[London, UK] The Caine Prize for African Writing has announced its panel of Judges for 2024. Entries to the Prize close at midnight on 19th April 2024. The five shortlisted stories and their authors will be announced in mid-July; the winner will be announced at an award ceremony in September.
This year’s Chair of Judges is award-winning Nigerian author Chika Unigwe. Unigwe serves as a creative writing professor at Georgia State College and University in Milledgeville, Georgia. She is a prolific writer of both fiction and nonfiction, whose works have been translated into several languages. Her notable works include the award-winning novel On Black Sisters' Street and the short-story collection Better Never Than Late. Her latest novel, The Middle Daughter, is published by Canongate Books. In 2023, Unigwe was knighted into the Order of the Crown by the Belgian government in recognition of her contributions to literature.
Unigwe is joined on the panel by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, a Zimbabwean writer, scholar and filmmaker. She is the author of the critically-acclaimed and award-winning novels, The Theory of Flight (2018), The History of Man (2020) and The Quality of Mercy (2022) published in southern Africa by Penguin Random House and in North America by Catalyst Press. Her fourth novel, The Creation of Half-Broken People, will be published by Picador Africa and House of Anansi in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Ndlovu holds a PhD in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University. She has an MA in African Studies and an MFA in Film from Ohio University. Her short film, Graffiti, won several awards including the Silver Dhow at the Zanzibar International Film Festival. She received her BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College. She is a 2018 Morland Scholar and a 2022 recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize;
Julianknxx, is a Sierra Leonean poet, artist and filmmaker based in London, UK. His work has been shown at galleries and museums worldwide, with his acclaimed first institutional solo show ‘Chorus In Rememory of Flight’ at the Barbican, London (2023), called ‘transcendent and poignant’ by the Evening Standard. Shortlisted for the Jarman Award in 2023, his recent group shows include ‘A World in Common’ at Tate Modern, London (2023); ‘Rites of Passage’ at Gagosian, London (2023); and ‘To Be Held’ at Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate (2023). Previous participations include Whitechapel Gallery Open, London (2022); Nocturnal Creatures at Whitechapel Gallery (2021); Lux at 180 The Strand, London (2021) and The View from There at Sadie Coles HQ, London (2021);
Tumi Molekane, aka Stogie T, is a South African Hip-Hop artist, bold and unconventional lyricist, pragmatic thinker and observer. Known for writing in caveats, his work strikes a delicate balance between different worlds and forms a nuanced narrative of the country and continent as a whole. His works both critique power and its innate tendency to corrupt, while also dissecting the nightmares of Joburg’s underworld with striking imagery. A contemporary voice of the people and enigmatic storyteller, Molekane has appeared on Sway In The Morning in 2018, among other shows. His songs include ‘Sub City’ from his self-titled 2016 album and ‘Broke People’ from 2015’s Return of the King;
Ayesha Harruna Attah, is the author of five novels, including the Commonwealth Prize-nominated Harmattan Rain, William Saroyan Prize finalist The Hundred Wells of Salaga, and The Deep Blue Between. She was educated at Mount Holyoke College, Columbia University, and New York University. She is the 2023-2024 Literature Protégée for the Rolex Mentor & Protégé Arts Initiative and is being mentored by Bernardine Evaristo. Attah currently lives in Senegal.
Commenting on this year’s panel, Chika Unigwe, Chair of Judges, said: “I am deeply honored to be judging this year's Caine Prize alongside an impressively distinguished group of creatives, some of whom I have admired for years. African writing is in a good place, and so we are certain that we will be seeing stories we will want to read, re-read, and then tell everyone else to go read.
As a huge admirer of the Caine Prize, having followed it since the inaugural prize was awarded to Leila Aboulela in 2000, I have been perplexed by the recent misconception that the prize is only for emerging writers. It is not. Its unequivocal ambition is to identify the best short story by an African writer in a given period. So, dear publishers, send in the most audacious, the boldest, the most unforgettable short story by an African writer you've published in the five years preceding the deadline, regardless of the writer's career stage. We are looking forward to reading them all.”
Interim Director of the Prize, Vimbai Shire echoed Unigwe’s sentiment, saying: “Thinking ahead to the Caine Prize shortlist, it's the relentless pursuit of quality and the commitment to elevating storytelling to its highest level that ignites my enthusiasm and I’m delighted by the composition and focus of this year’s panel.
I’m particularly thrilled by the diverse array of specialisms represented by the judges – each member is acclaimed in their respective fields and brings a unique perspective and expertise to the table. Together they will bring their rich tapestry of voices, their passion and their own experiences of storytelling to the judging process and I’m excited to see which stories will capture their hearts – and ours!”
The judges will meet in person in September to select a winner from the five shortlisted authors, and announce the winner in an award ceremony held in London in September 2024.
Each writer shortlisted for the Caine Prize will be awarded £500, and the winner will receive a £10,000 prize. If a work in translation is chosen as the winning story, the prize will be shared between the author and the translator.
The five shortlisted stories will be compiled into the official Caine Prize anthology and published by Cassava Republic Press and a variety of international publishers around the world.
-Ends
Notes to Editors
Media Contact: comms@caineprize.com
Press package: Access via Dropbox here
About The Caine Prize for African Writing
The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual award for African creative writing. The Prize is awarded for a short story by an African writer published in English (indicative length 3,000 to 10,000 words). The Caine Prize for African Writing is named after the late Sir Michael Caine, former Chairman of Booker plc and Chairman of the Booker Prize management committee for nearly 25 years. The African winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Wole Soyinka and J M Coetzee, are Patrons of The Caine Prize. Ellah Wakatama OBE is the Chair; Vimbai Shire is the Interim Director of the Prize.
An African writer is taken to mean someone who was born in Africa, or who is a national of an African country, or who has a parent who is African by birth or nationality. Works translated into English from other languages are not excluded, provided they have been published in translation, and should such a work win, a proportion of the prize would be awarded to the translator.
Previous winners are Sudan’s Leila Aboulela (2000), Nigerian, Helon Habila (2001), Kenyan, Binyavanga Wainaina (2002), Kenyan, Yvonne Owuor (2003), Zimbabwean, Brian Chikwava (2004), Nigerian, Segun Afolabi (2005), South African, Mary Watson (2006), Ugandan, Monica Arac de Nyeko (2007), South African, Henrietta Rose-Innes (2008), Nigerian, EC Osondu (2009), Sierra Leonean, Olufemi Terry (2010), Zimbabwean, NoViolet Bulawayo (2011), Nigerian, Rotimi Babatunde (2012), Nigerian, Tope Folarin (2013), Kenyan, Okwiri Oduor (2014), Zambian, Namwali Serpell (2015), South African, Lidudumalingani (2016), Sudanese writer, Bushra al-Fadil (2017), Kenyan, Makena Onjerika (2018), Nigerian, Lesley Nneka Arimah (2019), Nigerian-British, Irenosen Okojie (2020), Ethiopian, Meron Hadero (2021), Kenyan, Idza Luhumyo (2022) and Senegalese, Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo (2023).