Zimbabwean Writer NoViolet Bulawayo wins 2025 Best of Caine Award

The Caine Prize for African Writing is delighted to announce that Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo has been awarded the 2025 Best of Caine Award for her short story, Hitting Budapest, which originally won the Prize in 2011. 

Marking the Prize's 25th anniversary, the Best of Caine Award is an honorary prize celebrating the most outstanding winning story from the Prize's 25 year history. Ellah Wakatama OBE, Chair of the Caine Prize, announced NoViolet Bulawayo as the winner at the inaugural Words Across Waters Afro Lit Festival on Saturday, 27 September 2025. 

This year’s judging panel, comprised of  Nobel Laureate Prof. Abdulrazak Gurnah (Chair); award-winning author Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi; and critically acclaimed film producer Tony Tagoe. 

Speaking on the winning story, Prof. Abdulrazak Gurnah said: “It was a tremendously impressive collection of stories to read through, but the decision to award the Best of Caine Prize to NoViolet Bulawayo was unanimous and swift. The judges were impressed with the control of voice the story demonstrated and the superb evocation of a childhood vision.”