Nigerian writer, Osondu, wins 2009 Caine Prize
By Anote Ajeluorou

FOR the second time in nearly a decade, Nigerian fiction took centre-stage in world literature yesterday with Mr. E.C. Osondu winning the coveted Caine Prize for African Writing, otherwise called the 'African Booker' for this year.

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Osondu beats four other writers from the continent to the prize with a story titled "Waiting" published online at www.guernicamag.com.

Osondu's winning was announced at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, United Kingdom (UK). The Nigerian writer takes home the prize money of £10,000, or about $15,000.

Caine Prize Judges' chair, Nana Yaa Mensah, called the story "a tour de force describing, from a child's point of view, the dislocating experience of being a displaced person. It is powerfully written with not an ounce of fat on it - and deeply moving."

Osondu was previously short-listed for the award in 2007, for his story "Jimmy Carter's Eyes," which was anthologised in the Caine Prize collection that year.

The Caine Prize is awarded yearly for a short story by an African writer published in English. It is named after Sir Michael Caine, a former chairman of Booker Plc.

Other writers in this year's shortlist include Mamle Kabu's The End of Skill (Ghana), Parselelo Kantai's You Wreck Her (Kenya), Alistair Morgan's Iceberg (South Africa) and Mukoma wa Ngugi's How Kamau wa Mwangi Escaped into Exile (Kenya).

In 1991, Helon Habila became the first Nigerian to win the prestigious award with Prison Notes. He has since experienced a flourishing literary and teaching career in the United States (U.S.)

Osondu had worked in the Nigerian advertising sector before moving to New York to study Creative Writing at Syracuse University. He received the Allen and Nirelle Galso Prize for Fiction and his first story, A Letter from Home, was recognised as one of the best Internet stories of 2006.

Osondu currently teaches Literature at Providence College, Rhode Island. With this award, Osondu is entitled to a month's scholarship at Georgetown University, Washington, as Writer-in-Residence.

While responding to his 2007 shortlist, Osondu had said that the worth of a good book was priceless and advised young writers to keep reading and writing as the best way to horn their skills.

Going to Syracuse University to study Creative Writing, he admitted, was the best decision of his writing career. Some measure of educative experience and a certain amount of education, he opined, were important for a writer.

For him, "there is only good writing and bad writing; there is no such thing as Christian writing or not; after all, there is no Christian way to boil an egg."