Eleventh Caine Prize Shortlist Announced
"A prize that focuses attention on the African origins of the writers allows the judges, faced with a pile of submissions, the freedom to dismiss that unifying criterion. While the wider world and the publishing industry may worry over this determinant, for us, it was a given and we could focus instead on finding the very best. This list, with all its variety, shows that great writing just gets on with it – shrugging off the bounds of geography and the colonial past, and confounding expectation," writes Ellah Allfrey, one of the 2010 Caine Prize judges.
The Eleventh Caine Prize shortlist was announced today, April 26 and has been described as "uniquely powerful". In the words of one of the judges,"Some are quite familiar stories - the white boss and the black servants, security, violence – but each one has an extra dimension that helped it stand out from the crowd and made it quite difficult to forget....Not only are [the] stories all confident, ambitious and skilfully written, each one boasts an added dimension – a voice, character or particular emotional connection – that makes it uniquely powerful."
These judges seems to be saying that African writing, like all good writing, should be judged by how each story deepens our understanding of the human condition, by how it lifts us from the domain of what Chimamanda Adichie has called "the single story" to something complex, something deeply felt and expertly rendered.
So, here is the 2010 shortlist:
· Ken Barris (S Africa) 'The Life of Worm' from 'New Writing from Africa 2009', published by Johnson & King James Books, Cape Town
· Lily Mabura (Kenya) 'How Shall We Kill the Bishop?’ from ‘Wasafiri’ No53, Spring 2008
· Namwali Serpell (Zambia) 'Muzungu' from 'The Best American Short Stories 2009',published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston MA
· Alex Smith (S Africa) 'Soulmates' from 'New Writing from Africa 2009'
· Olufemi Terry (Sierra Leone) 'Stickfighting Days' from ‘Chimurenga’ vol 12/13, Cape Town 2008
The Eleventh Caine Prize shortlist was announced today, April 26 and has been described as "uniquely powerful". In the words of one of the judges,"Some are quite familiar stories - the white boss and the black servants, security, violence – but each one has an extra dimension that helped it stand out from the crowd and made it quite difficult to forget....Not only are [the] stories all confident, ambitious and skilfully written, each one boasts an added dimension – a voice, character or particular emotional connection – that makes it uniquely powerful."
These judges seems to be saying that African writing, like all good writing, should be judged by how each story deepens our understanding of the human condition, by how it lifts us from the domain of what Chimamanda Adichie has called "the single story" to something complex, something deeply felt and expertly rendered.
So, here is the 2010 shortlist:
· Ken Barris (S Africa) 'The Life of Worm' from 'New Writing from Africa 2009', published by Johnson & King James Books, Cape Town
· Lily Mabura (Kenya) 'How Shall We Kill the Bishop?’ from ‘Wasafiri’ No53, Spring 2008
· Namwali Serpell (Zambia) 'Muzungu' from 'The Best American Short Stories 2009',published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston MA
· Alex Smith (S Africa) 'Soulmates' from 'New Writing from Africa 2009'
· Olufemi Terry (Sierra Leone) 'Stickfighting Days' from ‘Chimurenga’ vol 12/13, Cape Town 2008
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