500.

The shortlisted stories will be published in June in New Internationalist’s 2018 Caine Prize anthology, Redemption Song, and through co-publishers in 16 African countries who receive a print-ready PDF free of charge.

http://caineprize.com/press-releases/2018/5/15/2018-caine-prize-shortlist-announced

We make the list o o

But we never fit make one camera

Nigeria are not allowing anything to limit them.... They break down the walls and move mountains to get things done no matter what.....not even the poor power situation!

Same way hard work and dedication get me my first to comment post in a long while

Okay na

Dope

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Congratulations to them

Some people's ultimate dream is to be a world renowned shoe shiner

Nnn

Nigeria well represented, goodluck to them.

The problems of Nigerians are as follows.
Boko-haram
Unemployment
Herdsmen
Armed robbery
Recession
Insecurity. Now, check the capital letters from up to down and see the main problem of Nigerians. No say na me talk am oooo���

One of the shortlisted person was my coursemate. I hope the person wins

Writers are a dime a dozen in Nigeria. This proliferation has rubbed off the shine of the best ones among them. If only we had more scientists.

This year, the stories are not so great. 'The Armed Letter Writers' is riddled with too many errors right from the first page. How the judges failed to notice this after Theo readings beats me.

slap1:
This year, the stories are not so great. 'The Armed Letter Writers' is riddled with too many errors right from the first page. How the judges failed to notice this after Theo readings beats me.

You are also a writer, what impede you from submitting an entry?

congrats to them... Nigerian always give good account of themselves when it comes to writing. kudos to them.

Neyoor:



You are also a writer, what impede you from submitting an entry?

Everyone who submitted did not make the shortlist. Have you read the story I talked about?

Congratulations to them. l hope a Nigerian carries the day.