Zimbabwean Writer Wins Crime Fiction Award
Cordite Books, the new crime and spy fiction imprint of Parresia Publishers Ltd ., has announced the winner its 2014 Crime Fiction Contest. The winner is Zimbabwean writer Blessing Musariri. She won with the manuscript Useful Knowledge for a World Class Detective. The $1000 money prize also comes with a Cordite Books publishing deal. The second place winner is Demola Adeniran with Descent of the Hills and third place is David Oritogun with “The World is Your Oyster.” They will receive $250 and $200 respectively. The competition was announced in 2013 and received over 70 manuscripts from all over the continent. The contest judge is Helon Habila, who is the editor of Cordite Books. He has described Musariri's manuscript as “intelligent and well written. A hardcore detective story in the tradition of No 1 Ladies Detective Agency – but totally original in its own way. The protagonist is a 25 year old, plucky, ambitious, girl with an intere...