2020 Shortlisted Writers

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  • Erica Sugo Anyadike is a Tanzanian writer based in Kenya. She began her career in South Africa as a screenwriter and worked in various capacities in the television sector. As a broadcaster, she created briefs and commissioned television series that dealt with issues such as apartheid, sexuality and gender. She continued that trend, when she began to produce her own content, never shying away from events and issues that intrigued her but always ensuring she kept her focus on characters, emotions and story. Apart from short films and television series, Erica has also written several short stories. In 2019, Erica was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the Queen Mary Wasafiri Writing Prize. Erica’s interests lie in depicting complex African female characters and mentoring young filmmakers and writers. She is writing a novel and living in Kenya with her family. Twitter: @SugoErica

  • Chikodili Emelumadu was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire and raised in Nigeria. Her work has previously been shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Awards (2015), the Caine Prize for African Literature (2017) and a Nommo award (2020). In 2019, she won the inaugural Curtis Brown First Novel prize for her novel ‘Dazzling’. Twitter: @chemelumadu

  • Jowhor Ile was born and raised in Nigeria. He is known for his first novel, And After Many Days. In 2016, the novel was awarded the Etisalat Prize for Literature. Ile's short fiction has appeared in The Sewanee Review, McSweeney's Quarterly and Litro Magazine. He earned his MFA at Boston University and is currently a Visiting professor at West Virginia. Ile splits his time between Nigeria and the U.S. Twitter: @JowhorIle

  • Rémy Ngamije is a Rwandan-born Namibian writer and photographer. His debut novel The Eternal Audience Of One is forthcoming from Scout Press (S&S). He is the editor-in-chief of Doek!, Namibia’s first literary magazine. His short stories have appeared in Litro Magazine, AFREADA, The Johannesburg Review of Books, The Amistad, The Kalahari Review, American Chordata, Doek!, Azure, Sultan's Seal, Santa Ana River Review, Columbia Journal, New Contrast, Necessary Fiction, Silver Pinion, and Lolwe. He has been longlisted for the 2020 Afritondo Short Story Prize and shortlisted for Best Original Fiction by Stack Magazines in 2019. www.remythequill.com I Twitter: @remythequill

  • Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian British writer. Her debut novel Butterfly Fish won a Betty Trask award and was shortlisted for an Edinburgh International First Book Award. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Observer,The Guardian, the BBC and the Huffington Post amongst other publications. Her short stories have been published internationally including Salt's Best British Short Stories 2017, Kwani? and The Year's Best Weird Fiction. She was presented at the London Short Story Festival by Booker Prize winning author Ben Okri as a dynamic writing talent to watch and featured in the Evening Standard Magazine as one of London’s exciting new authors. Her short story collection Speak Gigantular, published by Jacaranda Books was shortlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Saboteur Awards and nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her new collection of stories, Nudibranch is published by Little Brown's Dialogue Books. www.irenosenokojie.com I Twitter: @IrenosenOkojie