The AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, an annual award given to an African writer for a short story published in English, has announced the shortlist for 2022.
The organisers say in a statement that this year’s edition saw a 130% increase in submissions from writers across the globe.
The five shortlisted writers, it adds, were selected from a total of 349 entries from 27 African countries by a judging panel comprising Nigerian author and award-winning journalist Okey Ndibe (Chair); French-Guinean author and literary scholar Elisa Diallo; South African podcast host and literary practitioner Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane; London-based Nigerian visual artist Àsìkò Okelarin; Kenyan Book Bunk co-founder Angela Wachuka.
The five shortlisted writers for the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing are: Joshua Chizoma (Nigeria) for ‘Collector of Memories’, Nana-Ama Danquah (Ghana) for ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’, Hannah Giorgis (Ethiopia) for ‘A Double-Edged Inheritance’, Idza Luhumyo (Kenya) for ‘Five Years Next Sunday’, and Billie McTernan (Ghana) for ‘The Labadi Sunshine Bar’.
Okey Ndibe, Chair of Judges, says of the shortlist: “The 2022 entries represented a staggering feast. It was a testament to the vibrancy, variety and splendour of creative talent among writers of African descent.”
Each writer shortlisted for the AKO Caine Prize receives £500; 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 writer and the translator).
The winner will be announced at a ceremony, which coincides with the Africa Fashion exhibition – an exhibition that presents the irresistible creativity, ingenuity and unstoppable global impact of contemporary African fashions, held at the V&A in London on Monday 18th July 2022.
